Khwe language

Khwe
Kxoe
Spoken in	Namibia, Angola, Botswana, South Africa, Zambia
Native speakers	11,000  (date missing)
Language family	Khoe Kalahari (Tshu–Khwe) West Khwe
Language codes
ISO 639-3	either: xuu – Khwe hnh – ǁAni

Khwe aka Kxoe is a dialect continuum of the Khoe family of Namibia, Angola, Botswana, South Africa, and small parts of Zambia, with some 11,000 speakers. It is learned locally as a second language in Namibia, but the language is being lost in Botswana as speakers shift to Tswana, under threat of deportation if they do not speak that language. Thousands of Kxoe were murdered in Angola after independence, as they had been used by the Portuguese as trackers, and the survivors fled to Zambia. However, some may have returned to Angola more recently.

There is currently a dictionary of the Kxoe language.

User breakdown

Namibia: ~4,000
Angola: ~800
Botswana: ~5,000
South Africa: ~1,100
Zambia: ~100
DR Congo: ~50 (refugees from Angola)

Dialects

• Khoe-dam or Khwedam or Khwe or Xun or Huhwe
• ǁXo-kxoe
• ǁXom-kxoe
• Buma-kxoe
• Buga-kxoe or -khwe
• ǁAni or ǁAni-kxoe or ǀAnda or Tsʼéxa or Tannekwe or Gani-khwe or various combinations of Handá + kwe + dam.

Bibliography

• Kilian-Hatz, Christa (2003) Khwe dictionary (with a supplement on Khwe place names by Matthias Brenzinger). Köln: Rüdiger Köppe. ISBN 3-89645-083-2

External links

• Map of Kxoe (Mbarakwengo) language from the LL-Map Project
• Information about Kxoe language from the MultiTree Project
• The Ethnologue Report for Kxoe
• The Ethnologue Report for ǁAni