Click-Click Jokes about the African Language?

Question

Why when people joke about the African language they always use a 'click-click' sound?

Answer 1

Certain languages in Africa use clicking sounds. I can't remember off the top of my head, but its some of the older, hunter languages. The sound is meant to mimic bugs and birds so that when hunters are stalking an animal they won't spook it.

Answer 2

The language is called Xhosa. Thank you Snickerdoodle, for correcting everyone. I am tired of people acting like African is a language. It is a continent. It is like saying "can you speak North American"? .Anyway the reason people joke about it is because of the documentaries. There has been allot of documentaries with people speaking this language. Allot of comedians and such probably made fun of Africans who use this language. The popularity of jeering,making fun of, eventually becomes a stereotype. This stereotype will not die for a long time. I am very surprised that it comes from South Africa. It has different dialects as well. This language must be very complex. Too bad the ignorant people want to just make fun of this because it is different instead of embracing it because it is unique.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xhosa_language

Answer 3

There is no such thing as "the African Language" any more than there is "the European Language". There are hundreds of languages in Africa. Some of the languages of southern Africa have clicks as phonemes. There are three or four different clicks in different languages. The click language with the most speakers is Xhosa in South Africa. (The "X" in the name represents a click.) There are many different phonemes in other languages that do not occur in English. Clicks are just one group of these.

Answer 4

You're obviously ignorant because there is no such thing as the African language. Africa has hundreds if not thousands of indigenous languages. If you are referring to the language known as Afrikaans, I have never heard jokes about it. I don't speak Afrikaans, but I think it is based off of Dutch. No clicking there.

However, some primitive tribes in Africa communicate with a series of clicks as their verbal language. I think you meant to ask about these languages. I haven't heard any jokes, personally. Though it may be because the tribes that utilize those languages are technologically behind. They have no written language, and life is maintained much like it was in the Stone Age in Europe.

Answer 5

Yes, they're real. And they use vowels and consonants as well but it's just difficult for people to make the clicking noise in the word if unfamiliar and you haven't grown up with it. That's what the ! is for in !Xhosa. Other languages have clicks too, like the Quiche in South America I believe, and others too

Answer 6

Hahahahaha!!! I never heard that!!! I have heard that for mimicking Ethiopian, there was even a South Park episode about that particular area.