Ku |khaasi is an extinct ǃKwi language once spoken in the southwest Kalahari desert.
In 1936, one of the last speakers, Kabara, was recorded singing a lullaby to her baby, Matabab.
Listen to what may be an echo of the ancient mother tongue spoken by the first modern humans.
In 1936, one of the last speakers, Kabara, was recorded singing a lullaby to her baby, Matabab.
Listen to what may be an echo of the ancient mother tongue spoken by the first modern humans.
All languages constantly evolve and so linguists generally dislike the concept of an "ancient language", but having said that, there are significant indications that click languages like the ǃKwi family (and other San languages) are of enormous antiquity.
nytimes.com
nytimes.com
This is a message recorded in 1938 by Mukalap, one of the last speakers of !Ora, a now extinct Khoekhoe language once spoken over large parts of the northwest Cape. He implores people over the seas to listen to it, just once, so they should never again be ignorant of its beauty.
Both the sound clips in this thread come from "Extinct South African Khoisan Languages", an irreplaceable CD produced by the linguist Anthony Traill of the University of Witwatersrand in 1997, with 15 tracks mainly recorded in the 1930s by Khoisan speakers of now lost languages.
Although the !Ora [Kora] language was considered extinct, in 2007 two very elderly people were found who still understood some of the language. A book 'Kora: A Lost Khoesan Language of the Early Cape and the Gariep' resulted - the author's draft is here:
researchgate.net
researchgate.net
You can read more about Menán du Plessis' 'Kora: A Lost Khoesan Language of the Early Cape and the Gariep' published by Unisa Press in 2018 here:
unisa.ac.za
unisa.ac.za
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