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The gender system of Khoekhoegowab

  • Sylvanus Job EMAIL logo and Tom Güldemann
Published/Copyright: July 8, 2021

Abstract

According to traditional analysis, Khoekhoe(gowab) makes a tripartite distinction between masculine, feminine, and common gender. Based on a statistical analysis of the comprehensive dictionary by Haacke and Eiseb and the first author’s status as a native speaker, the present paper offers new insights into the gender system of Khoekhoe. This concerns in particular the gender specification across the lexicon, including the status of transnumeral nouns, which leads to a partly revised analysis of the gender system.


Corresponding author: Sylvanus Job, Department of Asian and African Studies, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany, E-mail:

Funding source: Hanns-Seidel Foundation

Acknowledgment

Our thanks go to Ines Fiedler and Wilfrid Haacke for helpful comments on previous drafts of this article. The first author furthermore thanks the Hanns-Seidel Foundation for the scholarship granted for his doctoral studies.

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Published Online: 2021-07-08
Published in Print: 2021-07-27

© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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