A dictionary and reference grammar for ǀXam – a lost Khoisan language of the !Ui sub-family, formerly spoken by Sān communities in the early Cape and the interior of South Africa.

This account of the |Xam language—from the !Ui branch of the TUU family—
is envisaged as a contribution that will help to restore part of South Africa’s
intangible cultural heritage; enrich our understanding of South Africa’s
undocumented history; and enable work of greater scholarly authenticity
when it comes to interdisciplinary studies of the great corpus of |Xam stories
and other narratives collected by Bleek and Lloyd during the 19th century.
The project will deliver a comprehensive |Xam-English dictionary with twoway
look-up options plus an augmented online version; and a comparative
reference grammar. The overall outcome will be an attractively designed
volume to be published under a creative commons agreement, with free
access via an augmented electronic version. The work will be aimed at a
diverse audience ranging from lay readers, to students of linguistics, to
scholars from a range of other fields. The idea is that it will provide a “onestop”
means of accessing this extinct indigenous language of the early Cape
and the interior of South Africa.