Herero Language

The Herero language (Otjiherero) is a language of the Bantu family (Niger–Congo group). It is spoken by the Ovaherero and Ovambanderu people in Namibia (206,000) and Botswana as well as by small communities in Southwestern Angola. The total number of speakers in both former countries is approximately 237,000.

Its linguistic distribution covers a zone called Hereroland: this zone is constituted of the region of Omaheke, along with the regions of Otjozondjupa and Kunene. The Ovahimba, who are related to the Ovaherero and Ovambanderu people, speak a dialect very close to the Otjiherero language. In Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, there exists a considerable minority of hererophones.

Because of missionary Gottlieb Viehe's (1839–1901) translation of the Bible into Herero at the end of the 19th century, the spoken language was transcribed to a script based on the Latin alphabet. Father Peter Heinrich Brincker (1836–1904) translated several theological works and songs.

Otjiherero is taught in Namibian schools both as a native tongue and as a secondary language, and 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 (NBC). Gamsberg Macmillan, as of 2008, has published the only dictionary in Otjiherero.

The Hakaona "dialect" is now considered a separate language, as sometimes is Zemba that is also known as Otjizemba.