The Rise and Fall of Xri: The History of a Completed Language Shift in the Northern Cape, South Africa

Abstract:On the basis of a thorough study of all known sources, the processes are reconstructed by which Xri (Khoe, southern Africa) came to be spoken in an emergent multilingual and multiethnic society in the interior of the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, and relations between Xri and the Griqua group to which many of its speakers have belonged are clarified. Linguistic pressure from Cape Dutch, territorial pressure from European settlers, and political pressure from the colonial government contributed to its eventual decline with speakers shifting to an Afrikaans variety over 150 years, although partial speakers still survive.