Hadza Language - Classification

Classification

Hadza is a language isolate (Sands 1998). It has traditionally been classified as a Khoisan language, along with its neighbor Sandawe, primarily because they both have clicks. However, Hadza has very few proposed cognates with either Sandawe or the other Khoisan languages, and many of the ones that have been proposed appear doubtful. The links with Sandawe, for example, are Cushitic loan words, while the links with southern Africa are so few and short (usually single C V syllables) that they could easily be coincidence. A few words link it with Oropom, which may itself be spurious; the numerals itchâme 'one' and pihe 'two' suggest a connection with Kw'adza, an extinct language of hunter-gatherers who may have had recently shifted to Cushitic. (Higher numerals were borrowed in both languages.)