[1] Cisgariepian, from the Nama point of view, i.e., to the North of
the Orange River.
[2] I give here some extracts from Mr. Wallmann’s letter, dated Barmen,
13th April, 1850, which was the only help of a grammatical or lexical
nature then available for me in my study of this Nama translation of
Luke’s Gospel:—
“I transmit hereby Luke’s Gospel in Namaqua, ... which I can lend you,
however, only for four weeks, as I have already previously promised it
to some one else.
“Should your labours permit it, I wish to request you to make a little
trial whether the Namaqua is somewhat related to the South African
family of Languages. For the present a mere negative decision on this
point is all that is wanted, and I should like to have very soon the
opinion of some good philologist regarding it. Moffat states that when
he gave specimens of Namaqua to a Syrian who came from Egypt, he was
told that he (the Syrian) had seen slaves in the market of Cairo who
were of lighter colour than other Africans, and whose language
resembled that of the Namaqua. Moffat also says that some ancient
authors have mentioned a nation in the interior of Africa who were very
similar to the Hottentots. Moffat seems himself, however, to ascribe
little value to these accounts, for his guesses fall at once upon the
Chinese. According to communications from our Missionary Knudsen, the
Namaqua language seems well formed. He mentions as personal pronouns:—
Tita saaz χyb sada sako χyku
I thou (sāts) he (ǁẽip) we you they (ǁĕiku)
but to show the modifications which the pronouns undergo according to
the gender, and whether the person (spoken to) is included or excluded
(in the first person plural), the following examples of inclusive or
exclusive forms are given:—
“We are captains.”
(incl.) Sake ke kauauke } mascul.
(excl.) Sike ke kauauke }
(incl.) Sase ke kautase } fem.
(excl.) Sise ke kautase }
(incl.) Sada ke tana-khoida } com.
(excl.) Sida ke tana-khoida }
(incl.) Sakhom ke kauaukhoma } dual. mascul.
(excl.) Sikhom ke kauaukhoma }
(incl.) Saam he kautama } dual. fem.
(excl.) Siim ke kautama }
(incl.) Saam ke tana-khoima } dual. com.
(excl.) Siim ke tana-khoima }
“The second person of the plural is said to have not more than half as
many distinctions; and the third person plural has only the following:—
χyku ke kauauga—mascul.
χyte ke kautate—fem.
χyn ke tana-khoina—com.
χykha ke kauaukha—dual. mascul.
χyra ke kautara—dual. fem.
χyra ke tana-khoira—dual. com.
“You will therefore oblige me by looking into the Namaqua Luke, and by
having the kindness to write me your opinion regarding it.”
[3] Report of the Correspondence and Paper read at the General Meeting
of the Syro-Egyptian Society, Session of 1851 and 1852. Read at the
Anniversary Meeting, held April 20th, 1852, 8vo. pp. 6, 8.
[4] “Ethnology of the Indo-Pacific Islands.” By J. R. Logan, Esq., Hon.
Fellow of the Ethnological Society. Language, Part ii. “The Races and
Languages of S.E. Asia, considered in relation to those of the
Indo-Pacific Islands,” Chapter v., sections i. to vi. [From the Journal
of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia, June and December, 1853, to
December, 1854.] Singapore: Printed by Jakob Baptist, 8vo., pp. 229,
294, sec. 6. The Semitico-African Languages, viz.:—1. General
Characters, p. 229; 2. Egyptian, p. 248; 3. Hottentot, p. 248; 4.
Shemo-Hamitic, or Assyro-Berber, p. 259.
[5] Mr. Rath’s Manuscript consists of sixty-one pages, with double
columns, foolscap folio. It contains the following pieces:—
1. The Spectre Sweethearts, pp. 1, 2.
2. The Lion Husbands, pp. 2, 5.
3. Tenacity of a Loving Mother’s Care, pp. 5, 6.
4. The Girl who ran after her Father’s Bird, pp. 6, 12.
5. The Handsome Girl, pp. 12, 15.
6. The Little Bushman Woman, pp. 17, 18.
7. Punishment of Imposition, pp. 19, 21.
8. The Spectre who Fell in Love with his Son’s Wife, pp. 22, 23.
9. The Lunatic, p. 23.
10. The Girls who Escaped from the Hill Damaras, pp. 24, 26.
11. The Elephant and the Tortoise, pp. 27, 29.
12. The Two Wives, pp. 29, 33.
13. The Lion who took different Shapes, pp. 34, 35.
14. The Little Girl left in the Well by her wicked Companions, pp.
35, 38.
15. The Unreasonable Child to whom the Dog gave its Deserts, pp.
39, 43
16. Rutanga, p. 44.
17. The Ghost of the Man who was Killed by a Rhinoceros in
consequence of his Father’s Curse, pp. 45, 47.
18. The Trials of Hambeka, a Spirit risen from the Dead, pp. 47,
50.
19. The Little Girl who was teased by an Insect, p. 51.
20. The same as 16 (Rutanga) p. 52.
21. Conjugal Love after Death, p. 53.
22. The Bad Katjungu and the Good Kahavundye, pp. 54, 57.
23. The Wife who went after her Husband, pp. 57, 59.
24. The Little Girl Murdered by the Hill Damara, pp. 59, 61.
[6] The title of Mr. Knudsen’s first Manuscript is, “Südafrica: Das
Hottentot-Volk; Notizzen (Manuscript) H. C. Knudsen.” 4to., p. 12. Its
contents are, Bushman Land, p. 3; the different kinds of Rain, p. 3;
Bethany (in Great Namaqualand), p. 3; the Damara, p. 4; the Grassy
Plain, p. 4; the Diseases, pp. 4, 5; Birdsnests, p. 5; Marriage and
Wedding among the Namaqua, p. 5; Extent of Authority among the Namaqua,
p. 5; Similarity with the Jewish manner of Thinking, Counting, Eating,
Drinking, Praying, Mode of Speech, and manner of Reckoning
Relationship, p. 6; Heitsi Eibip or Kabip, p. 7; Origin of the Modes of
Life of the Namaqua and Bushmen, pp. 7, 8; Coming of Age among the
Hottentots, p. 8; Names of Hottentot Tribes and their probable
Etymology, pp. 8, 9; Are the Hottentots of Egyptian or Phœnician
Origin? p. 9; Are the Hottentots of Jewish or Moabitic Origin? pp. 9,
10; Appendix, pp. 11, 12.
Mr. Knudsen’s second Manuscript has the following title, “Stoff zu
einer Grammatik in der Namaquasprache (Manuscript), H. C. Knudsen.”
4to. pp. 29. After a few general introductory remarks, and a short
explanation of the Hottentot Alphabet, Mr. Knudsen treats of the
different Parts of Speech:—I. Nouns, pp. 3, 4; II. Adjectives, pp. 4,
5; III. Pronouns, pp. 5, 10; IV. Numerals, p. 11; V. Verbs, pp. 12, 24;
Interrogative Sentences, pp. 25, 26; Concluding Remarks, pp. 26, 29.
[7] The little Fox, in Nama the ǃKamap, a small kind of Jackal, who is
a swift runner. The Jackal’s name is ǀGirip. (The ǀ is the dental and
the ǃ the cerebral click; vide Notes to Fables 23 and 27, pp. 47, 62.)
[8] “When the Hyena first starts, it appears to be lame on the hind
legs, or gone in the loins, as one would say of a horse.”—L. Layard.
[9] “Because the Giraffe is said to give blue ashes when
burnt.”—Krönlein.
[10] In token of approval, according to a Hottentot custom.
[11] With reference to the Baboon’s great power of distancing his
pursuers.
[12] The ǀ is the dental click, which is “sounded by pressing the tip
of the tongue against the front teeth of the upper jaw, and then
suddenly and forcibly withdrawing it.”—Tindall.
[13] The ǂ is the palatal click, described in note to Fable 24. p. 55,
and χ is the German ch.
[14] ǂ Indicates the palatal click, which is sounded by pressing the
tip of the tongue, with as flat a surface as possible, against the
termination of the palate at the gums, and withdrawing it suddenly and
forcibly.
[15] The stage is that apparatus in the background of the hut (built of
mats) opposite the door, upon which the Hottentots hang their bamboos,
bags of skins, and other things, and under which the women generally
keep their mats.
[16] Vide Note to Fable 24, p. 56.
[17] Χ is the German ch, and ǃ the cerebral click of the Hottentot
language, which is “sounded by sending up the tip of the tongue against
the roof of the palate, and withdrawing it forcibly and
suddenly.”—Tindall.
[18] Hottentot huts being merely made of skins stretched over a frame,
are carried about by the people in their wanderings.
[19] “We are now angry with the Hare,” say the old Namaqua, “because he
brought such a bad message, and therefore we dislike to eat his
flesh.”—Knudsen.
[20] Old Namaquas will not therefore touch Hare’s flesh; but the young
men may partake of it; that is, before the ceremony of making them men
is performed, which merely consists in slaughtering and eating an ox or
a couple of sheep.—Alexander.
[21] Ohlangeni. Vide Colenso’s “Zulu-English Dictionary,” p. 179.
[22] Knudsen, who heard this legend from the Hottentot Petrus Friedrik,
was afterwards informed that Heitsi Eibip was not the person meant in
this tale. It looks very much like the end of our 27th Fable, of the
Woman who outwitted the Elephants.
[23] Sir James E. Alexander, in his “Expedition of Discovery into the
Interior of Africa,” vol. i. p. 166, speaking of the people at Warm
Bath, or Nisbett Bath, says:—“These Namaquas thought that they came
from the East. In the country there is occasionally found (besides the
common graves covered with a heap of stones) large heaps of stones, on
which had been thrown a few bushes; and if the Namaquas are asked what
these are, they say that Heije Eibib, their Great Father, is below the
heap; they do not know what he is like, or what he does; they only
imagine that he also came from the East, and had plenty of sheep and
goats; and when they add a stone or branch to the heap, they mutter,
‘Give us plenty of cattle.’”
[24] Sir James Alexander, in his “Expedition of Discovery into the
Interior of Africa,” vol. ii. p. 250, states:—“On the 3rd of August the
waggon went on to Aneip, or Wet Foot, and I went out of the way with
Jan Buys, and two or three men, to see a hole, which was supposed to be
inhabited by Heije Eibib, and was the wonder of the country.”
[25] The ǂ is the palatal click, described in Note to Fable 24, p. 55;
and indicates the nasal pronunciation of a syllable.
[26] The ǃ is the cerebral click described in Note to Fable 27, p. 62.