Khoe languages
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The Khoe languages comprise the most diverse of the language families that existed in southern Africa prior to the Bantu expansion. They form one branch of a suspected Khoisan language family, and are known as Central Khoisan in that scenario.
They were the first Khoisan languages known to European colonists. The most numerous and only well known Khoe language is Nama, also known as Khoekhoegowab or Hottentot of Namibia. Most of the rest of the family is found in the Kalahari Desert of Botswana.
The Khoe dialects are famous for their clicks, though these are not as extensive as in other Khoisan language families. There are two primary branches of the family, Khoekhoe of Namibia and South Africa, and Tshu-Khwe of Botswana and Zimbabwe. Except for Nama, they are under pressure from national or regional languages such as Tswana.
[edit] Classification
Language classifications may list one or two dozen Khoe languages. However, many of these are members of dialect clusters, so there is a level of subjectivity involved in counting them. Counting each cluster as a unit results in eight languages:
- Khoekhoe
North Khoekhoe
- Nama (250 000 speakers. Ethnonyms Khoekhoen, Nama, Damara. A dialect cluster including ǂAakhoe and Haiǁom)
- Eini (Extinct.)
South Khoekhoe
- Korana (Extinct. Ethnonym ǃGoragowap.)
- Xiri (90 speakers. Moribund. A dialect cluster also known as Griqua or Cape Hottentot.)
- Tshu-Khwe (Kalahari)
East Tshu-Khwe (East Kalahari)
- Shua (6000 speakers. A dialect cluster including Deti, Tsʼixa, ǀXaise, and Ganádi)
- Tsoa (9300 speakers. A dialect cluster including Cire Cire and Kua)
West Tshu-Khwe (West Kalahari)
- Kxoe (11 000 speakers. A dialect cluster including ǁAni and Buga)
- Naro (14 000 speakers. A dialect cluster.)
- Gǁana-Gǀwi (4500 speakers. A dialect cluster including Gǁana, Gǀwi, and ǂHaba)
The nearest relative of the Khoe languages appears to be the extinct and poorly attested Kwadi language of Angola. This larger group is sometimes called Khoe-Kwadi.
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| ǁAni | Gǁana | Gǀwi | Hadza | ǂHõã | Juǀʼhoan | Korana | ǃKung (ǃXũũ) | Kwadi | ǂKxʼauǁʼein | Kxoe |
Nama | Naro | Nǀu | Sandawe | Seroa | Shua | Tsoa | ǀXam | ǁXegwi | Xiri | ǃXóõ |
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