Khoisan

American  

[koi-sahn] / ˈkɔɪ sɑn /

noun

1. a family of languages found chiefly in southern Africa and including the languages of the San and the Khoikhoi.

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adjective

1. of or belonging to Khoisan.

Khoisan British  

/ ˈkɔɪsɑːn, kɔɪˈsɑːn /

noun

1. a family of languages spoken in southern Africa by the Khoikhoi and Bushmen and by two small groups in Tanzania. A characteristic phonological feature of these languages is the use of suction stops (clicks)

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adjective

1. denoting, relating to, or belonging to this family of languages

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Khoisan

In the drier, sandier areas of the western Kalahari Desert and Namibia, Khoisan speakers remained the dominant group until more recent times.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023

For the Khoisan people of southern Africa, it’s an archer confronting zebras and a lion.

From Science Magazine ● Jan. 18, 2023

Recently, Amazon halted a sizable investment in Cape Town after the descendants of the Khoisan people asserted that the Amazon facilities were being built on their ancestral lands.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 26, 2022

The collective was a broad coalition of First Nations groups, said Zenzile Khoisan, one of its leaders, adding that the consultation with the developer was effective.

From New York Times ● Mar. 21, 2022

Egypt’s wheat and barley never reached the Mediterranean climate at the Cape of Good Hope until European colonists brought them in 1652, and the Khoisan never developed agriculture.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond