Complex sentence: "Vlei" is the afrikaans word for "marsh", while "sossus" is nama for "no return" or "dead end", in reference to the fact that the Sossusvlei pan is an endorheic drainage basin for the ephemeral Tsauchab river.
Split into simpler sentences: Vlei is the afrikaans word for "marsh", while "sossus"is nama for "no return"or "dead end". Sossusvlei owes this name to the fact that it is an endorheic drainage basin (i.e., a drainage basin without outflows) for the ephemeral Tsauchab river.