Editing Khwe language

{{Short description|Khoe dialect continuum of the Okavango Delta, southwestern Africa}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Khwe
|altname=
|nativename=Kxoe
|states=[[Namibia]], [[Angola]], [[Botswana]], [[South Africa]], [[Zambia]]
|region=Northwest District in [[Botswana]], Khwai River, Mababe
|speakers=8,000
|date=2011
|ref=<ref name=Brenzinger>Brenzinger, Matthias (2011) "The twelve modern Khoisan languages." In Witzlack-Makarevich & Ernszt (eds.), ''Khoisan languages and linguistics: proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium, Riezlern / Kleinwalsertal'' (Research in Khoisan Studies 29). Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.</ref>
|speakers2=(7,000 Khwe and 1,000 ǁAni)
|familycolor=Khoisan
|fam1=[[Khoe–Kwadi languages|Khoe–Kwadi]]
|fam2=[[Khoe languages|Khoe]]
|fam3=Kalahari (Tshu–Khwe)
|fam4=Northwest
|lc1=xuu|ld1=Khwe
|lc2=hnh|ld2=ǁAni (Handa)
|glotto=kxoe1242
|glottorefname=Kxoe–Ani
|map=Khwelanguage.jpg
|notice=IPA
}}

'''Khwe''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|w|eɪ}} {{respell|KWAY}} (also rendered ''Kxoe, Khoe'' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɔɪ}} {{respell|KOY}}) is a [[dialect continuum]] of the [[Khoe languages|Khoe]] branch of the [[Khoe–Kwadi languages|Khoe-Kwadi]] family of [[Namibia]], [[Angola]], [[Botswana]], [[South Africa]], and parts of [[Zambia]], with some 8,000 speakers.<ref name=Brenzinger/>

== Classification ==
Khwe is a member of the [[Khoe languages|Khoe]] branch of the larger Khoe-Kwadi language family.

In 2000, the meeting of the Working Group of Indigenous Minorities in South Africa (WIMSA) produced the Penduka Declaration on the Standardisation of Ju and Khoe Languages,<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|title = The Penduka Declaration on the Standardisation of Ju and Khoe Languages|last = Working Group of Indigenous Minorities of Southern Africa (WIMSA)|date = 20 April 2011|location = Windhoek, Namibia|publisher = Penduka Training Centre}}</ref> which recommends Khwe be classified as part of the Central Khoe-San family, a cluster language comprising Khwe, ǁAni and Buga.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|url = http://lexikos.journals.ac.za/pub/article/viewFile/134/75|title = The Role of Dictionaries in the Documentation and Codification of African Languages: The Case of Khoisan|last = Chebanne|first = Andy|date = 19 July 2010|journal = Lexikos|publisher = Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS)|volume = 24}}</ref>

''Khwe'' is the preferred spelling as recommended by the Penduka Declaration,<ref name=":0" /> but the language is also referred to as ''Kxoe'', ''Khoe-dam'' and ''Khwedam''. ''Barakwena, Barakwengo'' and ''Mbarakwena'' refer to speakers of the language and are considered pejorative.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The International Encyclopedia of Linguistics|publisher = Oxford University Press|location = New York|pages = 363|editor-last = Bright|editor-first = William|volume = 4}}</ref>

Other names and spellings of ǁAni include ''ǀ᪶Anda<!--e.g. in Rainer Voßen 1997 Die Khoe-Sprachen-->, Gǀanda, Handá, Gani'' and ''Tanne'' with various combinations of ''-kwe/khwe/khoe'' and ''-dam.''

==History==
The Khwe-speaking population has resided around the "bush" in areas of [[sub-Saharan Africa]] for several thousand years.<ref name=":7">Brenzinger, M (No Date). The Vanishing of Nonconformist Concepts.</ref> Testimonies from living Khwe speakers note that their ancestors have come from the [[Tsodilo|Tsodilo Hills]], in the [[Okavango Delta]], where they primarily used [[hunter-gatherer]] techniques for subsistence.<ref name=":7" /> These testimonies also indicate that living Khwe speakers feel as though they are land-less, and feel as though the governments of Botswana and Namibia have taken their land and rights to it.<ref name=":7" />

Until the 1970s, the Khwe speaking population lived in areas that were inaccessible to most Westerners in remote parts of Namibia, Angola, Zambia, Botswana, and South Africa.<ref name=":7" /> Since then, livelihoods have shifted from primarily from hunter-gatherer to more Westernized practices.<ref name=":8">Chumbo, Sefako, and Kotsi Mmabo. Xom Kyakyare Khwe: Am Kuri Kx'ûî = The Khwe of the Okavango Panhandle: The past Life. Shakawe: Teemacane Trust, 2002.</ref> The first [[Bantu languages|Bantu]]-speaking education that Khwe speakers received was in 1970 at a settlement in Mùtcʼiku, a settlement proximate the Okavango River.<ref name=":8" />

Some argue that this put the language in a state of decline, as younger populations learned Bantu languages, such as [[Tswana language|Tswana]]. Khwe is learned locally as a second language in Namibia, but the language is being lost in Botswana as speakers shift to Tswana.<ref name=":8" /> It is also argued that this has led to a semantic broadening in meaning of words in the Khwe language. For example, "to write", ''ǁgàràá'', was formerly used to describe an "activity the community members perform during healing ceremonies".<ref name=":7" /> The semantic broadening of word meanings has also permeated other parts of Khwe-speaking culture, such as food, animals, and other forms of naming that some argue have introduced nonconformity. Noting this, the original meanings of these words is still understood and used during Khwe cultural practices.<ref name=":8" />

While Khwe-speakers were in minimal contact with the outsiders until 1970, there was limited interaction between the Khwe and [[Missionary|missionaries]] in early and mid-twentieth centuries.<ref name=":8" /> The missionaries, for the most part, failed to convert the Khwe-speaking population.<ref name=":8" /> The introduction to missionaries, however, introduced [[Western culture]] and languages, in addition to Bantu languages.<ref name=":8" />

Despite the influence of Bantu languages in Khwe speakers education, historically, Khwe, and other [[Khoisan languages]], have had linguistic influences on Bantu languages.<ref name=":9">Gunnink, H., Sands, B., Pakendorf, B., & Bostoen, K. (2015). Prehistoric language contact in the Kavango-Zambezi transfrontier area: Khoisan influence on southwestern Bantu languages. ''Journal of African Languages and Linguistics,'' ''36''(2). {{doi|10.1515/jall-2015-0009}}</ref> The Bantu language speakers of the Okavango and [[Zambezi]] regions migrated to the area during the [[Bantu expansion|Bantu Migration]], and came in contact with the native Khoe speakers in the area.<ref name=":9" /> Several Bantu languages of this area adapted the clicks of the Khoe languages and integrated them into their [[phonology]], in a reduced manner through paralexification.<ref name=":9" /> Some scholars argue that the "contact-induced" changes in Bantu languages have contributed to the general [[language shift]] away from Khoe languages, such as Khwe, to Bantu languages because of the increased familiarity in phonology.<ref name=":9" />

== Distribution ==
The Khoe mainly occupy the Okavango Delta of Botswana.<ref name=":1" /> Specifically, Khwe speakers primarily live in the western [[Caprivi Strip|Caprivi]] area in Namibia, however, the entirety of the Khoe population occupies a much larger geography. Khwe speakers in the western Caprivi are somewhat distant, [[Lexicon|lexically]], from other similar Khoe languages, such as [[Damara people|Damara]]. According to a [[dialect]] survey conducted by the [[University of Namibia]]'s Department of African Languages, it was revealed that proto-Damara most likely migrated through the western Caprivi area before the Khwe settled the area, as there is little lexical overlap.<ref>Haacke, W. (2008, December). Linguistic hypotheses on the origin of Namibian Khoekhoe speakers.''Southern African Humanities,'' ''20'', 163-177.</ref>

The Khwe speakers' distribution in the greater Kavango-Zambezi region influenced [[Click consonant|clicks]] in Khoisan languages, some argue.<ref name=":9" /> The Khwe, and other Khoe language speaking peoples, resided in greater Southern Africa, prior to the great Bantu Migration, which occurred about 5,000 years ago. In this migration, the Bantu speaking population of [[West Africa|West]] and [[Central Africa]], around the [[Nigeria]]-[[Cameroon]] borderlands, migrated to [[Southern Africa]], and in this process, encountered the native Khwe population.<ref name=":9" /> While the Khwe migrated into the Caprivi and greater Kavango-Zambezi region after the Damara, they were certainly there 5,000 years ago when Bantu speakers migrated to the area, and through their linguistic and cultural exchanges, both languages were fundamentally altered.<ref name=":9" /> The [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphology]], [[syntax]], and phonology sections on this page further discuss the changes occurred, and how it has influenced contemporary Khwe.

Today, an estimated 3,700 Khwe speakers live in Namibia, with the vast majority residing in the western region of the [[Zambezi Region]].<ref>{{Cite book|title = Moving to Survive: Kxoe Communities in Arid Lands|last = Brenzinger|first = Matthias|publisher = Institut für Afrikanistik|year = 1997|location = Universität zu Köln|pages = 321–357}}</ref> The largest known Khwe settlements are Mutc'iku, located adjacent to the [[Okavango River]], and Gudigoa in Botswana.<ref name="Brenzinger" />

Noting this, there have been major [[forced migration]]s from government pressures that have influenced the contemporary distribution of Khwe speakers.<ref name=":10" /> In 1990, 4,000 Xhu- and Khwe-speaking people,<ref>{{Cite book|title = Indigenous Peoples' Rights in Southern Africa|last1 = Hitchcock|first1 = Robert K.|publisher = International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs|year = 2004|isbn = 8791563089|location = Copenhagen, Denmark|pages = 29–32|last2 = Vindig|first2 = Diana}}</ref> including former members of the [[31 Battalion (SWATF)]] who fought under the [[South African Defence Force]] in the [[Namibian War of Independence|Namibian War]], were settled in a tent town in [[Schmidtsdrift]], South Africa. In 2003, the majority of this community relocated to Platfontein, outside [[Kimberley, Northern Cape|Kimberley]], following the Schmidtsdrift Community Land Claim.<ref name=":10">{{Cite web|title = Schmidtsdrift Community Land Claim|url = http://www.plaas.org.za/sites/default/files/publications-pdf/RR34.pdf|website = www.plaas.org.za|access-date = 4 October 2015|last = Kleinbooi|first = Karin|publisher = Programme for Land and Agrarian Studies, School of Government, University of the Western Cap|date = August 2007|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140104205439/http://www.plaas.org.za/sites/default/files/publications-pdf/RR34.pdf|archive-date = 4 January 2014|url-status = dead}}</ref>

==Phonology==
{{cleanup lang|date=September 2021}}
Khwe has 70 phonemic [[consonant]]s, including 36 [[Click consonant|clicks]], as well as 25 vowel phonemes, including diphthongs and nasalised vowels. Khwe's tone system has been analysed as containing 9 syllabic tones (3 register and 6 contour),<ref>{{Cite journal|title = The development of sound systems in human language|last = Köhler|first = K.|date = 1998|journal = Approaches to the Evolution of Language: Social and Cognitive Bases|editor-last = Hurford|editor-first = J.}}</ref> although more recent proposed analyses identify only 3 lexical tones, high, mid and low, with the [[Mora (linguistics)|mora]] as the basic unit of phonological structure.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title = A grammar of modern Khwe|last = Kilian-Hatz|first = Christa|publisher = Rüdiger Köppe|year = 2008|location = Cologne|work = Quellen zur Khoisanforschung 23}}</ref> Tone sandhi processes are common in Khwe and related languages.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|title = Perception and Cognition in Language and Culture|last1 = Storch|first1 = Ann|publisher = Brill|year = 2013|location = Leiden|first2 = Alexandra|last2 = Aikhenvald}}</ref>

=== Vowels ===
{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|+ Khwe vowels
|-
! !![[Front vowel|Front]]
![[Central vowel|Central]]!![[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|{{IPA link|i}}
| ||{{IPA link|u}}
|-
![[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
|{{IPA link|e}}
|
| rowspan="2" |{{IPA link|o}}
|-
![[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
|{{IPA link|ɛ}}
|
|-
![[Open vowel|Open]]
|
|{{IPA link|a}}
|
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
! colspan="5" |Diphthongs
|-
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|ui
|ue
|uɛ
|ua
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
|ei
|eu
|
|
|-
|oe
|oɛ
|oa
|
|-
![[Open vowel|Open]]
|ae
|ao
|
|
|}

* /o/ is realized as [o] when lengthened, but is realized as [ɔ] if it is pronounced short.
* Three nasal vowels are recognized as /ã ĩ ũ/. A nasal /õ/ also exists, but only in diphthongs as /õã/.
* Nasal diphthongs include /ãĩ, ũĩ, ãũ, õã/.
* /oɛ/ and /uɛ/ are free in variation with /oe/ and /ue/, but only dependent upon speakers.

=== Consonants ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+Khwe pulmonic consonants
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |
! rowspan="2" |[[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Dental consonant|Alveolar]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Postalveolar consonant|Post-<br>alveolar]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! colspan="2" |[[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Uvular consonant|Uvular]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
!<small>plain</small>
!<small>[[Palatalization (phonetics)|pal.]]</small>
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}}
| {{IPA link|n}}
|
| {{IPA link|ɲ}}
| {{IPA link|ŋ}}
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="5" |[[Stop consonant|Plosive]]
!<small>[[Voicelessness|voiceless]]</small>
| {{IPA link|p}}
| {{IPA link|t}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|k}}
| {{IPA link|kʲ}}
| {{IPA link|q}}
| {{IPA link|ʔ}}
|-
!<small>[[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]]</small>
| {{IPA link|pʰ}}
| {{IPA link|tʰ}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|kʰ}}
| {{IPA link|kʰʲ}}
|
|
|-
!<small>[[Ejective consonant|ejective]]</small>
|
| {{IPA link|tʼ}}
|
|
| colspan="2" |
|
|
|-
!<small>[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
| {{IPA link|b}}
| {{IPA link|d}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|ɡ}}
| {{IPA link|ɡʲ}}
|
|
|-
!<small>[[Prenasalized consonant|prenasal]]</small>
| {{IPA link|ᵐb}}
| {{IPA link|ⁿd}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|ᵑɡ}}
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="4" |[[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
!<small>[[Voicelessness|voiceless]]</small>
|
|
| {{IPA link|t͡ʃ}}
|
| colspan="2" |
|
|
|-
!<small>[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
|
|
| {{IPA link|d͡ʒ}}
|
| colspan="2" |
|
|
|-
!<small>[[Velar consonant|velar]]</small>
|
| {{IPA|tx}}
| {{IPA|t͡ʃx}}
|
| colspan="2" |
|
|
|-
!<small>[[Ejective consonant|ejective]]</small>
|
|
| {{IPA link|t͡ʃʼ}}
|
| {{IPA link|kxʼ}}
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
!<small>[[Voicelessness|voiceless]]</small>
| {{IPA link|f}}
| ({{IPA link|s}})
| {{IPA link|ʃ}}
| ({{IPA link|ç}})
| {{IPA link|x}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|h}}
|-
!<small>[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
| {{IPA link|v}}
|
|
|
| colspan="2" |
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Trill consonant|Trill]]
|
| {{IPA link|r}}
|
|
| colspan="2" |
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
|
| ({{IPA link|l}})
|
| {{IPA link|j}}
| {{IPA link|w}}
|
|
|
|}

* /ʃ/ is realized as [ç] only in Buma-Khwe, but as [s] in ǁXo-Khwe and Buga-Khwe, and as [ʃ] in ǁXom-Khwe
* /l/ is only found in borrowings.

=== Click consonants ===
Khoe click inventories generally combine four anterior constrictions types with nine to eleven anterior constrictions. The exact size of the click inventory in Khwe is unclear. Köhler established an inventory of 36 click phonemes, from combinations of four influxes /ǀ ǂ ǃ ǁ/, and nine effluxes (only five on the alveolar), as well as a borrowed [[voiced alveolar click]], /ǃᶢ/. Khwe is the only language to have a pre-nasalized voiced click.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite book|title = Khwe dictionary with a supplement on Khwe place names of West Caprivi|last = Kilian-Hatz|first = Christa|publisher = Rüdiger Köppe Verlag|year = 2003|isbn = 3-89645-083-2|location = Cologne|url-access = registration|url = https://archive.org/details/khwedictionary00chri}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+Khwe clicks
!
![[Dental click|Dental]]
![[Alveolar click|Alveolar]]
![[Palatal click|Palatal]]
![[Lateral click|Lateral]]
|-
![[Voicelessness|Voiceless]]
|{{IPA link|ǀᵏ}}
|{{IPA link|ǃᵏ}}
|{{IPA link|ǂᵏ}}
|{{IPA link|ǁᵏ}}
|-
![[Glottalized click|Glottalized]]
|{{IPA link|ǀˀ}}
|{{IPA link|ǃˀ}}
|{{IPA link|ǂˀ}}
|{{IPA link|ǁˀ}}
|-
![[Voice (phonetics)|Voiced]]
|{{IPA link|ǀᶢ}}
|{{IPA link|ǃᶢ}}
|{{IPA link|ǂᶢ}}
|{{IPA link|ǁᶢ}}
|-
![[Aspirated consonant|Aspirated]]
|{{IPA link|ǀᵏʰ}}
|{{IPA link|ǃᵏʰ}}
|{{IPA link|ǂᵏʰ}}
|{{IPA link|ǁᵏʰ}}
|-
![[Nasal click|Nasal]]
|{{IPA link|ᵑǀ}}
|{{IPA link|ᵑǃ}}
|{{IPA link|ᵑǂ}}
|{{IPA link|ᵑǁ}}
|-
![[Nasal click|Voiced nasal]]
|{{IPA link|ᵑǀᶢ}}
|{{IPA link|ᵑǃᶢ}}
|{{IPA link|ᵑǂᶢ}}
|{{IPA link|ᵑǁᶢ}}
|-
![[Pulmonic-contour click|Uvular stop]]
|{{IPA|ǀq}}
|{{IPA|ǃq}}
|{{IPA|ǂq}}
|{{IPA|ǁq}}
|-
![[Pulmonic-contour click|Fricative]]
|{{IPA link|ǀᵏˣ}}
|{{IPA link|ǃᵏˣ}}
|{{IPA link|ǂᵏˣ}}
|{{IPA link|ǁᵏˣ}}
|-
![[Pulmonic-contour click|Affricate ejective]]
|{{IPA link|ǀᵏˣʼ}}
|{{IPA link|ǃᵏˣʼ}}
|{{IPA link|ǂᵏˣʼ}}
|{{IPA link|ǁᵏˣʼ}}
|}

=== Tones ===
There are three tones in Khwe: high /V́/, mid /V̄/, low /V̀/. Long vowels and diphthongs have eight tones (missing only *mid–low as a combination).

== Morphology ==
Khwe is a suffixing language, and thus has a rich inventory of head-marking suffixes on nouns and verbs. Verbs take [[Tense–aspect–mood|tense-aspect-mood suffixes]] (TAMs), marking for [[causative]], [[Applicative voice|applicative]], [[Comitative case|comitative]], [[Locative case|locative]], [[Passive voice|passive]], [[Reflexive verb|reflexive]] and [[Reciprocal (grammar)|reciprocal]].<ref>{{Cite book|title = Linguistic Geography of Africa|last1 = Heine|first1 = Bernd|publisher = A. Cambridge University Press|year = 2007|isbn = 9781281156112|first2 = Derek|last2 = Nurse|series = Cambridge Approaches to Language Contact}}</ref> Nouns are marked with person-gender-number suffixes (PGNs). Gender division in Khwe is based on sex, and is expressed by PGNs, with gender being marked even in first-person dual and plural.

Negation in Khwe is indicated with the clause-final negative particle ''vé,'' which can be used to indicate non-occurrence of an event, non-equation between entities, and the non-possession of an entity.<ref name=":2" /> The post-verbal particle ''tí'' can also be used, although its application is limited to prohibitive functions, such as negative [[Imperative mood|imperatives]] and the negative [[hortative]] and [[Jussive mood|jussive]] constructions, in which ''vé'' can also be used.<ref name=":2" />

== Syntax ==
Generally, Khoisan languages have an SV constituent order. Central Khoisan languages have a dominant AOV [[constituent order]], including Khwe, though OAV order is used more frequently in casual conversation and storytelling.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title = Coding Participant Marking: Construction Types in Twelve African Languages|last = Killian-Hatz|first = Christa|publisher = John Benjamins Publishing|year = 2009|location = Philadelphia, PA|editor-last = Dimmendaal|editor-first = Gerrit Jan}}</ref>

Khwe lacks a separate class of [[adjective]]s. [[Pronoun]]s, [[noun]]s and [[verb]]s, especially state verbs, can be used attributively. Khwe has a [[Grammatical modifier|modifier]]-[[Head (linguistics)|head]] order,<ref name=":3" /> in which manner adverbs precede the verb, and adjectives and possessors attributes precede the noun.

In Khwe, subjects of [[intransitive verb]]s, subjects and direct objects of transitive verbs, and one of the objects of ditransitive verbs are commonly omitted when the participants are known to the speakers through inner- or extra-linguistic context.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|title = Serial Verb Constructions: A Cross-Linguistic Typology|url = https://archive.org/details/serialverbconstr00aikh|url-access = limited|last1 = Aikenvald|first1 = Alexandra|publisher = Oxford University Press|year = 2005|location = Oxford|pages = [https://archive.org/details/serialverbconstr00aikh/page/n132 108]–110|last2 = Dixon|first2 = R.M.W.|series = Explorations in Linguistic Typology}}</ref>

Khwe has two multiverbal constructions that may denote a series of closely connected events: serial verb constructions (SVC) and converb constructions.<ref name=":5" /> An SVC expresses a complex event composed by two or more single events that happen at the same time, and a converb construction marks the immediate succession of two or more events.

SVCs in Khwe consist of two or more verbs forming a single intonation unit, with only the last verb being marked for TAM. The preceding verbs obligatorily take the active voice suffix. Converb constructions may consist of two or more verbs, only one of which takes the TAM marking.

== Vocabulary ==
In opposition to the postulated [[linguistic universal]] regarding the primacy of the visual domain in the hierarchy of the verbs of perception,<ref>{{Cite book|title = The verbs of perception: a typological study|last = Viberg|first = Ake|publisher = de Gruyter|year = 2001|location = Berlin/New York|pages = 1294–1309|work = Language Typology and Language Universals: An International Handbook|editor-last = Haspelmath|editor-first = M. |display-editors=etal }}</ref> Khwe's most widely applied verb of perception is ''ǁám̀'', 'taste, smell, touch'.<ref name=":4" /> Khwe has three verbs of perception, the other two being ''mṹũ'' 'see', and ''kóḿ'' 'hear', but ''ǁám̀'', which is semantically rooted in oral perception, is used to convey holistic modes of sensory perception.<ref name=":4" />

The Khwe term ''xǀóa'' functions both as a verb 'to be little, few, some' and as an alternative way of expressing the quantity 'three'. This term is unique in its ambiguity among numeral terms used by African hunter-gatherer subsistence communities.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = On numeral complexity in hunter-gatherer languages|journal = Linguistic Typology|volume = 16|issue = 1|doi = 10.1515/lity-2012-0002|first1 = Patience|last1 = Epps|first2 = Claire|last2 = Bowern|first3 = Cynthia A.|last3 = Hansen|first4 = Jane H.|last4 = Hill|first5 = Jason|last5 = Zentz|year = 2012|s2cid = 199664616|hdl = 1885/61320|hdl-access = free}}</ref>

Khwe has a large number of loan words from [[Afrikaans]].<ref name=":5" />

== Orthography ==
In 1957, Oswin Köhler, founder of the Institut für Afrikanistik at the [[University of Cologne]], designed an orthography of Khwe in which he published three volumes of texts and grammatical sketches, based on observations of language and culture made over 30 years of visits to Namibia.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|title = Linguistic research for literary empowerment of Khoesaan languages of Namibia|last = Haacke|first = W.G.|date = 2006|journal = African Studies|doi = 10.1080/00020180500355652|publisher = Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group|volume = 64|issue = 2|pages = 157–176|s2cid = 145575707}}</ref> As Köhler's orthography was designed for academic purposes, his volumes were published in German and French, and therefore inaccessible to the Khwe themselves. Köhler never made an attempt to teach literacy to members of the community.

Attempts to teach the Khwe orthography to first language speakers were not made until 1996, by scholars of the institute who took up Köhler's work. At the request and with the consultation of the Khwe, the orthography was revised and simplified by Matthias Brenzinger and Mathias Schladt between 1996 and 1997.<ref>{{Cite book|title = A Multipurpose Orthography for Kxoe: Development and Challenges|last = Schladt|first = Mathias|publisher = Basarwa Language Project|year = 2000|pages = 125–139|editor-first = H.M.|editor-last = Batibo|editor-last2 = Tsonope|editor-first2 = J.|work = The State of Khoesaan Languages in Botswana}}</ref>

A collection of Khwe folktales was published in 1999 by Christa Kilian-Hatz and David Naude, using the revised orthography along with interlinear and free translations.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Folktales of the Kxoe in the West Caprivi|last = Kilian-Hatz|first = Christa|journal = Namibian African Studies|volume = 5|location = Cologne|publisher = Rüdiger Köppe|year = 1999}}</ref> Kilian-Hatz also published a dictionary of Khwe,<ref>{{Cite book|title = Khwe Dictionary (with a Supplement on Khwe Place-names of West Caprivi by Matthias Brenzinger)|last = Kilian-Hatz|first = Christa|publisher = Rüdiger Köppe Verlag|year = 2003|isbn = 3-89645-083-2|location = Cologne|series = Namibian African Studies 7|url-access = registration|url = https://archive.org/details/khwedictionary00chri}}</ref> although this is written in the linguistic orthography which uses symbols from the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] in place of the [[Latin script]] use for the applied orthography.

The revised orthography has not been granted official status in Namibia. The Khwe language is not taught as a subject or used as a language of instruction in formal education, and few literacy materials exist.<ref name=":6" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/response.cgi?root=new100&morpho=0&basename=new100\ckh\kho&limit=-1 Khwe basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database]
*[http://panos.org.uk/wp-content/files/2011/05/ot_rst_san_eng.pdf ‖Xom Kyakyare Khwe: ǂAm Kuri Kxʼû{{underscore}}î: Part one of a series of Buga and ǁAni Khwe oral testimonies]

{{Khoisan}}
{{Languages of Angola}}
{{Languages of Namibia}}
{{Languages of South Africa}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Khoe languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Botswana]]
[[Category:Languages of South Africa]]