ǃKung languages

The Ju (also spelled Juu, Zhu or Dzu) or ǃKung languages are a language family consisting of a single dialect continuum spoken in Botswana, Namibia, and Angola. They form one branch of a suspected Khoisan language family, and are called Northern Khoisan in that scenario.

The better known Ju dialects are ǃʼOǃKung, Juǀʼhoan, and ǂKxʼauǁʼein. They are sometimes divided into four clusters:

• Northern Ju (Angola, but with many refugees now in Namibia: ǃʼOǃKung, Maligo),
• Southeastern Ju (Botswana east of the Okavango Delta, and northeast Namibia from near Windhoek to Rundu, Gobabis, and the Caprivi Strip: Juǀʼhoan, ǂKxʼauǁʼein),
• Central Ju (area around Grootfontein, Namibia, west of the central Omatako River and south of the Ovambo River), and
• North-Central Ju, between the Ovambo River and the Angolan border, around the tributaries of the Okavango River east of Rundu to the Etosha Pan.

The Ju dialects are famous for having large numbers of clicks, and they have some of the most complex inventories of both consonants and vowels in the world. They also have tone. For a description, see Juǀʼhoan, though other dialects have more types of click articulation: In addition to the dental, alveolar, palatal, and lateral clicks of Southeastern dialects such as Juǀʼhoan, Central Ju has a contrastive retroflex click, while the Northern and North-Central dialects contrast two lateral clicks. (See click consonant.)

Ju may be most closely related to ǂHõã. Such a connection was only recently proposed and is currently under investigation; it would be distant enough that it is not immediately obvious. Juu-ǂHõã in turn has many features in common with the Tuu family, but this is generally believed to be due to the effects of a language area.