Herero language


Herero is a Bantu language spoken by the Herero and Mbanderu peoples in Namibia and Botswana, as well as by small communities of people in southwestern Angola. There were speakers in these countries between 2015 and 2018.

Distribution

Its linguistic distribution covers a zone called Hereroland, which is constituted of the region of Omaheke along with the Otjozondjupa and Kunene Regions. The Himba people, who are related to the Herero and Mbanderu, speak a dialect very close to Otjiherero. Many Herero-speakers live in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia.

Phonology

Consonants

The sounds /f s l/ are found in loanwords.

Vowels

Script

Because of the translation of missionary Gottlieb Viehe 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 translated several theological works and songs.

Orthography

  • a -
  • b -
  • d -
  • ḓ -
  • e -
  • f -
  • g -
  • h -
  • i -
  • j -
  • k -
  • l -
  • m -
  • mb -
  • mw -
  • n -
  • ndj -
  • ng -
  • ngw -
  • nj -
  • ṋ -
  • o -
  • p -
  • r -
  • s -
  • t -
  • tj -
  • ṱ -
  • u -
  • 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 the University of Namibia. Otjiherero is also one of the six minority languages that are used by the Namibian State Radio. Gamsberg Macmillan,, has published the only dictionary in Otjiherero.

Varieties

The Hakaona variety is now considered a separate Bantu language, as sometimes is Zemba. Maho also removes Kuvale to Bantu Zone R.10, while differentiating North-West Herero, R.311, and Botswana Herero, R.312, as distinct from but closely related to Herero proper. Within Herero proper, he recognizes two dialects: Central Herero and Mbandero.
Northwest/Zemba is found on either side of the Namibian–Angolan border. Central Herero covers a large area in central Namibia, with East Herero and a few islands to the east but still in Namibia. Botswana Herero consists of a few scattered islands in Botswana, with about 15% of 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.