Khoekhoegowab

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Khoekhoegowab

Spoken in

Namibia , Botswana and South Africa
speaker 300,000

Namibia: 238,769 (2011)
Botswana: 200 to 1000
South Africa: around 56,000

Linguistic
classification
Official status
Official language in National language in Namibia
Language codes
ISO 639 -1

-

ISO 639-3

hgm ( Haiǁom ), naq (Nama)

Khoekhoegowab is the official name in Namibia for the amalgamation of the Khoisan languages Nama , Damara (collectively and historically often referred to as Damara-Nama or - more rarely - Nama-Damara ), Haiǁom and Topnaar .

The language is spoken by the Nama , Damara , Haiǁom and Topnaar and is the most widespread Khoisan language in terms of geography and number of speakers . The individual languages ​​of Khoekhoegowab are spoken by around 300,000 people in Namibia, Botswana and South Africa (as of 1998). It is not to be confused with the language of the San (including ǃKung ), which is also a Khoisan language.

In Namibia it is a national language. It is recognized in South Africa, but unlike Afrikaans , English and nine Bantu languages ​​spoken there, it is not official. ISO 639-3 distinguishes between the two dialects Nama (naq) and Haiǁom (hgm). The language is closely related to the dying Korana and the extinct languages ​​of the Khoikhoin at the Cape.

Namibia

Distribution of the Khoekhoegowab as a mother tongue in Namibia (2011)
  • <1%
  • 1-5.99%
  • 6-10.99%
  • 11-20.99%
  • 21-30.99%
  • 31-49.99%
  • 50-75.99%
  • 76-90%
  • > 90%
  • Khoekhoegowab has almost 240,000 speakers in Namibia .

    Dialects

    • Damara
    • Sesfontein Damara
    • Namidama
    • Central Damara
    • Nama
    • Gimsbok Nama
    • Haiǁom
    • Korana
    • Xiri

    Lute

    With eight vowels and 31 consonants , the Nama has a simple sound inventory for Khoisan speeches (compare 128 of the ǃXóõ ).

    Vowels and diphthongs

    The vowels have five vowel qualities (a, e, i, o, u), three of which (ã, ĩ, ũ) can be nasalized. The vowels can be long or short.

    Numerous double sounds ( diphthongs ) are formed from the vowels : [əi] [ae] [əu] [ao] [ui] [oa] [oe] and nasal [ə̃ĩ] [ə̃ũ] [ũĩ] [õã]. [ə] is phonemic / a /.

    Furthermore, three tones can be distinguished: rising, flat, falling. Mostly you write the rising tone with the accent á and the falling tone with the accent à . The flat tone is rarely written.

    Consonants

    Of the 31 consonants, 20 are clicks .

    Non-clicks

    / ⁠ p ⁠ / is [⁠ .beta. ⁠] pronounced and / ⁠ t ⁠ / between vowels as [⁠ ɾ ⁠] .

    bilabial alveolar velar glottal
    Plosive p ~ β t ~ ɾ k ʔ
    Affricates t͡s k͡x
    Fricative s x H
    nasal m n

    Clicks

    The clicks can be dental , lateral , alveolar or palatal , they can be accompanied by plosives , aspirated plosives, plosives with glottal beats , nasals and aspirated nasals (i.e. 4 [click positions] × 5 [companion] = 20 [possible clicks] ).

    The breathy clicks are often pronounced as affricates (combined closure and friction sounds). This means that / k! ˣ / can be pronounced from [kǃʰ] to [kǃx] .

    companion Affected clicks 'sharp' clicks Notation
    (with "ǃ")
    dental alveolar postalveolar palatal
    Plosive <ǃ> or <ǃg>
    Aspirated plosive kǀˣ kǁˣ kǃˣ kǂˣ <ǃx> or <ǃk>
    nasal ŋǀ ŋǁ ŋǃ ŋǂ <nǃ> or <ǃn>
    Voiceless nasal with
    delayed breath
    ŋ̊ǀʰ ŋ̊ǁʰ ŋ̊ǃʰ ŋ̊ǂʰ <ǃh>
    Plosive with glottic stroke kǀʔ kǁʔ kǃʔ kǂʔ <ǃ '> or <ǃ>

    grammar

    The Nama has a subject-object-verb word sequence.

    Nama in everyday life and in the official field

    In Namibia, where Nama is a national language, you can study Nama at the University of Namibia . Radio broadcasts on Nama can be heard in both Namibia and South Africa. Nama-English and English-Nama dictionaries have also appeared. In written-machine usage, the special characters ǁ and ǀ as well as ǂ are often replaced by //, / or #.

    The language is not threatened with extinction. Some translation examples:

    German Khoekhoegowab
    Sorry toxoba
    thank you aio
    many thanks kai aios
    Brothers ǃgâsab
    one ǀgui
    two ǀgam
    three ǃnona
    four haka
    five koro
    window mûǂui doas
    Fire ǀaes
    good (adj.) ǃgâi-a
    good (adv.) ǃgâise
    bad ǁgâi-a
    good Morning ǃgâi ǁgoas
    good evening Good Night ǃgâi ǃoes
    good day / goodbye ǃgâi tsés
    House oms
    yesterday ǁari
    today nétsé
    tomorrow ǁari
    Boy axab, ǀgoab, darob
    girl axas, ǀgoas, daros, ǂkhamkhoes

    Example: a fable (from Hagman 1977)

    Xam-i ke 'a ǀúrún hòán tì kàó'ao káísep' a ǀaísa, ǀóm ̊ǁxáí, xápú kxáó, tsií ǃháése ra ǃxóés ǃ'áróma.

    Tsií maátsekám ̊ǁóakas hòásàp ke ǂxam xam-à ǃárop ǃnaa ǂ'oá tsií ̊ǁ'iip tì ǀaísìpà síí kèrè ǀnoóku náú ǀúrún ǀxáa. Tsií maá tsèes hòásàp ke ̊ǁ'iipà kèrè 'óa-ǀxií tàn'aose. Tsií nee ǂhòas ke ǀúrún ǃhúùp hòárákap ǃnaa kè ̊ǁnàúhè tsií ǂ'ánhè 'ií xam-i' a ǀúrún tì kàó'ao ǃxáisà. Tsií maá tsèes híí'ap kèrè 'óa-ǀxií tàn tsiís kxáóǃáa' oos ke ̊ǁ'iip tì ̊ǁuusà kèrè koápi "tíí 'óátse! ǀóm ǃnórótse! ǀóm ǃnórótse! Xátpú' káxíórótse! tí.

    Xapes ke ǀúí tsekám ̊ǁóaka kxàí-máá tsiíp ke ǂxam xam-à kàrósn 'oo ǃxóóǀxáapi "ǀóm ̊ǁxáítse! ǀóm ǃnórótse! Xam ̊ǁ'oatse!" Xápútse! " Ti, !xóó|xáapi TOA tSII kè MII "am'aseta ke ra ǂóm SAATS Maá |úrún Hoàn xaa 'a |aísa !xáisà. Maá tsèes hòásàts ke saátsà ǂ'oá !árop !naa tSII' OA |xií tSII ra ̊ǁaute 'am'asets saátsà' a |úrún tì kàó'ao ǃxáisà. Xape, tíí 'óátse! ǀúí tsèets ke nìí ǂ'oá ǃárop ǃnaa. Tsií ǂ'oá tsiíts ǃárop ǃnaa ra ǃuumaa híí'atats ke ìúǂ u óásópí 'óátse! ǀóm ̊ǁxáítse! ǀóm ǃnórótse! xápú kxáótse! ̊ǁnaá ǂxarí xuuróp ǀxáats kàrà ǀhaó'ú tsèes ̊ǁnaás' áís naás 'áamís' ke sóresà nì a aís 'tóresà nì a aís' tóresà nì a aís 'tóresà nòi ̊ǁaí tà ì ña ña aí tà ña ña ña ̊ǁaí tà ì ña í aí tà ì ña í haí tà ì ña í aís' ǂaíhè.

    The lion is the king of all animals because he is very strong, powerful in the chest, slim in his waist, and quick to run.

    Every morning the young lion went into the forest to compare his strength with that of other animals. And every day he came back victorious. This news was heard throughout the animal world and was well known: that the lion was the king of animals. Every day that he came home victorious, his mother praised him: “My son! Powerful in the neck! Powerful in the chest! A real man!"

    But one morning, when the young lion had just got up and stretched, she praised him, “Powerful in the chest! Powerful in the neck! With lion arms! Slim in the waist! ", Stopped praising him and said," Really, I am sure you are the strongest of all animals. Every day you go into the forest and come back and show me that you are truly the king of beasts. But, my son, one day you will go to the forest. And while you are walking around in the forest, you will see a little thing that is walking upright with its head on its shoulders. And, my son! Powerful in the chest! Powerful in the neck! Slim on the waist !, the day you encounter this little thing, that day the sun will set and you will not have returned. The name of this little thing is 'human'. "

    Writing

    The first written records of the Khoekhoegowab go back to Georg Friedrich Wreede (1635–1672). In 1815 the German pastor Chr. Albrecht began to translate the Gospel of Matthew . His work was continued by Heinrich Schmelen and especially by his local wife Zara Schmelen. In 1831 the four Gospels were translated and printed on the Cape in 1832. From 1863 to 1866 G. Krönlein from the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft completed the translation of the New Testament. The Psalms are printed in 1882. However, these scriptures were rarely read by the Namas because they distrusted their own script. Another important printed work in the Nama language was Luther's Catechism , which was published by the Protestant missionary Franz Heinrich Kleinschmidt on June 29, 1855 in Scheppmansdorf (today Rooibank ) with an edition of 300 copies.

    Remarks

    1. Note: This article contains characters from the alphabet of the Khoisan languages spoken in southern Africa . The display contains characters of the click letters ǀ , ǁ , ǂ and ǃ . For more information on the pronunciation of long or nasal vowels or certain clicks , see e.g. B. under Khoekhoegowab .

    literature

    • Khoekhoegowab: 3ǁî xoaǀgaub = orthography 3 . Namibia Publishing House, Windhoek 2002, ISBN 99916-0-408-1 .
    • Fredericks, Niklaas Johannes: A study of dialectal and inter-linguistic variations of Khoekhoegowab: towards the determination of the standard orthography . University of the Western Cape , Cape Town 2013 ( uwc.ac.za [PDF]).
    • Wilfried Haacke, Eliphas Eiseb: Khoekhoegowab Dictionary . Gamsberg Macmillan, Windhoek 2002, ISBN 99916-0-401-4 .
    • Wilfried Haacke, Eliphas Eiseb: Khoekhoegowab – English / English – Khoekhoegowab . Gamsberg Macmillan, Windhoek 1999, ISBN 99916-0-172-4 .
    • Roy S. Hagman: Nama Hottentot grammar . Indiana University, Bloomington 1977.
    • Sigrid Schmidt: Fairy tales from Namibia, folk tales from the Nama and Dama . Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek near Hamburg 1997, ISBN 3-424-00684-X .
    • Reinhard Friedrich: Chased away, blown away, forgotten . Gamsberg Macmillan, Windhoek 2010, ISBN 978-3-941602-27-4 .
    • JG Krönlein: Vocabulary of the Khoi-Khoin (Namaqua-Hottentot) . Nabu Press, 2010, ISBN 978-1-144-34989-7 .

    Web links

    Individual evidence

    1. A study of dialectal and inter-linguistic variations of Khoekhoegowab: towards the determination of the standard orthography. University of the Western Cape, 2013; accessed on November 1, 2014
    2. 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.
    3. Nama folktale. Cornell University, archived from the original on July 15, 2008 ; Retrieved October 8, 2013 (khi, English).
    4. Ype Schaaf: L'histoire et le rôle de la Bible en Afrique , CETA, HAHO et CLE, Aubonne 2000, ISBN 9-966-886-72-9 , p 85
    5. ^ Walter Moritz: The beginnings of book printing in South West Africa / Namibia . In: Gutenberg-Jahrbuch , 1979, pp. 269-276