Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
49 shellac records (78 rpm.) of Khoisan speech and music
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Prof. Emeritus Anthony Traill was formerly head of the Dept of Linguistics at Wits.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Collection of South African Khoisan Languages on shellac and vinyl records, tapes, CD and booklet, which were donated to Historical Papers by Professor Anthony Traill in 2004. Prof. Emeritus Anthony Traill was formerly head of the Department of Linguistics at Wits University.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The recordings were made of the last surviving fluent speakers of two major South African Khoisan linguistic families, the Khoekoe (Khoi) and the !Kwi (San). Many of the original recordings on the shellac records were made in the Phonetics Laboratory of the University in 1936, when a group of Bushmen visited Johannesburg for the Empire Exhibition. The recordings on the 33rpm record was made some 18 years later. The recordings were later archived on optical discs with manual enhancement. More description about the project, comments about the recordings and the Khoisan languages, can be found in the booklet which accompanied the CD, produced by Professor Anthony Traill and the Department of Linguistic, Wits University.
Page 5 of the booklet contains a ||Xegwi rendering of the text 'The North Wind and the Sun', which is a standard text developed by the International Phonetic Association.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Not all the records were numbered. Their covers have been marked with the number of the box in which they were found (Boxes A-D).
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Uploaded finding aid
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
The conversion of the tracks on the phonograph records to digital records was done in collaboration with the SABC.