Sunday, April 10, 2016

C For Coloured

There are some letters of the English alphabet which are pronounced completely differently in Xhosa: in particular, C, Q, and X. Lately our Coloured population, which is genetically about one-third Xhosa, has been using Xhosa pronunciations of letters -- which applies not least to the word "Coloured" itself -- the C in this case becoming a dental click (which is very difficult for a European to pronounce). My wife, who is studying the Bible's Wisdom Books at the moment,  pronounces Qoholeth with an aveolar click, which has been described as the sound of a cork being pulled from a bottle. OBSERVATION: "Coloured" typically does not have a negative connotation in South Africa.

1 comment:

Steve Hayes said...

As they used to say about 20 years ago....

If Benny Alexander is Khoisan X then Pik Botha must be Guronsan C.