Today’s blog post will address click languages, which are
languages widely spoken throughout southern and eastern Africa. These languages are named after the unique
sounds used within them. This alone,
however, does not make them special. Recent
evidence suggests that these languages are actually languages that may most closely
resemble the earliest human languages ever spoken. All of these topics will be further explored
in this blog post.
Click languages are languages defined by the series of
clicking sounds made within them (see video).
These sounds are produced through the use of lips, throat, and/or tongue
and resemble sharp popping or smacking sounds.
Click languages are common in Khoisan, Bantu, and Cushitic languages, thereby
making up the majority of the consonants in these languages. In Khoisan languages clicks make up the
initial sounds of 70% of the words used.
The majority of click languages have on average three to five click
sounds, although a few have one or two.
Recent studies have produced strong evidence that suggests
the click languages most resemble the ancestral languages spoken by archaic Homo
sapiens. This is based on genetic
studies of south and east African groups who speak these languages. The genetic studies demonstrate a close
resemblance between these and ancestral human groups, and the retention of their
unique language is believed to be a remnant of early languages.
This begs the question as to how and why click languages
originated. It is believed that these
click sounds are best adapted to the hunting and foraging lifestyles of these
groups. These clicks allow for ease in
communication without disrupting the local wildlife that they rely on for sustenance. They are subtle enough to not be noticed by
animals but convey meanings specific to effective communication. This also explains why these click languages
persist today.
References
McWhorter, John. What Africa's Click Tongues Tell
of Our Origins. 15 April 2011. Electronic. 30 July 2019.
Sands, Bonnie and Tom Güldemann. "What click
languages can and can't tell us about language origins." Botha, Rudie
and Chris Knight. The cradle of language. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2009. 204-218. Book.
Traill, Anthony. Click Languages. 2019.
Electronic. 30 July 2019.
Wade, Nicholas. "In Click Languages, an Echo of
the Tongues of the Ancients." New York Times 18 March 2003.
Electronic.
20 comments:
I noticed that in the video of the man making the clicking noises he used alot of hand motions so is sign language apart of the way they communicate? I also wondered if the people that use click language gets offended if some else tried to use their language and how territorial they are over it.
I am not sure if the hand motions are standard practice or just used to aid in communication with an outsider, Castrele. I have seen several videos with these speakers, all of which are available on YouTube, but I don't recall any consistent hand motions. As far as the second question I have not interacted with any native speakers so I don't know for sure. It may just be a personal preference and dependent on context. I imagine if someone is making fun of them that they wouldn't be Keen on it.
I never seen someone actually use click language, I actually thought it was a mythical language used in entertainment/television. Is there something online that can translate what the clicking and other noises may mean? also if this makes up 70% of the vocabulary, how large is the vocabulary and does the clicking mean the same in all the places that it's used?
Chris, I am not aware of any such programs that may be available online, particularly as there is very little interest among the larger world population in speaking this language. That does not mean, however, that these programs do not exist.
As for the meaning of the clicks I suspect that they hold different meaning based on which specific click language is used, but as I am not an expert or speaker of any of the click languages I could be wrong.
I love this description video better then the one showed in class because this is a better listening of the clicking sound language. I remember as children we would make a clocking sounds with our tongues as children to interrupt class, and to actually see that clicking sounds as a language is pretty interesting. I wonder Dr. Boston do their children grow up already knowing this language and or do they get taught the clicking language?
-Crystal Riley
I love this description video better then the one showed in class because this is a better listening of the clicking sound language. I remember as children we would make a clocking sounds with our tongues as children to interrupt class, and to actually see that clicking sounds as a language is pretty interesting. I wonder Dr. Boston do their children grow up already knowing this language and or do they get taught the clicking language?
-Crystal Riley
Crystal, as you are learning in this week's chapter on language all language is taught and learned. :)
Growing up my brother's cousins and I were in a predominantly white town. When kids would ask us if we were African we would start making click sounds and make it seem like we didn't know English. After reading the blog not only was that culture apportion. But understand the origin and why they communicate using clicks makes me want to dive deeper into more cultures around the world.
-Maya Collier
I never knew the history behind "clicking". However, when I was in high school there was a boy in my class that spoke this language. I can't remember what part he was from. This article was very interesting.
-Kyla Thomas
My question while reading this article was where did the click language originally start? I knew an african kid that came to Lincoln University with me in 2015. He had a heavy accent and my friends would make fun of him by doing the clicking noises. Now that I read more about it, It was kind of rude. I think the language is cool and I know it'll be hard for me to learn that if I tried.
Articles like these inspire me to consider learning a second language. They really do connect us with a culture. In classes I learned of holidays and traditions that are associated with a language and I woudl really look forward to that. The hard part for me is which culture do I want to have that connection with? As an African American, I can't necessarily trace my roots as easily as some other nationalities so I've considered African languages but then, too, there are so many! Where to even begin?
Tori Spencer. SA202
I speak three languages fluently, and I remember the first time I ever heard "clicking" was in a movie called "The Gods Must Be Crazy". It's so interesting listening to other languages and trying to learn and understand them. - Malalia Siafa-Bangura
I've always wondered how exactly the clicking language works, exactly? How is it taught and how hard is it to learn? It's so impressive how it's possible that the first homo sapiens used this language before "language" was really even invented.
- Chyann Taylor
Being a hunter in today's day and age, I can see where this would be a very crucial part of survival. They did not have the luxury of tree stands or high powered rifles, which would have meant they needed to be able to get a lot closer to their desired kill. If I am right, a lot of these people do not let a single piece of their kill go to waste? I think this would be a good practice for the US to keep in mind today.
I always thought it was cool to speak more than one language. Reading about this one is different because I’ve never heard of it before. Learning that clicking language can be used for hunting so it didn’t disturb wildlife is pretty cool.
When i first heard about about the clicking language was in class when you showed us this video, the video goes so much in detail so it caught my attention. i find it amazing that how others can come with with different languages for different things, its amazing how clicking is useful to help hunt.
-Lavonza marshall
The clicking language is truly fascinating in terms of the range of how us as primates communicate. The Khoisan language uses clicks 70% of the time and I truly wonder do we even have 1% in ours. I love the reasoning behind the language, efficiency and safety. The video just adds on to how we differ as humans but we still do the same things in varied versions.
-Kennedy Thompson
Clicks and whistles are a primate way of communicating with one another but if thats the only way you know it works. Talk about an old language.
Elaine christopher
The sound of the communication of this click language tells a story of the past and found a way to communicate, is this because they may hv=ave decided to find a way when foraging and hunting that was not as distracting or did not sound like a human but rather an animal or some sort.
Qwynn Marquez
This post conveys how widely distributed click languages are in southern and eastern Africa, with particular attention to their prevalence in the Khoisan, Bantu, and Cushitic language families. We are better able to comprehend the region's cultural and linguistic variety because of this geographic context. Also, it does well explaining the distinctive clicking sounds produced by the lips, throat, and/or tongue that are exclusive to click languages. This allows us to better imagine the sounds and comprehend how unique they are in relation to other linguistic aspects thanks to the description.
Post a Comment