Oshivambo

Oshiwambo
Spoken in	Namibia , southern Angola
speaker	1.4 million (native speakers)
Linguistic ; classification	Niger Congo Languages Volta Congo languages Benue Congo languages Bantu languages Oshiwambo ;
Official status
Recognized minority / ; regional language in	Namibia Angola ( Kwanyama only ) ;
Language codes
ISO 639 -1	ng (Ndonga), kj (Kwanjama)
ISO 639 -2	ndo, kua
ISO 639-3	ndo , kua

Oshivambo , also OshiVambo , OshiWambo or Oshiwambo (including OshiKwanyama , OshiMbalanhu, OshiNdonga and OshiKwambi) is a Bantu language group that is the most spoken language in Namibia with around 1.1 million speakers .

distribution

Distribution of the Ohsivambo as a mother tongue (2011)

<1%

1-5.99%

6-10.99%

11-20.99%

21-30.99%

31-49.99%

50-75.99%

76-90%

> 90%

Almost 700,000 of the Oshivambo speakers live mainly in the northern regions of Namibia (mainly in Omusati , Oshana , Ohangwena and Oshikoto , which are collectively referred to as the " Four O regions ", historically also as " Ovamboland "); a good 400,000 of the speakers live in the southern border regions of Angola .

The Ovambo people are divided into twelve groups. The eight groups living in the Namibian part are the Kwanyama, Ndonga, Kwambi, Ngandyera, Mbalanhu, Kwaluudhi, Eunda and Kolonkadhi. Accordingly, Oshivambo is usually divided into seven subgroups, which - because they are understandable among each other - are viewed as dialects of Oshivambo: including Kwanyama (correct with the prefix: oshiKwanyama, also: Kwanjama, Kwancama, Kuanyama, Cuanhama (Portuguese)), Kwambi, Humba and Ndonga . Some linguists regard Ndonga, Kwanyama, Kwambi, Mbalanhu (also: Mbaanhu, Mbalantu, Mbaluntu) and Ngandyera as different languages (cf. Ethnologue ).

use

Oshivambo has no official status as an official language in Namibia; English is the only official language, with Oshivambo a common language of communication and promotion as a minority language receive (national language).

The Finnish missionary Pietari Kurvinen translated parts of the Bible into the Oshivambo as early as 1876 .
Primary school instruction in Namibia is provided in the respective mother tongue. The Schoolnet Namibia , a web-based school system, uses various means to bring reading and writing the language closer to the children (such as with the comic. "Hai Ti!" - Hai Ti is Oshivambo meaning "Listen!" ).
Many government forms are available in two languages for government officials and local officials.

In this increasingly bilingual environment, cultural differences between European languages in Namibia ( Afrikaans , German and English ) and the African languages are often compensated for by language crossings: "Oshi-German" (by the so-called GDR children , black Namibians who grew up in the GDR) or the strong influence of English in Oshivambo.

The Namibian state broadcaster ( NBC ) broadcasts English (and six other languages) and ten hours a day on Oshivambo.

Examples

Owe uya po! - "Welcome!"
Wa aluka! - "Hello!"
Wa shilwa? - "Good Morning"
Wa uhala po? - "Good day!"
Ou li tutu nawa? - "How are you?"
kulala - "to sleep"
omulaule - "black"
Hai ti! - "Listen!"
Omukwaniilwa - "King"
Nda pandula - "Thank you"
Heeno - "Yes"
Aaye - "No"
Enda nawa - "Bye"
Ondikuhole - "I love you"

literature

August Seidel: Practical grammars of the main languages of German South West Africa . I. Nama (language of the Nama Hottentots). - II. Otyiherero (language of the Herero). - III. Oshindonga (language of the Ndonga tribe of Ovambo). Vienna: Hartleben, 1892.
Hermann Tönjes: Dictionary of the Ovambo language. Osikuanjama - German . Berlin: Reimer, 1910.
Reise Know-How (Ed.): Reise Know-How phrasebook Oshiwambo - word for word (for Namibia) , Reise Know-How Verlag Peter Rump, 2017, ISBN 978-3831764730 .
PA Mbenzi: Oshiwambo Common Expressions & Phrases Oshikwanyama , ISBN 9789994573691 .

Web links

Test Wikipedia on Kwanyama

Wiktionary: Oshivambo - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations