Endangered Languages Project

ALSO KNOWN AS		!Xóõ, Tâa, !Xuun, N/amani, Ng\|amani, Tsasi, Qgoon, /Namani, Tshasi, !Ko, Casi, /Nu//een
CLASSIFICATION		Tuu, Hua
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		nmn
VARIANTS & DIALECTS		Ki\|hazi Kakia Xatia Nusan Ng\|u\|\|en Auni Ng\|u\|en !Kwi
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search

Compare Sources (13)

Information from: “The twelve modern Khoisan languages” . Matthias Brenzinger (2011)

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
2,600
Native speakers worldwide

MORE ON VITALITY

"Significant numbers of Taa speakers in Botswana abandon their own language and shift to Kgalagadi, while those living on farms or in town locations in Namibia are shifting to Afrikaans and Nama"

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Kgalagadi; Afrikaans; Nama

PLACES: Botswana; Namibia

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: "The majority of [Taa speakers] live scattered over a huge area in southwestern Botswana, and 300 (+/- 50) in an area known as Corridor, next to the Botswana border in Namibia (DoBeS Taa Project)."

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
~4,000
Native speakers worldwide

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
2,000
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
"Traill (1985, p 1) estimates the number of !Xoo to be about 2,000 of whom probably less than 200 live in Namibia."

DATE OF INFO: 1985

PLACES: Southern & Western Botswana; Eastern Namibia

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
4,000
Native speakers worldwide

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
Several thousand
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
"Spoken by several thousand people in southern Botswana and Namibia"

PLACES: Botswana, Namibia

SPEAKER ATTITUDE: Mixed negative
OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY
LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS: "...the smaller languages like !Xóõ, Thimbukushu and ǁAni would prefer the use of Setswana as medium through which to receive information. Such positive attitudes towards Setswana would certainly contribute to the rapidity of language shift."

PLACES: Botswana

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
Ethnic population
4,600-6,000

DATE OF INFO: 1995-1999

DOMAINS OF USE

MORE ON VITALITY

"The !Xóõ language appeared to have greater vitality in Kgalagi Distrint than in Kweneng and Southern Districts."

PLACES: Botswana

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Kgalagadi, Kweneng, Southern, Ghanzi

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Villages, settlements, and towns: "Ngwatle, Ukwi, Inalegolo, Make, Kutuku, Bere, Zutswa, Kacgae, Monong, Kokotsha, Khakhea, Kang, Hunhukwa, Hukuntsi, Morwamosu, Khekhenya, Lokgwabe, Keng, Tshane, Lehututu, Kokong, Mabutsane, Sekoma, Dultwe, Tsetseng, Tswaane"

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
~2,000
Native speakers worldwide

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
~2,000
Native speakers worldwide

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: "Spoken by small groups of people spread out over a large part of southern Botswana... the relevant area is more than 500km from Sekoma in the east to Aminuis (in Namibia) in the west. From Takatswane in the north to Makopong in the south, the distance is approximately 300km... The speakers live in small groups and it is not the case that all the groups are in contact with one another."

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
3,000-4,000 speakers in Botswana

DATE OF INFO: 1995

DOMAINS OF USE
OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY
LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS: "Anthony Traill has published a dictionary, a phonological study and numerous articles about !Xóõ... Most of the people in the Ghanzi District speak two or more languages. More people said that they speak Tswana as a second language than any other language. "
Scripts (Writing system): None

PLACES: Botswana, Namibia

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Kgalagadi, Ghanzi, Botswana; Namibia

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
4,200
Native speakers worldwide

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
4,200
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
4000 in Botswana.

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY
LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS: "People older than 10 who have been to school or have lived with speakers of other languages also use Tswana [tsn], Kgalagadi [xkv], Herero [her], Naro [nhr], or |Gwi [gwj]."

PLACES: Botswana; Namibia;

	Duisburger Arbeiten zur Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaft		2000	Where are the Khoesan of Botswana?	Botswana: the Future of the Minority Languages	13-31		Herman M. Batibo and Birgit Smieja	Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang	40				Sue Hasselbring	Sue Hasselbring. 2000. "Where Are the Khoesan of Botswana?" In Botswana: the Future of the Minority Languages, edited by Herman M. Batibo and Birgit Smieja. 40: 13-31. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.	HHOLD	4,600-6,000		1995-1999			To the chief, clinic workers					Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	"The !Xóõ language appeared to have greater vitality in Kgalagi Distrint than in Kweneng and Southern Districts."	13	Villages, settlements, and towns: "Ngwatle, Ukwi, Inalegolo, Make, Kutuku, Bere, Zutswa, Kacgae, Monong, Kokotsha, Khakhea, Kang, Hunhukwa, Hukuntsi, Morwamosu, Khekhenya, Lokgwabe, Keng, Tshane, Lehututu, Kokong, Mabutsane, Sekoma, Dultwe, Tsetseng, Tswaane"	Botswana	Kgalagadi, Kweneng, Southern, Ghanzi	-23.453168,20.516109
0199255911			2005	The World Atlas of Language Structures				Bernard Comrie and David Gil and Martin Haspelmath and Matthew S. Dryer	Oxford University Press		New York				2005. "The World Atlas of Language Structures." edited by Bernard Comrie et al. Oxford University Press.																		-24.0, 21.5
		16	2009	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)				M. Paul Lewis	SIL International		Dallas, TX		http://www.ethnologue.com/		Lewis, M. Paul (ed.). 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16 edn. http://www.ethnologue.com/home.asp. (15 February, 2011.)	ll_pub		4,200		1000-9999	4000 in Botswana.		Tswana; Kgalagadi; Herero; Naro; \|Gwi;		"People older than 10 who have been to school or have lived with speakers of other languages also use Tswana [tsn], Kgalagadi [xkv], Herero [her], Naro [nhr], or \|Gwi [gwj]."		Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)				Botswana; Namibia;
	Sociolinguistic studies of Botswana language series		2000	A sociolinguistic survey of the languages of Botswana		1-142			Basarwa Languages Project, Collaborative Basarwa Research Programme of the Univ. of Botswana & Univ. of Tromsø	v. 1	Gaborone			Hasselbring, Sue	Sue Hasselbring. 2000. "A Sociolinguistic Survey of the Languages of Botswana." v. 1: 1-142. Basarwa Languages Project, Collaborative Basarwa Research Programme of the Univ. of Botswana & Univ. of Tromsø.	EBALL			1995		3,000-4,000 speakers in Botswana	At the lands or cattle post, to the chief, at the clinic, prayer, writing	Herero, Naro, Kgalagari, Tswana		"Anthony Traill has published a dictionary, a phonological study and numerous articles about !Xóõ... Most of the people in the Ghanzi District speak two or more languages. More people said that they speak Tswana as a second language than any other language. "		Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)		13		Botswana, Namibia	Kgalagadi, Ghanzi, Botswana; Namibia
			1998	Few People, Many Tongues: The Languages of Namibia		222			Windhoek, Namibia: Gamsberg Macmillan					Jouni F. Maho	Maho, Jouni F. 1998. Few People, Many Tongues: The Languages of Namibia. Windhoek, Namibia: Gamsberg Macmillan. x+222pp. (Survey of the linguistic typology and the sociolinguistics of the Namibian languages. Revision (heavy) of Maho (1993).)	HHOLD		2,000	1985	1000-9999	"Traill (1985, p 1) estimates the number of !Xoo to be about 2,000 of whom probably less than 200 live in Namibia."						Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)				Southern & Western Botswana; Eastern Namibia
			2011	The twelve modern Khoisan languages	Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium on Khoisan Languages and Linguistics									Matthias Brenzinger	Matthias Brenzinger. 2011. "The Twelve Modern Khoisan Languages." In Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium on Khoisan Languages and Linguistics,			2,600		1000-9999			Kgalagadi; Afrikaans; Nama				Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	"Significant numbers of Taa speakers in Botswana abandon their own language and shift to Kgalagadi, while those living on farms or in town locations in Namibia are shifting to Afrikaans and Nama"			Botswana; Namibia	"The majority of [Taa speakers] live scattered over a huge area in southwestern Botswana, and 300 (+/- 50) in an area known as Corridor, next to the Botswana border in Namibia (DoBeS Taa Project)."	-23.382598, 21.566162; -23.484660, 19.905853
			2009	Dying Words: Endangered Languages and What They Have to Tell Us					John Wiley & Sons					Nicholas Evans	Nicholas Evans. 2009. "Dying Words: Endangered Languages and What They Have To Tell Us." John Wiley & Sons.	HHOLD		~4,000		1000-9999							Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)
			1997	Khoisan groups and languages	Languages in Botswana: language ecology in southern Africa	123-142	Deals with Ju/’hoan, €Kx’au//’ein, Nama/Damara, Naro, /Gwi, //Gana, Kxoe, Shua, Tshwa, and !Xóõ.		Longman Botswana		Gaborone			Lars-Gunnar Andersson and Tore Janson	Lars-Gunnar Andersson and Tore Janson. 1997. "Khoisan Groups and Languages." In Languages in Botswana: language ecology in southern Africa, 123-142. Longman Botswana.	EBALL		~2,000		1000-9999							Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)					"Spoken by small groups of people spread out over a large part of southern Botswana... the relevant area is more than 500km from Sekoma in the east to Aminuis (in Namibia) in the west. From Takatswane in the north to Makopong in the south, the distance is approximately 300km... The speakers live in small groups and it is not the case that all the groups are in contact with one another."
0-9538248-7-X			2005	The Story of !Ui: Causality and Language Shift in Africa	Creating Outsiders: Endangered Languages, Migration and Marginalisation: Proceedings of the Ninth FEL Conference, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 18-20 November 2005			Nigel Crawhall and Nicholas Ostler	Foundation for Endangered Languages		Bath			Nigel Crawhall	Nigel Crawhall. 2005. "The Story of !Ui: Causality and Language Shift in Africa." In Creating Outsiders: Endangered Languages, Migration and Marginalisation: Proceedings of the Ninth FEL Conference, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 18-20 November 2005, edited by Nigel Crawhall and Nicholas Ostler. Bath, Foundation for Endangered Languages.			Several thousand		1000-9999	"Spoken by several thousand people in southern Botswana and Namibia"						Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)				Botswana, Namibia
		3rd	2010	Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger					UNESCO Publishing		Paris		http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas	Christopher Moseley (ed.)	Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas. (03 June, 2011.)	ll_pub		4,000		1000-9999							Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)						-24.1367, 20.1049
	Duisburger Arbeiten zur Sprach-und Kulturwissenschaft		2000	Linguistic Barriers as a Hindrance to Information Flow: The Case of Botswana	Botswana: the Future of the Minority Languages	95-104		Herman M. Batibo and Birgit Smieja	Peter Lang		Düsseldorf, Germany			Herman M. Batibo and Naledi Mosaka	Herman M. Batibo and Naledi Mosaka. 2000. "Linguistic Barriers As a Hindrance To Information Flow: The Case of Botswana." In Botswana: the Future of the Minority Languages, edited by Herman M. Batibo and Birgit Smieja. 95-104. Peter Lang.							Radio	Setswana, English	Mixed negative	"...the smaller languages like !Xóõ, Thimbukushu and ǁAni would prefer the use of Setswana as medium through which to receive information. Such positive attitudes towards Setswana would certainly contribute to the rapidity of language shift."	Setswana proficiency: 14.6%%; English: 19.8%%					Botswana
				World Oral Literature Project									http://www.oralliterature.org		"World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.			4,200		1000-9999							Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)
9783110170498	Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs		2007	Language Endangerment in Southern and Eastern Africa	Language Diversity Endangered	179-204		Matthias Brenzinger	Mouton de Gruyter		Berlin	9		Matthias Brenzinger	Brenzinger, Matthias. 2007. "Language Endangerment in Southern and Eastern Africa." In Language Diversity Endangered, edited by Matthias Brenzinger. 179-204. Mouton de Gruyter.			~2,000		1000-9999							Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)

Taa

Language metadata

Language information by source

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

2,600

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~4,000

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

2,000

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

4,000

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

Several thousand

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~2,000

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~2,000

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

4,200

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

4,200

Discussion

Taa

Language metadata

Language information by source

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

2,600

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~4,000

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

2,000

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

4,000

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

Several thousand

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~2,000

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~2,000

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

4,200

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

4,200

Discussion

Suggest information or improvement

Download language data

Sources of information

Compare Sources