More about the language.
Some words are very similar.
Oshikuku = chicken coop
Oshikuki = cake
Konga – to look for
Honga – to teach
David phoned Bsp Kalangula’s house and said he was calling to ‘honga’ the Bishop!
Some words are the same, but the tone is different when pronouncing it.
Eulu – leg
Eulu - heaven
Odula - rain
Odula – year
But …
Eudo also means year!
Li means eat and also ‘be’. This results in us sometimes asking people if they are eating instead of whether they are well.
The president of Namibia, Hifikepunye Pohamba, has a very interesting name.
‘Hifikepunye’ means ‘I am not equal to you’
‘Pohambe’ means ‘in the house of’ or ‘near the king’.
Oshiwambo likes to emphasise things.
Odula oya loka nawa – the rain is raining well.
Silas a honoka ta di oshinhwi – Silas’ sweat is sweating freely.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Monday, May 29, 2006
Cool at last!
Although the nights have been cool for a couple of weeks now, the days were nice. But South Africa recently had a very cold snap (leaving 5 dead) and the wind off the snow-clad ‘Berg (mts) chilled us to the bone. Esp as our winter clothes are in the ‘things to come’! (it was –1o in Windhoek)
We went to Étienne's school last week to get his report from last term and his results from the tests (written termly).
He got 95% for his English (not hard, I guess, when it is your mother tongue) and 86% for maths. We saw his maths paper and it was 5 sides of questions - all in Afrikaans - and sums!
He is fascinated with the Solar System at the moment and regales us with facts about the planets.
Caris delights everyone in our local Spar because she pirouettes and dances her way up and down the aisles to the canned music they play. They love to touch her hair.
Mail is proving slow at the moment. We have received 3 aerogrammes from Australia – all taking about a month. We know there have been more than that sent. (If we have not thanked you for your letter, then it means it has not arrived!) Amazingly, post from the UK has taken only about 10 days.
Here is some info about the photos I have chosen this time.
Pigs, goats, cows, chickens … you name it. They scavenge all day and every day along the streets and around the houses.
The wall for sale is for anyone wanting to build a house – they only have to build 3 other walls!
The ‘skeleton’ of a new thatched roof (see below for more info).
The cold weather means EVERYONE in the family has to forage for wood.
Toys are scarce in most families. Old tyres are a favourite. The sticks are used to guide it and the trick is to run as fast as you can, propelling the tyre in front of you, without losing control!
You may have noticed that the language we are learning has lots of ‘o’ words. Well, the word for Windhoek is Ovenduka!
A Christian is Omukriste.
A church is Ongeleka.
Then there are words to be learnt that are distinctly African:
Omulova – a drifting of game into inhabited areas to seek water in times of severe drought. If such game is killed, the meat is common property.
Onguwo – a woman’s cowhide skirt, reaching her ankles.
Oshikolola – bits of stiff ‘oshifima’ (porridge) scraped off the stirrer and given to the children before the porridge is ready to be shared and eaten.
Oxula – a sacrificial offering by a sick person, in the form of a gift to a witch doctor with the object of expelling the evil spirit causing the sickness. The size of the offering (ox, goat, hen) depends on the person’s means. The sick person retains only a small portion of the meat.
Oxuulwa – (heads of) cattle plundered as spoils of war.
Onhungila – a ring formed by forked sticks stuck upright into the ground in a circle with forks uppermost. In them is rested the skeleton of a hut roof (onduda) whilst its transverse ribs are inserted (see photo). The whole is thus lifted off the ground for ease of inserting.
We went to Étienne's school last week to get his report from last term and his results from the tests (written termly).
He got 95% for his English (not hard, I guess, when it is your mother tongue) and 86% for maths. We saw his maths paper and it was 5 sides of questions - all in Afrikaans - and sums!
He is fascinated with the Solar System at the moment and regales us with facts about the planets.
Caris delights everyone in our local Spar because she pirouettes and dances her way up and down the aisles to the canned music they play. They love to touch her hair.
Mail is proving slow at the moment. We have received 3 aerogrammes from Australia – all taking about a month. We know there have been more than that sent. (If we have not thanked you for your letter, then it means it has not arrived!) Amazingly, post from the UK has taken only about 10 days.
Here is some info about the photos I have chosen this time.
Pigs, goats, cows, chickens … you name it. They scavenge all day and every day along the streets and around the houses.
The wall for sale is for anyone wanting to build a house – they only have to build 3 other walls!
The ‘skeleton’ of a new thatched roof (see below for more info).
The cold weather means EVERYONE in the family has to forage for wood.
Toys are scarce in most families. Old tyres are a favourite. The sticks are used to guide it and the trick is to run as fast as you can, propelling the tyre in front of you, without losing control!
You may have noticed that the language we are learning has lots of ‘o’ words. Well, the word for Windhoek is Ovenduka!
A Christian is Omukriste.
A church is Ongeleka.
Then there are words to be learnt that are distinctly African:
Omulova – a drifting of game into inhabited areas to seek water in times of severe drought. If such game is killed, the meat is common property.
Onguwo – a woman’s cowhide skirt, reaching her ankles.
Oshikolola – bits of stiff ‘oshifima’ (porridge) scraped off the stirrer and given to the children before the porridge is ready to be shared and eaten.
Oxula – a sacrificial offering by a sick person, in the form of a gift to a witch doctor with the object of expelling the evil spirit causing the sickness. The size of the offering (ox, goat, hen) depends on the person’s means. The sick person retains only a small portion of the meat.
Oxuulwa – (heads of) cattle plundered as spoils of war.
Onhungila – a ring formed by forked sticks stuck upright into the ground in a circle with forks uppermost. In them is rested the skeleton of a hut roof (onduda) whilst its transverse ribs are inserted (see photo). The whole is thus lifted off the ground for ease of inserting.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
More about the language
I went down to the local shopping ‘centre’ today. Still no fresh milk but at least they have long life milk. There was meat on sale but it had mostly all passed the sell-by date. But there is a selection of vegetables at the moment so that is good. Stuff may be out of stock when you need it, but there is generally a greater choice than one might expect. I even found bacon once, recently. Unfortunately only 1 packet but we enjoyed it
The post office is an interesting place. Mail is not delivered quite every day but the lady there is very nice. When I take a letter in she jiggles it in her hand to ascertain if it is within the standard weight allowance! The photo is of the security guard beside the PO boxes (notice his gun!).
Every business seems to have a security guard. In our little shopping area there is one for the bank, one for the post office, one for the newly-opened little mobile phone place and two to check your bags when you leave the Spar.
As many homes have no electricity, and as a steady income is hard to find, mobile (cell) phones are very popular. You can pay as you go and, as long as you live near a transmitter (eg near a town) you are ok. Places like local barbers etc offer to let you pay to use their electricity to charge your phone (see attached pic). (Remember, you live in a home with no electricity, running water, or toilet facilities!)
Here are some more ‘pensives’ about Oshikwanyama.
Oshikwanyama is a tonal language. Some words and even sentences look the same but, depending on the way you say it, there can be multiple meanings. One we discovered yesterday is ‘hambelela’. It can mean ‘praise!’ but the way David pronounced it the other day, it meant ‘no meat’!
The word ‘yehama’ means ‘probably’ but ONLY with reference to rain and whether it will!
Here is another o-word … oshinhundungulu. It means ‘egg yoke’.
The vocabulary for family members almost makes one want to be an orphan with no siblings. Try a few for size:
Meme – my mother
Nyoko – your mother
Ina – his/her mother
Omumwamemekadona – my sister (my mother’s daughter)
Omumwamememati – my brother
Omumwameme – my sibling (of my mother)
Omumwayoko – your sibling
Omumwaina – his/her sibling
Mushakati – 2nd child of a family with more than 2 children
Oshiveli – first-born
Onghelo – last-born
Onowele – middle-born, neither first nor last
We have been told some interesting cultural tips, as told by Namibians to Americans we have recently met.
1. when you visit someone, you don't need to call beforehand. Whether you are wanting afternoon tea, an evening meal or even to sleep - you just turn up.
2. when you get visitors, DON’T offer them ‘coke or nice food’ on the first day – only bread and water. Otherwise you WON’T get rid of them!
This couple recently (last week) had a call from someone they knew in Angola. ‘I am sending a friend down to you. He needs picking up from the border (about 1 hr away from us), taking to the police station to fill in some papers and he wants to study in Windhoek’. Sure, said the American guy and went to pick him up. ‘How long will you be staying with us?’
‘Oh, till November!”
Ahhhggghhh! The couple are due to leave for South Africa for another job so could not do so. But such a scenario is a shock to our western sense of personal space.
These people have lived up north here for 2 years and told us that, last year, there was a fire in Oshakati. The people called the fire brigade there and the one here in Ongwediva, 10 kms. After 45 mins the Ongwediva one came (too late). The Oshakati one never turned up. Apparently, last year there was an article in the paper saying 25 of the 27 police cars of the region were out of commission. How hard it must be to try and run a country, let alone a region, on an almost non-existent budget. Apparently, the police spread a rumour last year that $50 police certificates were required for people travelling to and through Botswana. It seems it was just a ploy to try and get some money into the coffers. We can laugh – or we can be grateful that our own country is rich enough not to have to resort to such tactics.
There is a project here in the region to produce solar stoves. These are ovens that run totally on solar power and helps conserve the remaining wood in the area . An expensive initial outlay but then a saving from then on. They come in two sizes: ‘chicken’ size, and ‘goat’ size.
The post office is an interesting place. Mail is not delivered quite every day but the lady there is very nice. When I take a letter in she jiggles it in her hand to ascertain if it is within the standard weight allowance! The photo is of the security guard beside the PO boxes (notice his gun!).
Every business seems to have a security guard. In our little shopping area there is one for the bank, one for the post office, one for the newly-opened little mobile phone place and two to check your bags when you leave the Spar.
As many homes have no electricity, and as a steady income is hard to find, mobile (cell) phones are very popular. You can pay as you go and, as long as you live near a transmitter (eg near a town) you are ok. Places like local barbers etc offer to let you pay to use their electricity to charge your phone (see attached pic). (Remember, you live in a home with no electricity, running water, or toilet facilities!)
Here are some more ‘pensives’ about Oshikwanyama.
Oshikwanyama is a tonal language. Some words and even sentences look the same but, depending on the way you say it, there can be multiple meanings. One we discovered yesterday is ‘hambelela’. It can mean ‘praise!’ but the way David pronounced it the other day, it meant ‘no meat’!
The word ‘yehama’ means ‘probably’ but ONLY with reference to rain and whether it will!
Here is another o-word … oshinhundungulu. It means ‘egg yoke’.
The vocabulary for family members almost makes one want to be an orphan with no siblings. Try a few for size:
Meme – my mother
Nyoko – your mother
Ina – his/her mother
Omumwamemekadona – my sister (my mother’s daughter)
Omumwamememati – my brother
Omumwameme – my sibling (of my mother)
Omumwayoko – your sibling
Omumwaina – his/her sibling
Mushakati – 2nd child of a family with more than 2 children
Oshiveli – first-born
Onghelo – last-born
Onowele – middle-born, neither first nor last
We have been told some interesting cultural tips, as told by Namibians to Americans we have recently met.
1. when you visit someone, you don't need to call beforehand. Whether you are wanting afternoon tea, an evening meal or even to sleep - you just turn up.
2. when you get visitors, DON’T offer them ‘coke or nice food’ on the first day – only bread and water. Otherwise you WON’T get rid of them!
This couple recently (last week) had a call from someone they knew in Angola. ‘I am sending a friend down to you. He needs picking up from the border (about 1 hr away from us), taking to the police station to fill in some papers and he wants to study in Windhoek’. Sure, said the American guy and went to pick him up. ‘How long will you be staying with us?’
‘Oh, till November!”
Ahhhggghhh! The couple are due to leave for South Africa for another job so could not do so. But such a scenario is a shock to our western sense of personal space.
These people have lived up north here for 2 years and told us that, last year, there was a fire in Oshakati. The people called the fire brigade there and the one here in Ongwediva, 10 kms. After 45 mins the Ongwediva one came (too late). The Oshakati one never turned up. Apparently, last year there was an article in the paper saying 25 of the 27 police cars of the region were out of commission. How hard it must be to try and run a country, let alone a region, on an almost non-existent budget. Apparently, the police spread a rumour last year that $50 police certificates were required for people travelling to and through Botswana. It seems it was just a ploy to try and get some money into the coffers. We can laugh – or we can be grateful that our own country is rich enough not to have to resort to such tactics.
There is a project here in the region to produce solar stoves. These are ovens that run totally on solar power and helps conserve the remaining wood in the area . An expensive initial outlay but then a saving from then on. They come in two sizes: ‘chicken’ size, and ‘goat’ size.
Friday, May 12, 2006
Introduction to the Owambo
The three pictures I have put up with this is a) the tribal groups around Oshakati, our nearest town b) an Oshiwambo lady c) the flag of Owamboland.
The Owambo people are part of a bigger group of about 2199 Bantu people, who originated from the Nilo Sahara people in what is today called West Africa. A group went to East Africa in the 14-15 century and later on trickled down to the south. Another group came directly to the south from the west.
Today the Owambos are by far the largest population group in Namibia, comprising about one third of the country’s total population. Owambo is a collective name for twelve tribal groups that live in northern Namibia and southern Angola. The largest of these tribes is the aKwanyama which make up about 35% of the 700 000 Owambo who live in Namibia. The next largest groups are the aNdonga and aKwambi which respectively comprise 30% and 12% of Namibia's Owambo population. While the aNgandyela, aMbalanhu, aNkolonkadhi and aUnda complete the 8 Owambo tribal groups found in Namibia. Each tribe has it's own dialect.
The home of the Owambo people is called Owamboland but is today further divided into the Omusati, Ohangwena, Oshana and Oshikoto regions. These regions are now often referred to as the 4 "O" Regions. We live in the Oshana region.
Traditionally, each of the tribal groups was headed by a hereditary chief, assisted by several headman. Land is allocated by the chief or headman. Land is never owned and, upon the death of a tenant, the appropriate chief will allocate the land to a new tenant. The new tenant will not necessarily be related to the deceased.
Traditionally, the Owambo has practiced a matrilineal system (meaning the children belong to the mother's clan) especially in matters of inheritance and succession, meaning a chief's position and a man's wealth are inherited by his younger brother or sister's son, and not by his own children, since they belong to the mother's family. However in recent years the system has shifted towards a patrilineal society.
In rural areas each Owambo family lives in its own kraal or eumbo, which is enclosed by a wooden fence. The houses are situated inside this fence and can be either round or square thatched huts, outside of the fence are the family’s lands. In the centre of the kraal is the family sacred fire (omulilo gwoshilongo) which is kept burning at all times.
The aaOwambo practices both agriculture (mahango or millet) and cattle farming and this is supplemented by fish from the shallow pools (oshanas) that characterise the region. Another source of income for many Owambos is the cuca shops (small bars) and large open-air food markets.
(Source: www.namibian.org/travel/namibia/population/owambo.htm
www.eia.com.na/dune/Tribes/owambo.htm Department of Bantu Education - 1975)
The Owambo people are part of a bigger group of about 2199 Bantu people, who originated from the Nilo Sahara people in what is today called West Africa. A group went to East Africa in the 14-15 century and later on trickled down to the south. Another group came directly to the south from the west.
Today the Owambos are by far the largest population group in Namibia, comprising about one third of the country’s total population. Owambo is a collective name for twelve tribal groups that live in northern Namibia and southern Angola. The largest of these tribes is the aKwanyama which make up about 35% of the 700 000 Owambo who live in Namibia. The next largest groups are the aNdonga and aKwambi which respectively comprise 30% and 12% of Namibia's Owambo population. While the aNgandyela, aMbalanhu, aNkolonkadhi and aUnda complete the 8 Owambo tribal groups found in Namibia. Each tribe has it's own dialect.
The home of the Owambo people is called Owamboland but is today further divided into the Omusati, Ohangwena, Oshana and Oshikoto regions. These regions are now often referred to as the 4 "O" Regions. We live in the Oshana region.
Traditionally, each of the tribal groups was headed by a hereditary chief, assisted by several headman. Land is allocated by the chief or headman. Land is never owned and, upon the death of a tenant, the appropriate chief will allocate the land to a new tenant. The new tenant will not necessarily be related to the deceased.
Traditionally, the Owambo has practiced a matrilineal system (meaning the children belong to the mother's clan) especially in matters of inheritance and succession, meaning a chief's position and a man's wealth are inherited by his younger brother or sister's son, and not by his own children, since they belong to the mother's family. However in recent years the system has shifted towards a patrilineal society.
In rural areas each Owambo family lives in its own kraal or eumbo, which is enclosed by a wooden fence. The houses are situated inside this fence and can be either round or square thatched huts, outside of the fence are the family’s lands. In the centre of the kraal is the family sacred fire (omulilo gwoshilongo) which is kept burning at all times.
The aaOwambo practices both agriculture (mahango or millet) and cattle farming and this is supplemented by fish from the shallow pools (oshanas) that characterise the region. Another source of income for many Owambos is the cuca shops (small bars) and large open-air food markets.
(Source: www.namibian.org/travel/namibia/population/owambo.htm
www.eia.com.na/dune/Tribes/owambo.htm Department of Bantu Education - 1975)
Monday, May 08, 2006
Picasso
The children did these masterpieces on the computer. I think they handle the mouse better than their parents. I can NEVER get my 'writing' to even look like English when I use a mouse to write!
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Only in Africa!
We really do like it here and find almost every day to be an adventure of some sort. Here you can see us getting ‘up close and personal’ to one of the locals!
When we went to Amalia’s village, there was so much to experience. Just trying to imagine living without electricity and a toilet was hard. Here you can see us inside the ‘kitchen house’, and standing outside it.
The children can be seen exploring the granary, used to store the millet and sorghum.
We don’t want you to think that everywhere is so basic. Oshakati is quite a large town and has a huge market – though not the sort of market you maybe used to! Lots of roadside vendors. Cattle and goats all over. But there are two supermarkets there (Pick ‘n’ Pay, Shoprite), with contents similar to a rural IGA. There are also other types of shops - as with any town, the type of shops reflects the shopping needs of the people.
There are no book shops etc as people are not really readers. We have found a small public library so that is bonus. We have a pharmacy and a small stationary shop, furniture shops and a fruit and veg shop. The meat is often not the quality of cut we are used to but, in Oshakati, you can usually find something suitable. Caris wanted me to buy cow tongue the other day. Étienne was dead set against the idea!
There are some clothes shops, PEP etc, and also a placed called Game which is like K-mart, but without the clothes.
We cannot find certain small things (like nutella or textas that don’t run out after the 2nd use!) but there are all the things we need and many things we want. We feel very grateful. When I was here 10 years ago there was not even half the things available that there are now.
If anyone can tell me what causes the sky to look like this some evenings I would be very interested. It is marvellous to see.
When we went to Amalia’s village, there was so much to experience. Just trying to imagine living without electricity and a toilet was hard. Here you can see us inside the ‘kitchen house’, and standing outside it.
The children can be seen exploring the granary, used to store the millet and sorghum.
We don’t want you to think that everywhere is so basic. Oshakati is quite a large town and has a huge market – though not the sort of market you maybe used to! Lots of roadside vendors. Cattle and goats all over. But there are two supermarkets there (Pick ‘n’ Pay, Shoprite), with contents similar to a rural IGA. There are also other types of shops - as with any town, the type of shops reflects the shopping needs of the people.
There are no book shops etc as people are not really readers. We have found a small public library so that is bonus. We have a pharmacy and a small stationary shop, furniture shops and a fruit and veg shop. The meat is often not the quality of cut we are used to but, in Oshakati, you can usually find something suitable. Caris wanted me to buy cow tongue the other day. Étienne was dead set against the idea!
There are some clothes shops, PEP etc, and also a placed called Game which is like K-mart, but without the clothes.
We cannot find certain small things (like nutella or textas that don’t run out after the 2nd use!) but there are all the things we need and many things we want. We feel very grateful. When I was here 10 years ago there was not even half the things available that there are now.
If anyone can tell me what causes the sky to look like this some evenings I would be very interested. It is marvellous to see.
Friday, May 05, 2006
Speakee zee Eeegllish?
We are having a fun challenge at the moment. We are devising a tract in Oshiwambo. The two-fold purpose is to learn more of the language and also to have something we can give to people which is in their own language.
Some of you may be very interested in language construction and might want to know a bit about the language we are learning.
You may not want to read all this so let me tell you ONE interesting thing (there are many) about OshiKwanyama.
You can take noun stems from one class and put them onto the noun of another class to make new words!
Omu-hongi = omuhongi - teacher (verb = honga – to sharpen, teach)
Oshi-hongi = oshihongi - bad teacher
Odila – big bird, plane
Oka+odila = okadila – small bird oka- prefix shows something is small
SOUNDS LIKE …
Oshikwanyama is a Bantu language, like Swahili. Bantu languages have many words which ‘sound like’ the thing they are describing. Sound these ones out aloud:
Ndaundau! is the word for heavy, running footsteps
Depu! Something falling on the sand
Ngufu! Fist punched into the stomach
Kekekeke! Sound of someone giggling
Pwatapwata! Thumping headache
Shalalala! Shudddering, creepy feeling
Pwata! Clapping of hands
Shiishii trembling as with fever
NOW READ ON FOR MORE DELIGHTS ….
One of the hardest things for us is the noun classes as everything has to agree with the nouns.
Ame OHAI hale embo I - I am the one who - want (a) book
Also: Ohai hale embo
Nye OHATU hale embo we – we are the ones – want (a) book
Oshikombo SHI hale embo (The) goat – it is the one who – wants (a) book
Oikombo OTAI hale embo (The) goats – they are the ones who – want etc
Oshikwanyama has 18 noun classes (9 singular and 9 plural).
Each noun has a prefix which denotes whether it is singular or plural, and to which noun class it belongs. Very broad examples of some of them (singular) are given below.
Noun Class #1 start with omu- or nothing
People in general – man, wife, butcher, German, teacher, proprietor, person
Personal names (David, Étienne) and personified animals (Peter Rabbit)
Relations
Friends, including the word ‘friend’
Eg. omuhongi – teacher, minister
#3 starts with omu
Cavities (animals, plants etc) – well, passage, throat, heart
Shrubs, trees, grass etc
Natural phenomena – moon, shadow, heat of the day
Manufactured articles – arrow, dagger, thatching grass
Negative associations – corpse, epidemic, diarrhoea, sour milk
Abstracts – manner of speaking or living or writing, sitting position
Eg. omutwe - head
#5 start with the letter e-
Big, round, wide objects – eg sky, sun, earth, waterhole, day
Natural surface phenomena – hill, sand, field
Round objects – dwelling, leaf, egg, baldness, pumpkin
Conspicuous or important organs – lung, hand, paw, liver, wing, nose
Important tools – axe, spear, bag
Bugs & certain animals – tick, spider, wasp, snake, beetle
Those with exalting characteristics – close friend, expert, young marriageable girl
Those with negative characteristics – coward, fool, girl expecting illegitimate baby
Negative connotations – guilt, hangover, gluttony
Important events – marriage, flood, redemption
Special characteristics – faith, joy, honour, name
Eg. ediva – water hole
#7 start with oshi-
Utilitarian – scissors, spade, ladder, garment
Languages
Metals
Collective concepts (in the plural) – money, livestock, firewood, grain, war
Eg. oshiti – block of wood
#9 starts with o(n)-
Animals – cow, jackal, crocodile, eagle, bee, hippo
Loan words – words adopted from other languages:
Okofi (coffee), otee (tea), ondokotola (dr), otivi (tv)
Natural phenomena – rain, star, dust, wind, spoken word
Some humans – chief, thief, younger sibling, orphan, prisoner
Parts of body – knee, gum, hunchback, blood
Most fruits, edible plants, and bulbs
Misc. concepts – evening, mercy, time, rifle, road, custom
#11 start with olu-
Oblong/thin – shoe, body, feather, bolt of lightning, horn, railway
Abstract concepts – turn (in a game), round of ammo, lust, on foot
Eg. oluhodi - sadness
#12 start with oka-
Small things – baby, crumb, bat, girl, diamond
Diminutives – ombwa = dog; okambwa = small dog
NOTE: -ena is added to denote the young of anything
ombwa = dog; ombwena = puppy
Collective concepts – swarm, team, army, measles
Negative concepts – worn-out, old okakulukadi = frail old woman
#14 start with ou- (often with plural idea)
Abstract concepts – world, wisdom, night, illness, sin
Concrete, collective connotations – tobacco, brains, poison
Wind direction
Ounona aveshe ova ya kofikola – The children went to school
Ou – plural + Nona – child = The children
Aveshe – all of them
Ova – they are the ones who
Ya – past tense of ‘go’ – went
Ko – to or at
Ofikola - school
Some of you may be very interested in language construction and might want to know a bit about the language we are learning.
You may not want to read all this so let me tell you ONE interesting thing (there are many) about OshiKwanyama.
You can take noun stems from one class and put them onto the noun of another class to make new words!
Omu-hongi = omuhongi - teacher (verb = honga – to sharpen, teach)
Oshi-hongi = oshihongi - bad teacher
Odila – big bird, plane
Oka+odila = okadila – small bird oka- prefix shows something is small
SOUNDS LIKE …
Oshikwanyama is a Bantu language, like Swahili. Bantu languages have many words which ‘sound like’ the thing they are describing. Sound these ones out aloud:
Ndaundau! is the word for heavy, running footsteps
Depu! Something falling on the sand
Ngufu! Fist punched into the stomach
Kekekeke! Sound of someone giggling
Pwatapwata! Thumping headache
Shalalala! Shudddering, creepy feeling
Pwata! Clapping of hands
Shiishii trembling as with fever
NOW READ ON FOR MORE DELIGHTS ….
One of the hardest things for us is the noun classes as everything has to agree with the nouns.
Ame OHAI hale embo I - I am the one who - want (a) book
Also: Ohai hale embo
Nye OHATU hale embo we – we are the ones – want (a) book
Oshikombo SHI hale embo (The) goat – it is the one who – wants (a) book
Oikombo OTAI hale embo (The) goats – they are the ones who – want etc
Oshikwanyama has 18 noun classes (9 singular and 9 plural).
Each noun has a prefix which denotes whether it is singular or plural, and to which noun class it belongs. Very broad examples of some of them (singular) are given below.
Noun Class #1 start with omu- or nothing
People in general – man, wife, butcher, German, teacher, proprietor, person
Personal names (David, Étienne) and personified animals (Peter Rabbit)
Relations
Friends, including the word ‘friend’
Eg. omuhongi – teacher, minister
#3 starts with omu
Cavities (animals, plants etc) – well, passage, throat, heart
Shrubs, trees, grass etc
Natural phenomena – moon, shadow, heat of the day
Manufactured articles – arrow, dagger, thatching grass
Negative associations – corpse, epidemic, diarrhoea, sour milk
Abstracts – manner of speaking or living or writing, sitting position
Eg. omutwe - head
#5 start with the letter e-
Big, round, wide objects – eg sky, sun, earth, waterhole, day
Natural surface phenomena – hill, sand, field
Round objects – dwelling, leaf, egg, baldness, pumpkin
Conspicuous or important organs – lung, hand, paw, liver, wing, nose
Important tools – axe, spear, bag
Bugs & certain animals – tick, spider, wasp, snake, beetle
Those with exalting characteristics – close friend, expert, young marriageable girl
Those with negative characteristics – coward, fool, girl expecting illegitimate baby
Negative connotations – guilt, hangover, gluttony
Important events – marriage, flood, redemption
Special characteristics – faith, joy, honour, name
Eg. ediva – water hole
#7 start with oshi-
Utilitarian – scissors, spade, ladder, garment
Languages
Metals
Collective concepts (in the plural) – money, livestock, firewood, grain, war
Eg. oshiti – block of wood
#9 starts with o(n)-
Animals – cow, jackal, crocodile, eagle, bee, hippo
Loan words – words adopted from other languages:
Okofi (coffee), otee (tea), ondokotola (dr), otivi (tv)
Natural phenomena – rain, star, dust, wind, spoken word
Some humans – chief, thief, younger sibling, orphan, prisoner
Parts of body – knee, gum, hunchback, blood
Most fruits, edible plants, and bulbs
Misc. concepts – evening, mercy, time, rifle, road, custom
#11 start with olu-
Oblong/thin – shoe, body, feather, bolt of lightning, horn, railway
Abstract concepts – turn (in a game), round of ammo, lust, on foot
Eg. oluhodi - sadness
#12 start with oka-
Small things – baby, crumb, bat, girl, diamond
Diminutives – ombwa = dog; okambwa = small dog
NOTE: -ena is added to denote the young of anything
ombwa = dog; ombwena = puppy
Collective concepts – swarm, team, army, measles
Negative concepts – worn-out, old okakulukadi = frail old woman
#14 start with ou- (often with plural idea)
Abstract concepts – world, wisdom, night, illness, sin
Concrete, collective connotations – tobacco, brains, poison
Wind direction
Ounona aveshe ova ya kofikola – The children went to school
Ou – plural + Nona – child = The children
Aveshe – all of them
Ova – they are the ones who
Ya – past tense of ‘go’ – went
Ko – to or at
Ofikola - school
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Questions, questions!
The purpose of this blog is to include you in some of our adventures, discoveries and challenges as we begin our new life here in Namibia.
If you have any questions (‘I wonder how they …?’, ‘What is it like when …?’ ‘Do they have …?’), please feel free to email me and I will do my best to answer them.
One thing David had confirmed when he did that week of travelling to the existing TEE groups is their eagerness to be taught. We know we can’t do much until we have a much better grasp on the language, but they ask ‘how long until you can come to us?’, so it is a great incentive to knuckle down and study Oshiwambo.
Another hard thing is the number of people who really want to enrol in TEE but have no income and no one to sponsor them. In one prison David visited, people in the Netherlands said they would sponsor four people. Whom do you choose and to whom do you say ‘no’?
One creature we have not met yet is an ‘ekiki’ (pencil-tailed tree rat). As its name suggests, it builds its nest in trees, and is definitely on the menu here. As are frogs, caterpillars and beetles!
Here is an advert – one of many such - from the ‘Health and Beauty’ section of the classifieds in the national newspaper, the Namibian:
Mr Kibobola – traditional healer
He can treat diseases others have failed to offer:
Unfaithful partner.
Want a baby? Get one now.
Love potions.
Bad luck, pregnancy, gambling, witchcraft and court problems are solved.
Bring back lost lover.
Cure HIV.
Étienne was reading a book the other day and commented …
‘Dad, it says here - if you or Mum were 60 you might have a heart attack’.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Étienne!
Some facts:
• When next browsing magazines whilst waiting in checkout queues, think of Namibia where they Sellotape the front and back pages together to prevent pre-buying peeking!
• Alcohol is sold Monday to Saturday, with padlocks on fridge dispensers on Sunday as it is against the law to sell it.
• For you South Africans, the word ‘Muti’ comes from the Bantu word ‘omuti’ which means tree or plant.
• We have no post box here in Ongwediva. If we want to post a letter we have to take it into the post office, when it is open, and hand it in!
• Did you know that crocodiles can have up to 10kg of stones in their stomach? This is not, as previously thought, to aid digestion, but to enable them to float just under the surface, with only their eyes and nostrils protruding.
• Did you know that the Northern Namibian dung beetle is listed in the Guinness Book of records as the largest Southern African insect?!
• Warning for the tourist: when offering sweets to Namibians in your car, DON’T pass the WHOLE packet to the back of the car unless you don’t want any more sweets. It will NOT return.
Ndapandura, one of our language helpers, told us why she had to leave school in Standard 7. A goat ate her schoolbooks and her parents could not afford to either replace them or pay the school for their loss. So she had to go to work in the fields from then on.
After our language lesson today we put on the DVD of ‘The God’s must be crazy’ for Amalia. She laughed and exclaimed all the way through and loved every minute of it!
28 April
We have 12 days left on our permit. Still no word from the ‘powers that be’. We are so glad to know that God is in control of every circumstance surrounding the visa issue.
As I write, someone has come to the door asking to enrol in the distance education course. A woman arrived last Saturday to do the same. We don’t think people understand that David’s involvement is minimal at the moment; they are simply delighted to have “local” access to the courses. David has been at the Ondangwa trade fair this week, practicing his Oshiwambo and manning a table about NETS. All sort of people are there, even one woman selling, among other things, cow pats for cooking fires!
2 May
whilst having my evening ‘constitutional’ the other day, I greeted a young man with the usual ‘Wa tokelwa po?’ (Is the sun white for you? How is your evening?).
He came up and asked me, ‘Do you love Jesus?’
‘Yes,’ I replied. ‘I love Jesus. Do you?’
‘Yes, I do.’
‘Then we are brother and sister in Christ’, I answered, and shook his hand again. So we have family everywhere, don’t we!
If you have any questions (‘I wonder how they …?’, ‘What is it like when …?’ ‘Do they have …?’), please feel free to email me and I will do my best to answer them.
One thing David had confirmed when he did that week of travelling to the existing TEE groups is their eagerness to be taught. We know we can’t do much until we have a much better grasp on the language, but they ask ‘how long until you can come to us?’, so it is a great incentive to knuckle down and study Oshiwambo.
Another hard thing is the number of people who really want to enrol in TEE but have no income and no one to sponsor them. In one prison David visited, people in the Netherlands said they would sponsor four people. Whom do you choose and to whom do you say ‘no’?
One creature we have not met yet is an ‘ekiki’ (pencil-tailed tree rat). As its name suggests, it builds its nest in trees, and is definitely on the menu here. As are frogs, caterpillars and beetles!
Here is an advert – one of many such - from the ‘Health and Beauty’ section of the classifieds in the national newspaper, the Namibian:
Mr Kibobola – traditional healer
He can treat diseases others have failed to offer:
Unfaithful partner.
Want a baby? Get one now.
Love potions.
Bad luck, pregnancy, gambling, witchcraft and court problems are solved.
Bring back lost lover.
Cure HIV.
Étienne was reading a book the other day and commented …
‘Dad, it says here - if you or Mum were 60 you might have a heart attack’.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Étienne!
Some facts:
• When next browsing magazines whilst waiting in checkout queues, think of Namibia where they Sellotape the front and back pages together to prevent pre-buying peeking!
• Alcohol is sold Monday to Saturday, with padlocks on fridge dispensers on Sunday as it is against the law to sell it.
• For you South Africans, the word ‘Muti’ comes from the Bantu word ‘omuti’ which means tree or plant.
• We have no post box here in Ongwediva. If we want to post a letter we have to take it into the post office, when it is open, and hand it in!
• Did you know that crocodiles can have up to 10kg of stones in their stomach? This is not, as previously thought, to aid digestion, but to enable them to float just under the surface, with only their eyes and nostrils protruding.
• Did you know that the Northern Namibian dung beetle is listed in the Guinness Book of records as the largest Southern African insect?!
• Warning for the tourist: when offering sweets to Namibians in your car, DON’T pass the WHOLE packet to the back of the car unless you don’t want any more sweets. It will NOT return.
Ndapandura, one of our language helpers, told us why she had to leave school in Standard 7. A goat ate her schoolbooks and her parents could not afford to either replace them or pay the school for their loss. So she had to go to work in the fields from then on.
After our language lesson today we put on the DVD of ‘The God’s must be crazy’ for Amalia. She laughed and exclaimed all the way through and loved every minute of it!
28 April
We have 12 days left on our permit. Still no word from the ‘powers that be’. We are so glad to know that God is in control of every circumstance surrounding the visa issue.
As I write, someone has come to the door asking to enrol in the distance education course. A woman arrived last Saturday to do the same. We don’t think people understand that David’s involvement is minimal at the moment; they are simply delighted to have “local” access to the courses. David has been at the Ondangwa trade fair this week, practicing his Oshiwambo and manning a table about NETS. All sort of people are there, even one woman selling, among other things, cow pats for cooking fires!
2 May
whilst having my evening ‘constitutional’ the other day, I greeted a young man with the usual ‘Wa tokelwa po?’ (Is the sun white for you? How is your evening?).
He came up and asked me, ‘Do you love Jesus?’
‘Yes,’ I replied. ‘I love Jesus. Do you?’
‘Yes, I do.’
‘Then we are brother and sister in Christ’, I answered, and shook his hand again. So we have family everywhere, don’t we!
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