Interjections in Tjwao

Abstract

The present paper provides a systematic description of interjections in a moribund Eastern Kalahari Khoe language – Tjwao. After analysing original evidence within a prototype-driven approach, the authors conclude the following: (a) in Tjwao, the interjectional lexical class constitutes an internally diverse category confined between the canonical centre and a non-prototypical periphery; and (b) primary emotive interjections exhibit the highest degree of canonicity and extra-systematicity, while the canonicity and extra-systematicity of secondary phatic interjections is lowest.

The meaning and form of onomatopoeias in Tjwao

“…Lastly, it should be noted that both in the list above and in all our examples, we use the standard orthography implemented in previous works on Tjwao (Fehn and Phiri 2017, Andrason and Phiri 2018, Andrason et al 2020). This orthography draws on Ts'ixa spelling conventions proposed by Fehn (2016).…”

“…Overall, the meaning of an onomatopoeia tends to be specialized – an onomatopoeic lexeme is either monosemous, or semantically restricted to a much larger extent than, for instance, interjections (Andrason et al 2020: 304, 313; Andrason and Dlali 2020: 165) 9 . That is, an onomatopoeia refers to a sound produced by a very specific source, for instance a determined animate creature, inanimate object, or natural phenomenon (see the various examples introduced in the section).…”

“…In contrast, in [ʘ], the lips are more compressed/inward. (It should be noted that [ʘ] is attested in the “Khoisan” Sprachbund, e.g., in the Tuu family and the ǂ’Amkoe branch of Kx'a, and it is also found in Tjwao, specifically in interjections (Andrason et al 2020)). Although, as explained above, only one non-speech sound has truly penetrated the onomatopoeic lexicon, virtually every onomatopoeia collected in our fieldwork may be realized in a more extra-systematic manner and, thus, approximate more closely the original non-speech sounds they imitate.…”

“…In general, if the speaker aims to be more expressive and depict a given sound in a way which (in their view) represents it more faithfully, they may resort to a less phonetically harnessed and more extra-systematic non-speech realization. This “flexibility” and compatibility with a range of pronunciations that are less systematic and accommodated in human language, but more oriented towards the actual source (as perceived by humans), is a typical property of all onomatopoeias and distinguishes them from the other lexical classes, including interjections (which may also contain extra-systematic sounds in Tjwao; see Andrason et al 2020).…”

“…Note, for instance, that Tjwao is not mentioned in the seminal works on the Khoe family by Vossen (1997, 2013) and by Güldemann and Vossen (2000). The most significant contributions are papers published recently by Fehn and Phiri (2017) on the Tjwao nominal system, Andrason and Phiri (2018) on some aspects of the verbal system, and Andrason et al (2020) on interjections.…”