page_title: Khoekhoe language
hierarchical_section_title: Khoekhoe language
context_page_description: The Khoekhoe language, also known by the ethnic terms Nama, Damara, or Nama/Damara and formerly as Hottentot, is the most widespread of the non-Bantu languages of Southern Africa that make heavy use of click consonants and therefore were formerly classified as Khoisan, a now defunct grouping. It belongs to the Khoe language family, and is spoken in Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa primarily by three ethnic groups, Namakhoen, ǂNūkhoen, and Haiǁomkhoen.
  The Haiǁom, who had spoken a Juu language, later shifted to Khoekhoe. The name for the speakers, Khoekhoen, is from the word khoe "person", with reduplication and the suffix -n to indicate the general plural. Georg Friedrich Wreede was the first European to study the language, after arriving in ǁHui!gaeb in 1659.
  Khoekhoe is a national language in Namibia, where it is used for teaching up to the university level as well as in the public administration. In Namibia and South Africa, state-owned broadcasting corporations produce and broadcast radio programmes in Khoekhoegowab.
context_section_description: The Khoekhoe /ˈkɔɪkɔɪ/ language (Khoekhoegowab), also known by the ethnic terms Nama (Namagowab) /ˈnɑːmə/, Damara (ǂNūkhoegowab), or Nama/Damara and formerly as Hottentot, is the most widespread of the non-Bantu languages of Southern Africa that make heavy use of click consonants and therefore were formerly classified as Khoisan, a now defunct grouping. It belongs to the Khoe language family, and is spoken in Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa primarily by three ethnic groups, Namakhoen, ǂNūkhoen, and Haiǁomkhoen.
  The Haiǁom, who had spoken a Juu language, later shifted to Khoekhoe. The name for the speakers, Khoekhoen, is from the word khoe "person", with reduplication and the suffix -n to indicate the general plural. Georg Friedrich Wreede was the first European to study the language, after arriving in ǁHui!gaeb (later Cape Town) in 1659.
  Khoekhoe is a national language in Namibia, where it is used for teaching up to the university level as well as in the public administration. In Namibia and South Africa, state-owned broadcasting corporations produce and broadcast radio programmes in Khoekhoegowab.
caption: The distribution of the Nama language in Namibia.
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