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

In Cape Town, improvisers picked up on the carnival music of the townships’ Coloured population, a mix of Malaysian, Indian, Dutch, Khoisan and Black African heritages.

From New York Times • Jun. 5, 2024

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

Those exceptions are two very distinctive, click-laden Khoisan languages named Hadza and Sandawe, stranded in Tanzania more than 1,000 miles from the nearest Khoisan languages of southern Africa.

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