The Xhosa Click Language

Bantu Clicks are speech sounds found in the Xhosa language spoken in Khayelitsha Township as well as a few other African languages. Generally the click replaces a consonant sound at the beginning of a word or syllable. The only non-African language that uses clicks is Damin spoken by the Lardil who live on islands in the Gulf of Carpentaria Australia. English doesn’t use clicks in regular spoken language, but we do use a couple of clicks like tsk! tsk! to indicate disapproval and the click sound we use to urge a horse forward.

Two of the characters in my novel speak the Xhosa click language.