Xoon
Nouns table
| gloss | layer | sg | pl |
|---|---|---|---|
| black crow | lexeme | ǁnòhalà | ǁnòhatê |
| black crow | stem | #stem | #stem |
| black crow | suffix | la | te |
| duiker | lexeme | ʘhán | ʘhūunî |
| duiker | stem | #stem1 | #stem2 |
| duiker | suffix | zero | ni |
| elder half bro. | lexeme | ʘxàa | ʘxàatû |
| elder half bro. | stem | #stem | #stem |
| elder half bro. | suffix | zero | tu |
| eyelash | lexeme | gǀqhùbisà | gǀqhùbitê |
| eyelash | stem | #stem | #stem |
| eyelash | suffix | la | te |
| fillet | lexeme | ǁɢó̰lo | ǁɢó̰lotê |
| fillet | stem | #stem | #stem |
| fillet | suffix | zero | te |
| hunting bag | lexeme | ǃūma | ǃūmanî |
| hunting bag | stem | #stem | #stem |
| hunting bag | suffix | zero | ni |
| owl with tufts | lexeme | ǂ’ábelé | ǂ’ábetê |
| owl with tufts | stem | #stem | #stem |
| owl with tufts | suffix | le | te |
| penis | lexeme | ǂ’àn | ǂ’àna |
| penis | stem | #stem1 | #stem2 |
| penis | suffix | zero | zero |
| redcrested korhaan | lexeme | sû’ũ | sû’ũnã́ |
| redcrested korhaan | stem | #stem | #stem |
| redcrested korhaan | suffix | zero | na |
| sod of grass | lexeme | ’ǃnō̰hm | ’ǃnō̰hmatê |
| sod of grass | stem | #stem1 | #stem2 |
| sod of grass | suffix | zero | te |
| spirit | lexeme | ǃnáãsé | ǃnáãtê |
| spirit | stem | #stem | #stem |
| spirit | suffix | se | te |
| stick | lexeme | nàubâ | nàãnî |
| stick | stem | #stem1 | #stem2 |
| stick | suffix | ba | ni |
| type of lizard | lexeme | ǁɢà̰hnikà | ǁɢà̰hnitê |
| type of lizard | stem | #stem | #stem |
| type of lizard | suffix | ka | te |
| type of plant | lexeme | qûle | qûnsâ |
| type of plant | lexeme | ǀqhú’lukú | ǀqhú’lutê |
| type of plant | stem | #stem1 | #stem2 |
| type of plant | stem | #stem | #stem |
| type of plant | suffix | zero | sa |
| type of plant | suffix | ku | te |
| unmarried woman | lexeme | ǃɢā̰hisì | ǃɢā̰hitê |
| unmarried woman | stem | #stem | #stem |
| unmarried woman | suffix | si | te |
| water beetle | lexeme | ǃábílí | ǃábítê |
| water beetle | stem | #stem | #stem |
| water beetle | suffix | lí | te |
| wild cotton | lexeme | ǃgúubè | ǃgúutê |
| wild cotton | stem | #stem | #stem |
| wild cotton | suffix | be | te |
| woman’s rear apron | lexeme | ǁgábitê | ǁgábutê |
| woman’s rear apron | stem | #stem1 | #stem2 |
| woman’s rear apron | suffix | te | te |
Verbs table
| gloss | layer | stem phonology | base | > I sg | > II sg | > III sg | > IV sg | > V sg | > VI sg | > I pl | > II pl | > III pl | > IV pl | > V pl | > VI pl | > VII sg | > VII pl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| dig | suffix | lateral stem | zero | i | i | a | e | e | e | i | u | a | a | a | u | zero | zero |
| dig | lexeme | lateral stem | qàla | qali | qali | qana | qale | qale | qale | qali | qalu | qana | qana | qana | qalu | qan | qan |
| dig | stem | lateral stem | #V-stem | #plain | #plain | #nasal | #plain | #plain | #plain | #plain | #plain | #nasal | #nasal | #nasal | #plain | #nasal | #nasal |
| give birth | suffix | V stem | zero | i | i | ã | e | e | e | i | u | ã | ã | e | u | an | an |
| give birth | lexeme | V stem | gǁkx’óu | gǁkx’oi | gǁkx’oi | gǁkx’oã | gǁkx’oe | gǁkx’oe | gǁkx’oe | gǁkx’oi | gǁkx’ou | gǁkx’oã | gǁkx’oã | gǁkx’oe | gǁkx’ou | gǁkx’oan | gǁkx’oan |
| give birth | stem | V stem | #V-stem | #C-stem | #C-stem | #C-stem | #C-stem | #C-stem | #C-stem | #C-stem | #C-stem | #C-stem | #C-stem | #C-stem | #C-stem | #C-stem | #C-stem |
| stop | suffix | palatal stem | zero | ji | ji | ɲa | je | je | je | ji | ju | ɲa | ɲa | ɲa | ju | zero | zero |
| stop | lexeme | palatal stem | ǃà̰i | ǃa̰ji | ǃa̰ji | ǃa̰ɲa | ǃa̰je | ǃa̰je | ǃa̰je | ǃa̰ji | ǃa̰ju | ǃa̰ɲa | ǃa̰ɲa | ǃa̰ɲa | ǃa̰ju | ǃa̰n | ǃa̰n |
| stop | stem | palatal stem | #V-stem | #plain | #plain | #nasal | #plain | #plain | #plain | #plain | #plain | #nasal | #nasal | #nasal | #plain | #nasal | #nasal |
| take out | suffix | labial stem | zero | bi | bi | ma | be | be | be | bi | bu | ma | ma | ma | bu | zero | zero |
| take out | lexeme | labial stem | ǂnáu | ǂnabi | ǂnabi | ǂnama | ǂnabe | ǂnabe | ǂnabe | ǂnabi | ǂnabu | ǂnama | ǂnama | ǂnama | ǂnabu | ǂnam | ǂnam |
| take out | stem | labial stem | #V-stem | #plain | #plain | #nasal | #plain | #plain | #plain | #plain | #plain | #nasal | #nasal | #nasal | #plain | #nasal | #nasal |
!Xoon notes
Verbs
- Transitive verbs agree in gender and number with their objects. Not shown here are two inquorate genders represented by just one noun each. The gender labelled here VII itself has only one noun with this as its lexical gender ('thing'), but it is used for any inanimate referent for agreement further down the agreement agreement hierarchy than the sentence.
- The same agreement pattern is found with 3rd person pronouns (both free pronouns and enclitic); the forms are essentially those of the agreement suffixes found with vocalic stem transitive verbs.
- What we have called the base form here occurs suffixed with -sà as the verbal noun or infinitive.
Nouns
- Noun plurals are typically marked with a suffix, and the singular is for some nouns as well. In addition, many nouns have a singular plural stem alternation. Unfortunately there is no systematic treatment of the full range of possibilities. The paradigms in the database are based on the entries in Traill (1994), and record the suffixes and the presence or absence of a stem alternation. For the suffixes, by far the most common pattern in the dictionary is to have none in the singular and -tê in the plural, and of the stem alternations, CVC ~ CVCV (with or without plural suffixation) is common, as is an alternation between final /i/ and /u/, as in 'ǃnṵ̀hbi (singular) ~ 'ǃnṵ̀hbu-tê (plural) 'kneecap'. Other stem alternations are more opaque, up to complete suppletion, as in ǃōo (singular) ~ ǂnûn (plural) 'knife'.
References
Güldemann, Tom. 2013. Morphology: Southern Khoesan (Tuu). In Rainer Vossen (ed.) The Khoesan languages, pp. 234-249. London: Routledge.
Traill, Anthony. 1994. A !Xóõ dictionary. (Quellen zur Khoisan-Forschung/Research in Khoisan Studies, 9.) Köln: Rüdiger Köppe.