TALK: Hilde Gunnink (Ghent University)

Tjhauba (Shetjhauba) is the northwesternmost variety of Kgalagadi, a Bantu language spoken across most of the interior of Botswana. Tjhauba has been noted to differ strongly from other Kgalagadi varieties (Lukusa and Monaka 2008; Monaka 2013), but no previous descriptions are available. On the basis of recently collected field data, this paper explores cases of Khoisan influence in the Tjhauba phonology and lexicon, particularly the use of click phonemes. It will be shown that Tjhauba has a relatively rich inventory of click sounds, due to (apparently) recent contact with surrounding Bantu and Khoisan click languages. This accounts for much of the  variation between Tjhauba and other Kgalagadi varieties.