"Nama language" redirects here. For other uses, see Nama language (disambiguation).
Khoekhoe
Nama/Damara
Khoekhoegowab
Native to
Namibia, Botswana and South Africa
Region
Orange River, Great Namaland, Damaraland
Ethnicity
Khoikhoi, Nama, Damara, Haiǁom, ǂKhomani
Native speakers
200,000 ± 10,000 (2011)[1]
Language family
Khoe–Kwadi
Khoe
Khoekhoe
Khoekhoe
Dialects
Nama–Damara
Haiǁom–ǂĀkhoe
Official status
Recognised minority language in
Namibia South Africa[a][2]
Language codes
ISO 639-3
Either: naq – Khoekhoe, Nama hgm – Haiǁom
Glottolog
nort3245 Subfamily: North Khoekhoe nama1264 Language: Nama haio1238 Language: Haiǁom-Akhoe
ELP
Khoekhoe
The distribution of the Nama language in Namibia
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.
The Khoe language
Person
Khoe-i
People
Khoekhoen
Language
Khoekhoegowab
The Khoekhoe/ˈkɔɪkɔɪ/KOY-koy language (Khoekhoegowab, Khoekhoe pronunciation:[k͡xʰo̜͡ek͡xʰo̜͡egowab]), also known by the ethnic terms Nama (Namagowab) /ˈnɑːmə/NAH-mə,[3]Damara (ǂNūkhoegowab), or Nama/Damara[4][5] and formerly as Hottentot,[b] is the most widespread of the non-Bantu languages of Southern Africa that make heavy use of click consonants and therefore were formerly classified as Khoisan, a grouping now recognized as obsolete. It belongs to the Khoe language family, and is spoken in Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa primarily by three ethnic groups: Namakhoen, ǂNūkhoen, and Haiǁomkhoen.
^Brenzinger, Matthias (2011) "The twelve modern Khoisan languages." In Witzlack-Makarevich & Ernszt (eds.), Khoisan languages and linguistics: proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium, Riezlern / Kleinwalsertal (Research in Khoisan Studies 29). Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.
^"Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 – Chapter 1: Founding Provisions". gov.za. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
^Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student's Handbook, Edinburgh
^Haacke, Wilfrid H. G. (2018), Kamusella, Tomasz; Ndhlovu, Finex (eds.), "Khoekhoegowab (Nama/Damara)", The Social and Political History of Southern Africa's Languages, Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp. 133–158, doi:10.1057/978-1-137-01593-8_9, ISBN 978-1-137-01592-1
^ ab"Khoekhoe languages". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
^"Hottentot". Oxford Reference. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
The Khoekhoe /ˈkɔɪkɔɪ/ KOY-koy language (Khoekhoegowab, Khoekhoe pronunciation: [k͡xʰo̜͡ek͡xʰo̜͡egowab]), also known by the ethnic terms Nama (Namagowab)...
mostly gave up nomadic pastoralism in the 19th to 20th century. Their Khoekhoelanguage is related to certain dialects spoken by foraging San peoples of the...
Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Northern South Africa. The word sān is from the Khoekhoelanguage and refers to foragers ("those who pick things up from the ground")...
This article contains click symbols from the Khoekhoelanguage. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols...
represented by the Cimba, Kwisi, and the Damara, who adopted the Khoekhoelanguage. Like the Kwisi they were fishermen, on the lower reaches of the Coroca...
This article contains click symbols from the Khoekhoelanguage. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols...
This article contains click symbols from the Khoekhoelanguage. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols...
and Himba people, who speak the related Herero language, and the Damara, who, like the Nama, speak Khoekhoe. In addition to the Bantu majority, there are...
the Khoekhoelanguage. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols. Owela, also referred to by the Khoekhoe language...
of the name, 'Knysna' - including 'xthys xna,' purportedly from a Khoekhoelanguage term that might have meant 'place of timber', 'place of ferns', or...
Welwitschia is a monotypic genus (that is, a genus that contains a single recognised species) of gymnosperm, the sole described species being the distinctive...
This article contains click symbols from the Khoekhoelanguage. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols...
This article contains click symbols from the Khoekhoelanguage. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols...
cultural hegemony that included the almost universal adoption of the Dutch language. Many of the colonists who settled directly on the frontier became increasingly...
pastoralism and became the Khoekhoe. They mixed extensively with speakers of Tuu languages, absorbing features of their languages. This has resulted in Tuu...
at 216 metres (709 ft). The word "Tsitsikamma" originates from the Khoekhoelanguage tse-tsesa, meaning "clear", and gami, meaning "water", probably referring...
the extremely arid climate. The name Namib is of Khoekhoegowab (or Nama language) origin, and has been variously reported to mean "vast place" and "an area...
This article contains click symbols from the Khoekhoelanguage. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols...
dental clicks is made in certain other languages, but the meaning thereof differs widely between many of the languages (e.g., affirmation in Somali but negation...
roughly equal numbers of Nguni, Sotho-Tswana and Indo-European language speakers, with Khoekhoe influence. This has resulted in the spread of an urban argot...
This article contains click symbols from the Khoekhoelanguage. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols...
Global Information
Namibia
South Africa[a][2]