The Kirks

One of the most widely spoken languages in South Africa is Xhosa or <click>’hosa.  If you click here, you can hear it said.  Xhosa imported a number of “click” sounds from the language of the Khoisan which is called !Xóõ.  This language is remarkable in that it has more phonemes than any other.  There are 83 different click sounds alone.  The Bantu speakers who displaced the Khoisan imported a few of these clicks into <click>hosa and it’s very arresting to hear these phonemes used by English speakers since you never hear them in any European languages.