Bushman Language

Bushmen are generally associated with a culture of nomadic hunter-gather people in the Kalahari Desert of Africa. They are known under different names in different regions, such as Basarwa in Botswana. In Namibia and South Africa, they are called San. They prefer to be called bushmen, as they are proud of their origin and their extensive knowledge of the bushveld, which is where they live.

Their language is quite unique in comparison to other languages. It is comprised of a selection of clicks. There are a variety of versions of their language. In total there are five types of click noises, which they use. Overall the click is created by a sucking action of the tongue. However, different positioning alters the click noise by changing the way air is released.

The sounds are written as “/” (dental), “≠” (palatal), “!” (alveolar or retroflex), “//” (lateral) and “” (circle with dot) (bibabial). The sound // is similar to a noise a rider would make when urging his horse to move.

The sound / is similar to a “tsk tsk” or tutting, when you are expressing sympathy to a person. The ! is the noise that you make with your tongue to imitate a cork popping from a bottle. Lastly ≠ sounds like a baby sucking with a tongue just behind their teeth.

Different groups of Bushman use different clicks. The tribe of bushmen that live north of Uitspan Hunting Ranch speak two kinds, called West !Xoon and N/ohan. Overall the two are part of the Taa language group.

Taa means person or human being and is the one variation, which is still spoken by the majority of the Bushmen. Most of the Bushmen live in Botswana. Due to the numbers of speakers from the tribes, the language has fallen under the endangered language list. However, organisations are busy trying to record all the culture, traditions, history and language, as well as their large knowledge of the plants and nature.

In Namibia, the largest group of Bushmen can be found at the Uitspan Hunting Ranch. The ranch is on communal land. They call the area the “Korridor” – because it lies between the former Aminuis Native Reserve and the Botswana Border. The place was established in 1923 for Herero cattle herders to roam since the Namibian Independence.

Originally it served as a buffer zone against the cattle spreading disease from Botswana into the reserve. Today the Korridor is divided into 22 farms. Each farm has a few boreholes and one of them was given to the Bushman tribe.

It is here that the Bushman created their village, which the locals have dubbed “San Plaas”. Plaas is the Afrikaans word for Farm, Afrikaans being another local language. Since 1997 visitors have been welcome to come and visit and live in the culture and experience it for themselves.

Celeste writes for Translation Bureau a business dedicated to translations.