Nama Language

The Khoekhoe language, or Khoekhoegowab, also known by the ethnic term Nàmá and previously the now discouraged term Hottentot, is the most populous and widespread of the Khoisan languages. It belongs to the Khoe language family, and is spoken in Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa by three ethnic groups, the Nama, Damara, and Haiǁom. It appears that the Damara picked up the language from the Nama in Botswana, and that they migrated to Namibia sep... more

The Khoekhoe language, or Khoekhoegowab, also known by the ethnic term Nàmá and previously the now discouraged term Hottentot, is the most populous and widespread of the Khoisan languages. It belongs to the Khoe language family, and is spoken in Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa by three ethnic groups, the Nama, Damara, and Haiǁom. It appears that the Damara picked up the language from the Nama in Botswana, and that they migrated to Namibia separately from the Nama. The Haiǁom, who had spoken a Juu language, later shifted to Khoekhoe. The name for Nama speakers, Khoekhoen, is from the Nama word khoe "person", with reduplication and the suffix -n to indicate the plural. According to Ethnologue, there were 270,000 speakers in 2006. Nama is a national language in Namibia. In Namibia and South Africa, radio programs are broadcast in Nama. There are 5 vowel qualities, found as oral /i e a o u/ and nasal /ĩ ã ũ/. These may be long or short, and there are several sequences or diphthongs:... less