Kora, noun

Forms:
Cora, !KoraShow more Also Cora, !Kora, !Ora.
Plurals:
unchanged, or Koras.
Origin:
KhoikhoiShow more Khoikhoi, probably from the name of the first chief of the clan, named !Kora, !Khora, or !Ora: see Koranna (Std. Encycl. quotation, 1975).
1. A member of a Khoikhoi people who migrated from the southern and central regions of the Cape Province to their final home near the Orange, Vaal, and Harts rivers; Koraqua sense 1; cf. Koranna sense 1. Also attributive. See also Gorachouqua.
1802 Truter & Somerville in G.M. Theal Rec. of Cape Col. (1899) IV. 403We were visited by several Coras.
1806 J. Barrow Voy. to Cochinchina 373The native inhabitants which are settled on the banks of the Orange River..are a variety of the Hottentot race..called the Koras...What the Gonaquas were on the eastern coast the Koras seem to be to the northward, a mixed breed between the Hottentot and the Kaffer.
1824 W.J. Burchell Trav. II. 212This difference of stature in those [Bushmen] who inhabit the vicinity of the river (sc. the Gariep), is probably to be attributed to a mixture of Kora blood.
1834 T. Pringle Afr. Sketches 16The Corannas, Koras, or Koraquas, are a tribe of independent Hottentots, inhabiting the banks of the Gareep, or Great Orange River. They are naturally a mild, indolent, pastoral people.
1936 J.A. Engelbrecht Korana 83Kora tribes..left the Cape to seek new pastures.
1955 J.H. Wellington Sn Afr.: Geog. Study II. 234The tribes occupying the Cape Peninsula and adjacent areas at the time of Van Riebeeck’s arrival were the Goringhaiqua and the Kora (later known as the Koranna).
1976 R. Ross Adam Kok’s Griquas 25Although various criteria in terms of physical type, historical grouping and language have been suggested for the !Kora, these do not inspire confidence, and rather it is best to see the !Kora as those who followed a style of life which entailed nomadic cattle herding and raiding in smallish hordes, led by a, theoretically hereditary, Kaptyn.
1978 T.R.H. Davenport S. Afr.: Mod. Hist. 25The Kora, or Khoikhoi people who had largely preserved their identity and got on well with the Griqua,..later became involved in conflict with the Cape government on the Orange River in the 1860s.
1986 P. Maylam Hist. of Afr. People 111In the years 1833–4 about 12 000 people migrated from this direction into Moshoeshoe’s sphere of influence. These were mostly Tswana, but also included Kora, Griqua and ‘Bastards’.
2. The Khoikhoi language spoken by the Kora people; Koranna sense 2; Koraqua sense 2.
1824 [see Koraqua sense 2].
1881 Encycl. Brit. XII. 312The Kora dialect, spoken by the Korannas, or Koraquas, dwelling about the middle and upper part of the Orange, Vaal, and Modder Rivers.
1928 E.H.L. Schwarz Kalahari & its Native Races 185In Kora, as in Namaqua, there is the singular, dual and plural, with some interesting modifications from normal Hottentot.
1936 J.A. Engelbrecht Korana 197A complete linguistic survey of all the areas in which Kora..is still spoken at the present day could not be undertaken.
1968 Encycl. Brit. XI. 751Hottentot is the European name for the Nama, Kora and other languages comprising 14 or 15 subdivisions of the main Hottentot speech.
c1980 S. Afr. 1979: Off. Yrbk (Info. Service of S. Afr.) 101Khoe-(kowab) or Hottentot Languages. This language family includes Nama with Dama, Xiri (Griqua), !Ora (Korana), Hai-n//um (Heikom), [etc.].
A member of a Khoikhoi people who migrated from the southern and central regions of the Cape Province to their final home near the Orange, Vaal, and Harts rivers; Koraqua sense 1;
The Khoikhoi language spoken by the Kora people; Koranna sense 2; Koraqua sense 2.
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18021986