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Central ǃKung (Central ǃXun), orCentral Ju, is a language of theǃKung dialect cluster, spoken in a small area of northern Namibia: Neitsas, inGrootfontein district, and Gaub, inTsumeb district. It is frequently identified asGrootfontein ǃXuun, as most research has been done in Grootfontein. An identifying feature of Central ǃKung is a fifth series of clicks that are oftenretroflex. While Northern (Northwestern) and Southern (Southeastern) ǃKung are not mutually intelligible, it is not yet clear to what extent Central ǃKung is intermediate between them or intelligible with either.

Two dialects are identified as being Central ǃKung based on grammatical features:

In addition, the ǃKung dialects of Tsintsabis, Leeunes and Mangetti (different from Mangetti Dune) have retroflex clicks and so may belong here, though no grammatical information is available to classify them.

In Grootfontein ǃKung words which Doke (1926) and others have described as havingretroflex clicks, Vedder (1910/1911) described a second series of lateral clicks in Gaub ǃKung. The retroflex clicks have also been reported as having a lateral release.

Grootfontein ǃKung is unusual in having trueretroflex clicks, which aresubapical for some speakers and have lateral release, as in the word for 'water',[ᶢ𝼊𐞷ú] (provisionally writteng‼ú). There are thus five places of articulation in Grootfontein clicks,/ǃǀǁǂ𝼊 /. These come in eight series, here represented with the retroflex articulation:

Lingual/𝼊𝼊ʰᶢ𝼊ᵑ𝼊ᵑ̊𝼊ʰ/,glottalized/ᵑ̊𝼊ˀ/,linguo-pulmonic/𝼊χ/,linguo-glottalic/𝼊͡kxʼ/

Otherwise, the Grootfontein inventory is similar to that ofEkoka ǃKung, except that it lacks the (pre)voiced affricates/dχ,dʒ,dʒʼ,dʃχʼ/.

The Grootfontein ǃKung language has a relatively large phonological inventory:

Five vowel sounds in the ǃKung languages are realized as[ieaou]. The sounds may be articulated with nasalisation[ĩẽãõũ], breathy voice[iʱeʱaʱoʱuʱ], or pharyngealisation[iˤeˤaˤoˤuˤ]. Some nasal vowels with diacritics may have combinations such as breathy + nasal[ãʱõʱ], and pharyngeal + nasal[ãˤõˤũˤ].^[1]

Following are sample sentences in Central ǃKung.^[2]

• Miller, Amanda (2011). "The Representation of Clicks". In Van Oostendorp, Marc; Ewen, Colin J.; Hume, Elizabeth; Rice, Keren (eds.).The Blackwell Companion to Phonology. Vol. I: General Issues and Segmental Phonology. pp. 1–24.doi:10.1002/9781444335262.wbctp0018.ISBN 978-1-4051-8423-6.
• Miller, Sands, et al., 2010. "Retroflex Clicks in Two Dialects of ǃXung" (Grootfontein and Ekoka)^{[full citation needed]}
• Amanda Miller, 2009. "Contrastive Coronal Click Types in ǃXung" (Grootfontein)^{[full citation needed]}

• Grootfontein ǃKung basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database

• Kx'a languages

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