Distribution
Its linguistic distribution covers a zone called Hereroland, which is constituted of the region of Omaheke along with the Otjozondjupa andPhonology
Consonants
The sounds /f s l/ are found in loanwords.Vowels
Script
Because of the translation of missionary Gottlieb Viehe (1839–1901) of the Bible into Herero, at the end of the 19th century, the spoken language was transcribed to an alphabet based on the Latin script. Father Peter Heinrich Brincker (1836–1904) translated several theological works and songs.Orthography
* a - �* b - * d - * ḓ - ̪* e - �* f - * g - * h - * i - * j - * k - * l - * m - * mb - ��b* mw - ʷ* n - * ndj - ��dʒ* ng - ��ɡ* ngw - ��ɡʷ* nj - �* ṋ - ̪* o - �* p - * r - * s - * t - * tj - ͡ʃ* ṱ - ̪* u - /w* v - * w - * y - * z - Long vowels are doubled. f and l are only used in loanwords.Grammar
Education
Otjiherero is taught in Namibian schools both as a native tongue and as a secondary language. It is included as a principal material at theVarieties
The Hakaona variety is now considered a separate Bantu language, as sometimes is Zemba (''Otjizemba''). Maho (200) also removes Kuvale to Bantu Zone R.10, while differentiating North-West Herero (Kaokoland Herero, including Zemba and presumably Himba and Hakaona), R.311, and Botswana Herero (including Mahalapye Herero), R.312, as distinct from but closely related to Herero proper. Within Herero proper, he recognizes two dialects: Central Herero and Mbandero (East Herero). Northwest/Zemba is found on either side of the Namibian–Angolan border. Central Herero covers a large area in central Namibia, with East Herero a few islands to the east but still in Namibia. Botswana Herero consists of a few scattered islands in Botswana, with about 15% the population of Herero proper. ''Ethnologue'' separates Zimba as a distinct language but retains Himba, East Herero and Botswana Herero within the Herero language. However, it no longer recognizes Kuvale as a dialect but as a separate language.Sources
*Brincker, Peter Heinrich (1886, 1964). ''Wörterbuch und kurzgefasste Grammatik des Otji-Herero.'' Leipzig (reprint 1964 Ridgwood, NJ: The Gregg Press). *Hahn, C. Hugo (1857). ''Grundzüge einer Grammatik des Hereró.'' Berlin: Verlag von Wilhelm Hertz. *Lutz, Marten (2006). "Locative inversion in Otjiherero: more on morpho-syntactic variation in Bantu." In: Laura Downing, Lutz Marten & Sabine Zerbian (eds.), ''Papers in Bantu Grammar, ZAS Papers in Linguistics'' 43, 97—122. *Marten, Lutz & Nancy C. Kula (2007). "Morphosyntactic co-variation in Bantu: two case studies." SOAS Working Papers in Linguistics 15.227-238. *Möhlig, Wilhelm, Lutz Marten & Jekura U. Kavari (2002). ''A Grammatical Sketch of Herero (Otjiherero).'' Köln: Köppe (Grammatische Analysen afrikanischer Sprachen; v.19).References
Languages of Namibia Languages of BotswanaExternal links
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