Nama, a. and n.
(ˈnɑːmə)
[Hottentot.]
A. adj. Pertaining to or designating one of the four main Hottentot tribes, found in Namaqualand in western South Africa. B. n. a. A member of this tribe; these people collectively. b. Their language, a dialect of Hottentot. Hence ˈNaman a. and n.
| 1864 W. H. I. Bleek Reynard the Fox in S. Afr. p. xxix, To make our available stock of Nama Hottentot literature quite complete. 1881 T. Hahn Tsuni-‖ Goam i. 3 In the Nama language, one of the Khoikhoi idioms, the Bushmen are called Sā-n (com. plur). Ibid. ii. 89, I afterwards made him a present of ammunition, and, as anxious as a Nama is to possess that most precious material, he said: ‘No; you want to pay [for] my cow, and I shall not accept it.’ 1908 T. G. Tucker Introd. Nat. Hist. Lang. viii. 148 Hottentot dialects: viz. Nama (of the Namaqua) to the north-west, [etc.]. 1930 C. G. Seligman Races Afr. ii. 34 The customary division of the Hottentots into four main groups—Naman, Korana, Gonaqua, and Old Cape Hottentots. 1944 M. Oldevig Sunny Land 51 Namas—or Hottentots. Ibid. 53 Three different Nama tribes. 1965 [see Hottentot 2]. 1966 J. H. Greenberg Lang. Afr. (ed. 2) 68 Nama Hottentot indicates the past by an element go (in the usual orthography). Ibid., In Nama there is no phonemic distinction between k and g. 1974 Times 14 Jan. 4/6 They have intermarried with Coloured and Nama (Hottentot) people. |