Hūs dictionary

The following is a collection of ||hūs-related terms and expressions recorded in Namibia.

Nama - English

||am: to capture (Wagner 1917)
gomate: (lit. "cow(s)") seed(s) (Schmidt 1974/75)
|Gurihoeseb: mystical inventor of ||hūs (1) (Schmidt 1974/75)
||hūs (pl. ||hūti): ("hole", perhaps obsolete for "cloud"; or derived from: ||Ghu the honorative of !Khû, which means "lightning") 1. the game of ||hūs; 2. playing pit (Schultze 1907)
!khoe: to move, to sow (Schmidt 1974/75)
!koeni: (lit. "he runs away") a strategic maneuver, in which a player tries to move his gomate to his back row to safety (Wagner 1917)
ǂnou: (lit. "to hit him on the head") to capture all opponent's gomate in a few succeeding moves (Wagner 1917)
xoros: (from xóros, "to dig" or from khòro-||ams, "cattle stealing"; maybe related to the East African choro): old name for ||hūs (1) (Schmidt 1974/75)

"Fight!" - Shouted by spectators as an incentive. (Schmidt 1974/75)

"I shot the cows with bow and arrow." - Said after a successful capture. (Schmidt 1974/75)

"Run towards him!" - Advice in an endgame fight. (Schmidt 1974/75)

"Dodge!" - To prevent the capture of gomate. (Schmidt 1974/75)

"I have taken your cows!" - Said after a capture. (Schmidt 1974/75)

Schmidt, S.: (1975) 'Einige Bemerkungen zum "Loch"-Spiel (Mankala) in Südwestafrika', in Journal - SWA Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft / Scientific Society (Windhoek, Namibia); 1974/75; 29. Pages 67-77.

Schultze, L.: (1907) Aus Namaland und Kalahari: Bericht an die Kgl. Preussische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin über einer Forschungsreise im westlichen und zentralen Afrika, ausgeführt in den Jahren 1903-1905 von Leonhard Schultze, Jena: G. Fischer. Pages 313-315.

Wagner, P. A.: (1917) 'A Contribution to Our Knowledge of the National Game of Skill in Africa', in Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa (Cape Town, South Africa); 6 (Part 1). Pages 47-68 + Plate XIII XVII.