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