Seroa, or ǃUi, is a ǃKwi language or dialect of South Africa that went extinct in the 19th century. It was spoken in the area of Bloemfontein. Seroa is the Sesotho name, literally “language of the Baroa (Bushmen)”; the people called themselves ǃUi (that is, ǃKwi), which just means ‘people’. The language is labeled SIId in Dorothea Bleek‘s classification.
Doculects
Güldemann (2019) lists the following doculects.[2]
| Label | Researcher | Date | Origin | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ǃUi | Wuras | > 1836 | Bethany | Bleek label SIId. |
| ǃUi | Arbousset | 1836 | Mokhasi/Puchane | Bleek label SIId. |
Seroa was closely related to ǁKuǁʼe and Boshof ǃUi, but analysis of the recorded data has not been enough to determine the boundary between language and dialect.
References
- ^ Traill, A. (2002). “The Khoesan languages”. In Mesthrie, Rajend (ed.). Language in South Africa. Cambridge University Press. p. 42. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511486692.003. ISBN 978-0-521-79105-2.
- ^ Tom Güldemann. 2019. Toward a subclassification of the ǃUi branch of Tuu. Paper presented at Afrikalinguistisches Forschungskolloquium at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, 8 January 2019. 10pp.