# Shua language

Shua /ˈʃuːə/ SHOO-ə, or Shwakhwe, is a Khoe language (Central Khoisan) of Botswana. It is spoken in central Botswana (in Nata and its surroundings), and in parts of the Chobe District in the extreme north of Botswana. There are approximately 6,000 speakers (Cook 2004) and approximately 2,000 out of those 6,000 speakers are native speakers. The linguistic variety spoken in the township of Nata in northeast Botswana is highly endangered and spoken fluently only by adults over about thirty years of age. The term Shwakhwe means people (khwe) from the salty area (shwa).

## Phonology
### Consonants

| | | Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Alveolar | Lateral | Post- alveolar | Velar | Velar | Glottal |
| Click | nasal | | ᵑǀ | ᵑǃ | ᵑǃ | ᵑǁ | | | | |
| Click | voiceless | | ᵏǀ | ᵏǃ | ᵏǃ | ᵏǁ | ᵏǂ | | | |
| Click | voiced | | ᶢǀ | ᶢǃ | ᶢǃ | ᶢǁ | | | | |
| Click | aspirated | | ǀʰ | ǃʰ | ǃʰ | ǁʰ | | | | |
| Click | ejective | | ǀʼ | ǃʼ | ǃʼ | ǁʼ | ǂʼ | | | |
| Click | uvular | | ǀq | | | ǁq | ǂq | | | |
| Click | prenasal | | ᵑǀᶢ | | | ᵑǁᶢ | | | | |
| Nasal | Nasal | m | | n | n | | ɲ | ŋ | ŋ | |
| Plosive/ Affricate | voiceless | p | | t | ts | | | k | k | ʔ |
| Plosive/ Affricate | voiced | b | | d | dz | | | ɡ | ɡ | |
| Plosive/ Affricate | aspirated | | | tʰ | tsʰ | | | kʰ | kʰ | |
| Plosive/ Affricate | ejective | | | tʼ | tsʼ | | | kʼ | (kxʼ) | |
| Plosive/ Affricate | prenasal | | | | | | | ᵑɡ | ᵑɡ | |
| Fricative | Fricative | | | s | s | | | x | x | h |
| Approximant | Approximant | | | | | | j | | | |
| Cluster |
| +Velar fricative | +Velar fricative | | ǀˣ | ǃˣ | ǃˣ | ǁˣ | | | | |
| +Vd +Velar fricative | +Vd +Velar fricative | | | | | ᶢǁˣ | | | | |
| +Nasal +Velar fricative | +Nasal +Velar fricative | | ᵑǀᶢˣ | | | ᵑǁᶢˣ | | | | |
| +Velar ejective | +Velar ejective | | ǀˣʼ | | | ǁˣʼ | | | | |
* /kxʼ/ is only phonemic in the Tsʼixa and Danisi dialects.

### Vowels

Shua has the five vowels /a e i o u/, and three nasal vowels /ĩ ã ũ/.

## Syntax

Unlike most Khoisan languages, but like Nama, the most neutral word order is SOV, though word order is relatively free. As with most Khoisan languages, there are postpositions. There is a tense-aspect marker ke which often appears in second position in affirmative sentences in the present tense, giving X Aux S O V order (e.g. S Aux O V).
Kʼarokwa
boys
ke
ASP
ǀʼuizi
rock-PL
ʼa
OBL
gam
throw
Kʼarokwa ke ǀʼuizi ʼa gam
boys ASP rock-PL OBL throw
"The boys are throwing rocks"
ǀʼui-zi
rock-PL
ʼa
OBL
ke
ASP
kʼarokwa
boys
gam
throw
ǀʼui-zi ʼa ke kʼarokwa gam
rock-PL OBL ASP boys throw
"The boys are throwing rocks"
This marker appears first in certain subordinate clauses in a manner reminiscent of V2 languages such as German, where a clause-initial complementizer is in complementary distribution with a second position phenomenon (in German, it would be the finite verb which appears in second position).

### Numerals

Shua has indigenous terms for numeral terms, it is a restrictive and limited system of numerals.
* |uˉiˉ ‘one’
* |am ‘two’
* ngona: ~ ‖obeˉ:ˉ ‘three’
* hatsa: ‘four’
* |’oˉra: ‘a few’
* ‖hara: ‘many’
ta:
1SG
ngona:-n
three-PL
ʔau
fish
xo:-ha
catch-PAST
ta: ngona:-n ʔau xo:-ha
1SG three-PL fish catch-PAST
‘I caught three fish.’
Using this example, the numeral comes before the head noun. More specifically, it appears in the second "opening" of a noun phrase "following a demonstrative or determiner (if there is one), and preceding a qualifying nominal or adjective."

## Dialects

Shua is a dialect cluster.
* Deti (10 or fewer speakers)
* Ganádi
* Shwa-khwe
* Nǀoo-khwe
* Kǀoree-khoe or ǀOree-khwe
* ǁʼAiye or ǀAaye
* ǀXaise or ǀTaise
* Tshidi-khwe or Tcaiti or Sili or Shete Tsere
* Danisi or Demisa or Madenasse or Madinnisane
* Cara
* ǁGoro (ǁ᪶Oro) or ǀXaio
The term Hietshware (Hietʃware, Hietʃo) is used for varieties of both Shua and its sister-language Tshwa.
Tsʼixa (200 speakers) is evidently a distinct language.