Xhosa names are not listed within the top 1000. It is spoken by 7.9 million people – that’s 18 percent of the South African population. “Everywhere we go, people often ask me, ‘How do you make that noise?’” she said during an interview in 1979. I had heard of African names with clicks before, like ǂXóõ, ǂHõã and !Kung, but I thought they were limited to just a few words. any masculine feminine unisex-Usage, language or place. It’s my language,” she clarified. Some languages of southern Africa are famous for having them, thanks in part to being featured in such cultural vectors as the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy and Miriam Makeba's song "Qongqothwane," better known as "The Click Song." This is especially true of the Eastern Cape , where the language is spoken extensively and taught in the schools. N|uu, for instance, has only 10 remaining speakers. Andiswa, female, increase. The site is also not intended to be a museum, but rather a place where photos can be viewed, grouped, commented upon, analyzed, and interpreted for those interested in the photographs. Article from momjunction.com. And I don't mean borrowing words from one of the languages that use them. Xhosa falls under the umbrella of the Bantu languages, and is a representative of the south-western Nguni family. Xhosa names are uncommon as baby girl names. The more natural and automatic it is to integrate into language, the more languages will have it — nearly all languages have some version of the vowels "ah," "oo," and "ee," for instance. But that's exactly what Zulu, Xhosa, and some related languages of South Africa did. Select filters then press SEARCH below + Gender. Pronunciation of Xhosa Names of People and Places The Xhosa language is difficult for native English speakers. And you can't whisper a click. Picture yourself sneaking up on a deer. Here's our collection of some latest and modern Xhosa baby names with their meanings.. . It sounds like a branch snapping. I notice that the Wikipedia for Xhosa lists 18 clicks (instead of just the 3 demonstrated in the first two links): [kǀʼ] c [kǀʰ] ch [ɡ̊ǀʱ] gc [ŋǀ] nc [ŋǀʱ] ngc [ŋǀˀ] nkc [kǁʼ] x [kǁʰ] xh [ɡ̊ǁʱ] gx [ŋǁ] nx [ŋǁʱ] ngx [ŋǁˀ] nkx [kǃʼ] q [kǃʰ] qh [ɡ̊ǃʱ] gq [ŋǃ] nq [ŋǃʱ] ngq [ŋǃˀ] nkq I mean sticking them in the middle of words we already have. The ‘C’ click is made by placing the tip of the tongue on the roof of the mouth near the incisors and making a ‘tsk tsk’ sound. Some of these names will absolutely make it to your short list. Imagine if your father-in-law was named William Jackson. A clan is a conceptual kinship group. Clan names are also of great importance in the Xhosa culture. The Roman alphabet is used for writing Xhosa. especially the clicks, which originated from the Khoisan (this refers to groups formerly known as the Hottentots and the Bushmen). May 6, 2018 - Xhosa (isiXhosa) is a Bantu language spoken by around 15 million people in southern Africa. Xhosa is a tonal language with 3 click consonants: 'c' for a dental click, 'x' for a lateral click, and 'q' for a post-alveolar click; the word "isiXhosa" contains a lateral click. Xhosa is also the 2,239,220 th most common given name worldwide, held by 23 people. Miriam Makeba introduces Olivia to the Xhosa language with its clicks - Duration: 2:39. kinddude 62,699 views. The name Khoisan is a compound word formed with the native words khoi “person” and san “forager”, meaning ‘persons who forage in the bush” or “bushmen”. Imagine, now, if we started using clicks in our words like other sounds. There are two groups of languages in southern Africa that have clicks: the Khoisan languages and certain languages of the Niger-Congo family, most notably Zulu and Xhosa. The name Xhosa means South African Tribe and is of African origin. Here are some Xhosa names for girls and their meanings that you can consider the next time you are blessed with a baby girl. Now, after some research, I’ve realized that clicks are used quite extensively in many South African languages. Means "mother of enlightenment" in Xhosa. One culture that has an abundance of beautiful and meaningful names is the Xhosa culture. A woman wouldn't say the name of her father-in-law, for instance. Mhlaba (earth), Mfazwe (war), etc. Click on a name to read the meaning, popularity, pronunciation and other useful information. In the Zulu and Xhosa cultures (less so in some areas now), certain people are not supposed to say the names of certain other people, or even say things that sound like their names. Akhona, both, present. (In Khoisan languages, it's 40 to 60 percent.). usage Close. Xhosa name generator . ... Fruit Names - ESL - 36 different fruits - Duration: 4:48. For the ‘X’ click, you place the side of the tongue against the teeth and inhale, making a clicking sound. They are completely unrelated to the Khoisan languages; the Niger-Congo languages originated in and around present-day Nigeria and spread as their speakers spread. Second, whispering and gestures have served hunters elsewhere just fine. The Clicking Languages of South Africa. Like Zulu and the almost extinct languages of the San people it contains clicks and gutturals that are nearly impossible for English tongues. Find the complete details of Xhosa name on BabyNamesCube, the most trusted source for baby name meaning, numerology, origins, similar names and more! And the click words spread through the languages. Suddenly you step on a twig and it snaps. This name generator will give you 10 random Xhosa names. Scholars have long thought that Zulu, Xhosa, and related languages borrowed clicks from Khoisan languages through intermarriage. Xhosa is a Girl name, meaning South African tribe in African origin. Not only would you not say William or Jackson, you also wouldn't say will, jack, jacks, or maybe even yum or son. In the Lardil and Yangkaal Aboriginal peoples living in islands off Australia, some men would undergo initiation ceremonies to speak a language called Damin. (Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis). It will help you to generate 1000's of cool Xhosa Names which you can use in books, novels, games, or whatever fantasy world you want to use it. Female names Anele - Enough Babalwa - Gifted Fezeka - Accomplishment Gugulethu - Our pride Inam - God is with us Khuselwa - Being protected Lindiwe - Have waited Lulama - Someone who is kind and sweet / Straight The delicate art of using linguistics to identify an anonymous author, Wonder Woman 1984 is shockingly regressive, The greatness of A Charlie Brown Christmas, Makeba's "The Click Song" is perhaps the most famous audible illustration. There are some problems with that theory. Fundiswa – smart, sensible, educated; Noxolo – peace; Funeka – needed; Khanyiswa – lights up; Nobomi – life; Gugu – our pride; Sindiswa – we have it; Nonhle - beautiful; Nocawe – born on Sunday; Sisipho – gift Now, this might seem like it would result in a different set of click words for each person. Since the letter K can be subsituted for c, q, and x (click = klik, quick = kwick, axe = aks) these letters are used to represent the clicks in written Xhosa. But what sound could you use that wouldn't make it a different word that might mean something else, and would still make it understandable? The language, now believed to be extinct, had included nasal clicks. Look, a lateral click is a common sound used to get a horse to move. Numbers in Xhosa (isiXhosa) Information about counting in Xhosa, a Bantu language spoken in South Africa and Lesotho. Why do they have clicks when almost no other languages do? (Pop-ups must be enabled.) “It used to offend me because it isn’t a noise. Unlike Xhosa, the clicks and words in Zulu are differentiated only by tone, not by spelling. Photos, videos, and other materials. Xhosa is spoken as a first language by approximately 8.2 million people and by another 11 million as a second language in South Africa, mostly in Eastern Cape Province, Western Cape, Gauteng and Northern Cape. First, human societies have in general started out as hunter-gatherer societies, and some still are, while many of the Khoisan peoples haven't been hunter-gatherers for a long time, so why only the Khoisan? There are some problems with this idea. Xhosa Baby Names Below you will find our wide selection of Xhosa boy names and Xhosa girl names, as categorized by our name experts research, our readers feedback and other sources. Another interesting aspect of Xhosa names is the compounding of words: Thembalethu (our hope), Ntombekhaya (Girl of the home), etc. As well them as any — and they went a long time without a lot of interference from other languages, so the clicks didn't get pushed out. Amakwayi ,Ongconde, o Togu o Tshiwo.Buku is the surname of Michael who belong to Amakwayi o Ngcondentshaba From Kingwilliamstown, Eastern Cape,South Africa.His home village is Ndevana near Zwelitsha,Phakamisa and Ilitha Township. The last name Xhosa is most commonly occurring in South Africa, where it is held by 365 people, or 1 in 148,432. //-->. By Sumitra on December 4th, 2013 Category: Entrepreneur Builds 600-Square-Meter Floating Sea Mansion, YouTuber's False Review Forces South Korean Restaurant to Shut Down, The World's Oldest Coal Fire Has Been Burning For 6,000 Years, This 25-Year-Old Puddle Has Its Own Instagram Account, This Family Has Been Creating Beautiful Ice Trees Every Christmas, for Over 60 Years, Say What? Sure, languages borrow sounds — English has a few sounds it borrowed from French, such as the "zh" we say in words such as measure, treasure, and garage. ISIXHOSA NAMES Names for people in isiXhosa (Xhosa) with their meanings. Hlonipha is a kind of "respect" speech. Andile, male, increase. A few theories have been propounded. The Khoisan languages have had clicks in them from time immemorial, and their speakers have always been in the southern part of Africa. And any given thing that can be used in speech will likely be used somewhere by someone. Around 1990, a linguist named Robert Herbert actually looked at the societies in question closely enough to spot a much more likely — and much more interesting — cause: a thing called hlonipha. As a result, South Africa is known to be the native land of the Xhosa folk. Xhosa names are used by the Xhosa people of South Africa. Pawns in a Larger Game is replete with Xhosa names which can leave readers at a loss. In her 1957 hit single, Pata Pata, you can clearly hear clicks in the lyrics. So, why the Khoisan languages? We use them as sounds on their own for such things as expressions of disapproval ("tsk"), or to imitate knocking, or to encourage a horse. What happens next? Finally, they made an ultrasonic apparatus to measure the accurate positions of the tongue. Click languages, a group of languages found only in Africa in which clicks function as normal consonants. Xhosa is a name that's been used primarily by parents who are considering baby names for girls. Other languages are known to have the occasional root with different clicks, as in Xhosa ugqwanxa /uᶢ̊ǃʱʷaᵑǁa/ 'black ironwood', which has a slack-voiced alveolar click and a nasal lateral click. Thus, a more correct spelling is Khoesaan.This distinctive linguistic characteristic was adopted by a number of neighbouring Bantu languages, such as Xho… The harder it is to use in words, the fewer languages will have it — Czech's famously hard ř sound doesn't show up in too many languages. The Khoisan wives knew just what to use: clicks. The second factor is that as clicks became associated with polite speech, people would use them more generally in words when they wished to sound polite, even if the words weren't names they needed to avoid. Xhosa is a language spoken by nearly 8 million people, primarily in South Africa, and is spoken using click sounds. Or the t in tea? Zulu, the most common South African language, is widely spoken in Gauteng and along the East Coast in Kwa-Zulu Natal. It includes three types of clicks – denoted by the letters C, X and Q. Xhosa is pronounced: ‘osa’. If you do it right, you should make a loud ‘clop’ sound. A click is a sound produced with the tongue or the lips without using the lungs. Enter a standard character and Right-Click (Macintosh Ctrl + … Xhosa is a language with clicks, borrowed from the neighboring Khoisan languages from South and East Africa, such as Taa (or !Xóõ), !Kung (or !Xũ), Juǀʼhoans (or Zhuǀ’hõasi), and Khoekhoe (or Nàmá). The purpose of this list is to give a rough idea of the Xhosa language. It is a tonal language, governed by the noun - which d… But that sound came over as part of borrowed words. 1. Surprisingly, Africa isn’t the only continent where clicks are part of the language. These famous click sounds are found in Khoisan languages (alternative names include Khoesaan or Khoesan). And more recently, they've been clicking with some Bantu languages, too. That's right. If you’re having trouble understanding the click and its use, think of it this way – it’s just like any other consonant used in the English language. Well, actually, most others do — they just don't use them as sounds in words. Well, there are video tutorials online that you can follow to get the hang of it. The Xhosa language is known as isiXhosa in its native language. Browse through our alphabetical selection of baby names, including the meaning and origin for each name. In either case, Top 100 Baby Names Search was designed to aid you in your search for the perfect name for your baby. Means "king; lord; ruler; god" in Xhosa. I’m not from Africa or Australia, but I’ve heard my fair share of clicks growing up – only when my mother wasn’t very pleased with me! To be fair, it is a lot more complicated than Xhosa. Xhosa is one of the 11 official languages recognized by the South African Constitution, and in 2006 it was determined that just over 7 million South Africans speak Xhosa as a home language. The intermarriages probably happened about the same way intermarriages between, say, Americans and Canadians happen — or perhaps a bit more often. Xhosa (/ ˈ k oʊ s ə /; Xhosa: isiXhosa [isikǁʰóːsa]) is one of the official languages of South Africa.Xhosa is spoken by approximately 7.9 million people, or about 18% of the South African population. e9 = new Object(); gender. They belong to the group of Niger-Congo languages broadly called Bantu (except in South Africa, where the designation Bantu was used in racist policies). Asanda, both, still increasing. For generating Xhosa Names simply scroll down and click on the Get Male Names, Get Female Names Button to randomly generate 10 Xhosa Names. The Zulu language counts three of them: the dental click, the palatal click, and the lateral click. e9.snackbar = true; Surnames are mostly derived from certain words, e.g. In the future, will the English language be full of accented characters? But that doesn't answer one other question: Where did the Khoisan languages get clicks from? A list of common Xhosa words. It is the official language of South Africa and Zimbabwe. 98 Latest Xhosa Baby Names With Their Meanings. This is not the sort of thing that is generally supposed to happen in languages. When I was selecting names for my children I wanted to see names that weren't just the standard. Xhosa is quite a popular language, and very much a part of modern South Africa. More Filters. Well, you could use a paraphrase, sort of like how superstitious actors say "The Scottish Play" instead of "Macbeth." The Xhosa language (Isixhosa), of which there are variations, is part of the Nguni language group. If you liked this story, like & follow us on Facebook for more. But the original idea they had was that Bantu warriors had taken brides from Khoisan peoples, possibly by force, and that the warriors were away from home so much that the children picked up clicks from their mothers and used them in the language of their fathers. The deer bolts, of course. Tsk! And from this, there came to be some word pairs with different shades of meaning — for instance, a click-free word meaning "pour out" and a clicked word meaning "sprinkle ceremonially." Usage: Language: Place + Letters. If any of the numbers are links, you can hear a recording by clicking on them. Certain words would get variants that were clickless for general use but clicked for polite speech. Find it confusing? You probably know what click sounds are. What if we replaced the c in coffee with a click? Aphiwe, both, they are given. They're sounds that English speakers make — but not as part of words. The language Miriam was talking about is Xhosa, the second most common language in South Africa. Secondly, though, when children grow up with parents who speak two languages, they don't randomly blenderize the languages. Linguists spent years trying to figure out the sounds make by the speakers of N|uu. Xhosa / ˈ k ɔː s ə, ˈ k oʊ s ə / (Xhosa: [ᵏǁʰɔsa]), [missing tone] also isiXhosa, is a Nguni Bantu language and one of the official languages of South Africa and Zimbabwe. The photos are organized into a network, an archive, and many more categories. The credit for introducing clicks to a worldwide audience goes to singer Miriam Makeba, whose life has been celebrated on Google’s Doodles this year. First, some words were the same for all people — the name of the king, for instance, but also the names of some animals and things that people wished to avoid trouble with. Zulu, Xhosa, and other languages related to them have had clicks only for a few hundred years. So why do these languages have clicks when most others don't? The Xhosa are the second largest cultural group in South Africa, after the Zulu-speaking nation. Anathi, both, they are with us. First of all, the relation between the Bantu cultures and the Khoisan cultures at the time of the borrowing was more of a friendly trading relationship, not one of military conflict. Other Bantu languages like Sotho and Zulu use clicks. One scholar, Alec Knight, proposed about 10 years ago that clicks were useful for the Khoisan cultures in particular because they are (or were) hunter-gatherer cultures, and the click sounds are just like forest sounds, so they wouldn't startle animals if they used them when they were hunting. Apr 1, 2016 - Are you searching for Xhosa names for your cute little one? But you could also just swap in another sound. It's one of the eleven official languages of South Africa, alongside several languages part of … If you can provide recordings, please contact me. To know more about the culture, and Xhosa baby names read the article below. The words listed below are not the most common words, but a broad sampling of words.See the Word Lists page for more details. The Xhosa Culture: Xhosa is the second largest cultural group among the Zulu-speaking population in South Africa. Every single click in Miriam Makeba's "click song," which is in Xhosa, is a sound that was borrowed from a neighboring language and swapped into existing words — and not all that long ago, either. But two factors helped anchor the clicks. The sole report outside Africa of a language using clicks involves the special case of Damin, a ritual vocabulary of the Lardil of northern Queensland, Australia.. Xhosa names for baby girls, with 7 entries. No need to say "the you-know-what" when you could just slip a click into the name of, say, the snake. Xhosa Name Generator is free online tool for generating Xhosa Names randomly. They learn both languages, and they learn what sounds go in what language. About 15 percent of Zulu and Xhosa words have clicks, including the name of the language Xhosa.