Shua/ˈʃuːə/SHOO-ə, orShwakhwe, is aKhoe language (Central Khoisan) ofBotswana. It is spoken in central Botswana (inNata and its surroundings), and in parts of the Chobe District in the extreme north of Botswana. There are approximately 6,000 speakers (Cook 2004) and approximately 2,000 out of those 6,000 speakers are native speakers.^[2] The linguistic variety spoken in the township ofNata innortheast Botswana is highly endangered and spoken fluently only by adults over about thirty years of age.^[3] The termShwakhwe means people (khwe) from the salty area (shwa).

• /kxʼ/ is only phonemic in the Tsʼixa and Danisi dialects.

Shua has the five vowels/aeiou/, and three nasal vowels/ĩãũ/.^[4]

Unlike most Khoisan languages, but likeNama, the most neutral word order is SOV, though word order is relatively free. As with most Khoisan languages, there are postpositions. There is a tense-aspect markerke which often appears in second position in affirmative sentences in the present tense, giving X Aux S O V order (e.g. S Aux O V).

This marker appears first in certain subordinate clauses in a manner reminiscent of V2 languages such as German, where a clause-initial complementizer is in complementary distribution with a second position phenomenon (in German, it would be the finite verb which appears in second position).

Shua has indigenous terms for numeral terms, it is a restrictive and limited system of numerals.

• |uˉiˉ^{[clarification needed]} ‘one’
• |am^{[clarification needed]} ‘two’
• ngona: ~ ‖obeˉ:ˉ^{[clarification needed]} ‘three’
• hatsa:^{[clarification needed]} ‘four’
• |’oˉra:^{[clarification needed]} ‘a few’
• ‖hara:^{[clarification needed]} ‘many’^[5]

Using this example, the numeral comes before the head noun. More specifically, it appears in the second "opening" of a noun phrase "following a demonstrative or determiner (if there is one), and preceding a qualifying nominal or adjective."^[5]

Shua is adialect cluster.

• Deti (10 or fewer speakers)^[6]
• Ganádi
• Shwa-khwe
• Nǀoo-khwe
• Kǀoree-khoeor ǀOree-khwe
• ǁʼAiyeor ǀAaye
• ǀXaiseor ǀTaise
• Tshidi-khweor Tcaitior Silior Shete Tsere
• Danisior Demisaor Madenasseor Madinnisane
• Cara
• ǁGoro (ǁ᪶Oro)or ǀXaio

The term Hietshware (Hietʃware, Hietʃo) is used for varieties of both Shua and its sister-languageTshwa.

Tsʼixa (200 speakers) is evidently a distinct language.

• Shua basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database

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