Nama language
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{{language
|name=Nama
|nativename=Khoekhoegowab
|familycolor=Khoisan
|states=Namibia, Botswana and South Africa
|region=Orange River, Great Namaland
|speakers=250,000
Namibia: approx. 176,000
plus 16,000 Hai‖om
Botswana: 200 to 1,000
South Africa: approx. 56,000
|fam2=Khoe
|fam3=Khoekhoe
|fam4=North Khoekhoe
|nation=National language in Namibia
|iso2=khi
|lc1=hgm|ld1=Hai‖om|ll1=Hai//om language
|lc2=kqz|ld2=Korana|ll2=Korana language
|lc3=naq|ld3=Nama (Namibia)|ll3=none
|lc4=xii|ld4=Xiri
|map=Image:Nama-Damara taalkaartje NL.png}}
Nàmá, previously called 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 the Namaqua, Damara, and Hai‖om, as well as smaller ethnic groups such as the ‡Khomani. The name for Nama speakers, Khoekhoen, is from the Nama word kxòe "person", with reduplication and the suffix -n to indicate the plural. According to Ethnologue, there were 250,000 speakers as of 1998.
Contents |
Classification
Nama is in the Khoe family, which is part of a hypothetical Khoisan phylum.
Geographic distribution
Nama has 250,000 speakers in Namibia, South Africa, and (a few in) Botswana.
Dialects
- Damara
- Sesfontein Damara
- Namidama
- Central Damara
- Nama (proper)
- Gimsbok Nama
- Hai‖om
Sounds
Vowels
There are 5 vowel qualities, found as oral Template:IPA and nasal Template:IPA. These may be long or short, and there are several sequences or diphthongs: Template:IPA and nasal Template:IPA. (Template:IPA is phonemically Template:IPA.)
Tones
Nama has three tones, Template:IPA, which may occur on vowels and nasal stops. The mid tone is not written.
Consonants
Nama has 31 consonants: 20 clicks and a simple set of 11 non-clicks.
Non-clicks
Between vowels, Template:IPA is pronounced Template:IPA and Template:IPA is pronounced Template:IPA.
Clicks
The clicks are doubly articulated consonants, consisting of four "releases" or "influxes" (forward articulations) and five "accompaniments" or "effluxes" (rearward articulations), for twenty combinations.
The aspirated clicks are often pronounced as affricates. That is, Template:IPA may be pronounced anywhere from Template:IPA to Template:IPA.
The voiceless nasal accompaniment is difficult to hear when not between vowels, so to foreign ears it may sound like a longer but less raspy version of the aspirated accompaniment.
There have been several orthographies used for Nama, with sometimes conflicting differences in the representation of the clicks.
| accompaniment | affricated clicks | 'sharp' clicks | spelling (with "!") | ||
| dental clicks | lateral clicks | alveolar clicks | palatal clicks | ||
| Tenuis | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | <!> or <!g> |
| Aspirated | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | <!x> or <!k> |
| Nasal | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | <n!> or <!n> |
| Voiceless nasal with delayed aspiration | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | <!h> |
| Tenuis with glottal stop | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | <!’> or <!> |
Grammar
Nama has a Subject Object Verb word order.
Example
English Translation
The lion is king of all the beasts because he is very strong, thick of chest, slim of waist, and runs fast.
Every morning, the young lion would go out into the forest and compare his strength with the other beasts. And every day he would return the victor. This news was heard and known throughout the animal world: that the lion was king of the beasts. Every day that he would return victorious, his mother would praise him, "Son of mine! Thick of neck! Thick of chest! He-man!"
But one morning, when having got up the young lion was stretching, she praised him, "Thick of chest! Thick of neck! Lion-armed! Slim of waist!," finished praising him and said, "I truly believe that you are strongest of all the beasts. Every day you go out into the forest and return, and show me that you are truly king of the beasts. But, my son, one day you will go out into the forest. And while you are out walking around in the forest, you will see a little thing which walks straight, its head sitting on its shoulders. And, Son of mine! Thick of chest! Thick of neck! Slim of waist!, the day you meet that little thing, on that day the sun will set while you have not returned. The name of that little thing is called 'man'.
Trivia
- Nama is a national language in Namibia, and doctorates in the study of the language can be earned at the University of Namibia.
- In Namibia and South Africa, radio programs are broadcast in Nama.
- There is a dictionary of the Nama language available.
Bibliography
- Haacke, Wilfrid H.G. & Eiseb, Eliphas (2002) A Khoekhoegowab dictionary with an English-Khoekhoegowab index. Windhoek : Gamsberg Macmillan. ISBN 9991604014