A unity hypothesis for the southern African Khoesan languages

The study demonstrates for the first time the probable genetic unity of the KHOE, JU and UJ -T AA groups of southern African Khoesan, by means of the first full-scale application of a conventional comparative approach. It is shown in the first stage that there are repeated cross-SAK resemblances in the morphology of those verbs most frequently enlisted for grammatical purposes in the context of multi-verb constructions; and that these languages furthermore display multiple similarities 'horizontally' across their specifier systems. where the resemblances are often also visible 'vertically', i.e. down the lists of possible exponents. These structural affinities are sufficiently thoroughgoing to warrant a working surmise that the SAK languages might be genetically related. In the second stage, cross-SAK comparative material from various sources is presented in the form of arrays. The tabulations reveal a range of repeating alternations involving the basic positional click types, with some associated patternings of the possible click 'accompaniments'. The fact that the alternations are iterated and do not necessarily involve identities makes it more likely, when combined with the weight of the structural evidence, that the items in the comparative series are inherited than borrowed.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Linguistics

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Du Plessis, Menán

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Mesthrie, Rajend
• Lass, Roger

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/11852

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/11852