Editing Nǁng language (section)

== History ==
{{Further|Una Rooi}}

Nǁng prospered through the 19th century, but encroaching non-ǃKwi languages and [[acculturation]] threatened it, like most other Khoisan languages. The language was mainly displaced by [[Afrikaans]] and [[Nama language|Nama]], especially after speakers started migrating to towns in the 1930s and found themselves surrounded by non-Nǁng-speaking people. In 1973 their language was declared extinct, and the remaining Nǁnǂe ("ǂKhomani") were evicted from the [[Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park|Kalahari Gemsbok National Park]].

In the 1990s, linguists located 101-year-old [[Elsie Vaalbooi]], who could still speak Nǁng. [[Anthony Traill (linguist)|Anthony Traill]] interviewed her in 1997. The [[South African San Institute]] soon became involved in the pursuit of information on the Nǁng language, and with the help of Vaalbooi they tracked down 25 other people scattered by the eviction who were able to speak or at least understand the language. [[Thabo Mbeki]] handed over 400&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> of land to the Nǁnǂe in 1999, and 250&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> of land within the park in 2002. Vaalbooi came up with the Nǁng motto of ''Sa ǁʼa ǃainsi uinsi'' "We move towards a better life" for her rehabilitated people. This was also adopted as the official motto for the [[Northern Cape Province]]. At the time there were twenty elderly speakers, eight of whom lived in the [[Western Cape]] province signed over to them. As of 2007, fewer than ten were still alive in South Africa, and a few more in Botswana; none live with another speaker, and their daily languages are [[Khoekhoe language|Khoekhoe]] and [[Tswana language|Tswana]], respectively. 
In 2013 there were three speakers in the [[Upington]] area and two in [[Olifantshoek]] (ǁʼAu), speaking the western and eastern dialects, respectively. The younger generations of ǂKhomani are proud Nama speakers and have little affinity to Nǁng.

Recent research on Nǁng led by [[Amanda Miller (linguist)|Amanda Miller]] of [[Cornell University]] has helped describe the physics of its [[click consonant|clicks]], leading to a [[Click consonants#The airstream|better understanding of click sounds]] in general.<ref name="nsf">{{cite web
 |title       = Classifying "Clicks": New language technology clears up 100-year-old mystery
 |url         = https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=115186&org=NSF&from=news
 |publisher   = NSF
 |date        = 14 July 2009
 |access-date  = 2009-07-29
}}</ref>

Efforts to perpetuate the Nǁng language continued in 2017<ref>{{cite news |title=Trying to save South Africa's first language |date=30 August 2017 |publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-39935150}}</ref> and in 2021.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2021/05/22/the-struggle-to-save-a-south-african-language-with-45-click-sounds|title=The struggle to save a South African language with 45 click sounds|date=22 May 2021|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=31 May 2021}}</ref> The first Nǁng children's book, !Qhoi n|a Tjhoi (Tortoise and Ostrich), was written by Katrina Esau, one of the two surviving speakers at the time, in May 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Qhoi Nla Tjhoi/Skilpad en Volstruis/Tortoise and Ostrich - Katrina Esau - Google Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5th5zgEACAAJ |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=Google Books}}</ref> In June 2021, her brother Simon Sauls died, leaving 88-year-old Katrina Esau as the last speaker of the language.<ref name=NU/> Esau had opened a school with her granddaughter to teach the language to children, but it was vandalized during the COVID pandemic and abandoned.<ref name=Yahoo/> In October 2022, the Dutch [[Nederlandse Omroep Stichting|NOS]] referred to Esau, or "Oma Katrina", as the last speaker of Nǀuu. She was teaching the language to a group of children, including her grandson and great-grandson, all speakers of Afrikaans.<Ref>{{cite news |url=https://nos.nl/video/2447214-oma-katrina-wil-als-laatste-spreker-de-oude-taal-niuu-redden |title=Oma Katrina wil als laatste spreker de oude taal NIuu redden |language=nl |publisher=[[Nederlandse Omroep Stichting]] |date=5 October 2022 |accessdate=5 October 2022 |first=Elles |last=van Gelder}}</ref>