Nama

1. Classification / Classification

Nama is a Khoisan language whose subclassification is widely contested; Greenberg lists it as Central South African Khoisan; Westphal considers it Khoikhoi. (Webbook)

Ethnologue lists the classification as: Khoisan, Southern Africa, Central, Nama

2. Where Spoken / Localisation géographique

Nama is spoken from the Kaukau Veld in northern Namibia to Cape Province in South Africa. (Webbook)

3. Number of Speakers / Nombre de locuteurs

• 176,201 in Namibia (1992 Barnard)
• 56,000 in South Africa (1989 UBS)
• 1,500 in Botswana (2002)
• Population total all countries: 233,701

4. Dialect Survey / Enquête de dialecte

According to Ethnologue:

• Damara
• Sesfontein Damara (reported to be unintelligible to speakers of other dialects)
• Namidama
• Central Damara
• Nama

Wikipedia includes Haiǁom in its article on Nama.

5. Usage / Utilisation

Nama is a regional language. It is currently being introduced as a university subject at The Academy (Windhoek). (Webbook)

According to Ethnologue:

• (Namibia): National language. Offered as a school subject. Can be studied up to doctoral level at U. of Namibia, also used in administration
• (South Africa): Language of secondary education
• (Namibia): Literacy rate:
  • L1: ?
  • L2: 80% Tswana, 10% English

6. Orthography / Orthographe

6.1 Status / Statut

An authorized orthography for Nama exists. (Webbook) [Need more details.]

6.2 Sample Alphabet / Alphabet exemple

Omniglot has a sample alphabet and text: http://www.omniglot.com/writing/nama.htm

The Wikipedia article on Nama language also includes a sample text.

A sample text is shown on the "Language Museum" site: http://www.language-museum.com/n/nama.htm

7. Use in ICT / Utilisation dans les TIC

7.1 Fonts / Polices

7.2 Keyboard layouts / Dispositions de clavier

7.3 Content on computers & internet / Contenu en informatique et sur l'Internet

7.4 Localized software / Logiciels localisés

Not aware of any localisation efforts for this language.

7.5 Language codes / Codes de langue

• ISO 639-1: -
• ISO 639-2: -
• ISO/DIS 639-3: naq

(ISO 639-2 for Khoisan [other] is khi)

7.6 Other / Autre

8. Localisation resources / Ressources pour localisation

8.1 Individuals (experts) / Individuelles (experts)

8.2 Institutions / Institutions

8.3 On the internet / Sur la toile

9. Comments / Remarques

10. References / Références

Dwyer, David (1997), Webbook of African Languages, http://www.isp.msu.edu/AfrLang/hiermenu.html (page on "Nama," http://www.isp.msu.edu/AfrLang/Nama_root.html )

SIL International, Ethnologue: Languages of the World, "Haiǁom," http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=hgm

______, "Nama," http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=naq

SIL International, "ISO 639 Code Tables," http://www.sil.org/iso639-3/codes.asp

U.S. Library of Congress, "ISO 639.2: Codes for the Representation of Names of Languages: Alpha-3 codes arranged alphabetically by the English name of language," http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/English_list.php

Wikipedia, Nama language,'' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nama_language

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