The classification history presented in the excerpt identifies San languages as one of the major southern African groupings considered by nineteenth-century scholars. Lichtenstein is credited with making the first clear distinction between Khoi-Khoi and San. This distinction separated two bodies of languages that earlier classifications had not always treated independently.

The recognition of San as a distinct grouping formed part of a broader effort to classify African languages through historical comparison. Alongside the emerging identification of Bantu, it represented an attempt to move beyond generalized categories and establish relationships among specific linguistic communities. The passage does not provide a list of San languages or describe their social institutions, economies, or political history.

In the later classification summarized here, Khoi-Khoi was itself classified as a San language belonging to the Central group of South African Khoisan. This proposal altered the relationship between the two labels and illustrates the changing terminology of African linguistic classification. Because the excerpt does not define the full extent of the San-speaking area, its geography is represented only approximately.