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Chapter 10
Ohema ombwanawa
| English |
Oshindonga |
| Clothes |
Iikutu |
| T-shirt |
Okambindja |
| Shirt |
Ohema |
| Blouse |
Ohema / Okambuluse |
| Trousers |
Ombulukweya |
| Jersey / Sweater |
Ombindja |
| Dress |
Ohema (yoomeme) / Oshikutu |
| Skirt |
Ohulukweya |
| Jacket |
Ondjatha / Ombaikitha |
| Shoes |
Oongaku |
| Flip-flops |
Iitapatapa |
| Socks |
Iikaisino |
| Hat |
Embale / Egala |
| Belt |
Omuya / Epaya |
| Slip |
Okazalitho |
| Glasses |
Omakende gokomeho |
| Tie |
Otae |
| Watch |
Owili |
| Bra |
Okamanga |
| Underwear |
Okapendi / Okadholombuluku |
| |
|
| Laundry |
Iikutu yakaka / Iiyogomwa |
| Clean |
Yela |
| Dirty |
Kaka / Luudha |
| Bucket |
Oshiyemele |
| Soap |
Othewa |
| Clothesline |
Ongodhi yiikutu |
| Clothespin |
Uukalamala |
| Iron |
Oshikangule |
| Basin |
Oshiyaha / Ombaali |
| Wash (clothes or dishes) |
Yoga (Yogo) |
| Wash (your body) |
Iyoga (Iyogo) |
| Iron |
Kangula |
| |
|
| Where can I hang my clothes? |
Openi tandi tsilike iikutu yandje? |
| You look nice. |
Oto monika nawa. |
| I was born like that. |
Osho nda valwa. |
Quick Tip
• For
Americans: “Pants” means “underwear” in Namibian
English. Say “trousers” to refer to the things you wear on your legs.
Exercise 1
Label the drawing on the previous page. Use words from the
above list, or ask some friends.
Grammar Corner: Days of the Week
| English |
Oshindonga |
| Red |
-tiligane |
| Orange |
-tiliganeshunga |
| Yellow |
-shunga |
| Green |
-zizi |
| Blue |
-mbulau |
| Purple |
-tiliganembulau |
| Black |
-luudhe |
| White |
-tokele |
| Brown |
-mbundu |
| What colour is your shirt? |
Ohema yoye ongeleni? |
Grammar Corner: Adjectives
To tell the truth, Oshindonga lacks adjectives. Because states of being
can be
expressed with verbs, adjectives are less necessary in daily usage. However,
you will still hear them infrequently. They can be formed as follows:
| red t-shirt |
okambindja okatiligane |
| blue t-shirt |
okambindja okambulau |
| black pants (trousers) |
ombulukweya onduudhe |
| stupid goat |
oshikombo oshigoya |
| big head |
omutse omunene |
Just make the prefixes agree. For noun class 5, the “catch-all” noun
class, there are some irregularities. Consider the word for “nice”,
-wanawa. “Nice shirt” becomes ohema ombwanawa – sometimes
you have to put in some more consonants. Some common adjectives, other
than the colours, include the following:
| English |
Oshindonga |
| Good / Nice |
-wanawa |
| Bad |
-nayi |
| Stupid |
-goya / -layi |
| Really nice |
-nawalela |
| Clever |
-ndunge |
| Big |
-nene |
| Small |
-shona |
| Hot |
-pyu |
| Cold |
-talala |
| Many |
-indji |
| Few |
-shona |
| Sweet / Delicious |
-toyi |
| Sour |
-lula |
| Easy / Light |
-pu |
| Difficult / Heavy |
-dhigu |
| Short |
-fupi |
| Long |
-le |
“First” is tango, but the other ordinals (second, third,
etc.) are made like adjectives: -tiyali, -titatu, -tine, etc. Tuesday
is the second day, so it’s esiku etiyali, or just etiyali.
Grammar Corner: More Adjectives
Note that all the previous adjectives are abstract – for
example, only blue things exist in the world, not blue itself. Concrete
adjectives,
those that relate a noun to something else that exists in the world,
are formed a bit differently.
| school teacher |
omulongi gwosikola |
| meme dress |
ohema yoomeme |
| bedroom (sleep room) |
ondunda yokulala |
The dress is for oomeme, so we use the possessive prefix to link the
two nouns together.
Exercise 2
Translate the following phrases from English into Oshindonga.
| English |
Oshindonga |
| nice red shirt |
|
| key for the post office |
|
| school books |
|
| stupid goats |
|
| blue trousers |
|
| clever learner |
|
| cold water |
|
Exercise 3
Lombwela ndje, oto zala shike nena? .....................................................................................................................................
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Quick Tip
• Takamitha! Ngele owa yalula oonyodhi, oto ka
sitaama pombete yoye.
Just as Oshindonga tends to use verbs where English would have adjectives
(e.g. “happy”) , it uses verbs to express comparative (e.g. “happier”)
and
superlative (e.g. “happiest”) forms. Both the comparative and
the superlative
form use the verb vule (surpass, exceed). To use the comparative
form, combine
[stative concord] + vule with whatever attribute you want to compare,
e.g.
| I am happier than Rebecca. |
Onda nyanyukwa ndi vule Rebecca. |
| You pound mahangu better than I do |
Oho tsu omahangu wu vule ndje. |
| Beef is tastier than goat meat. |
ombwanawa yi vule yoshikombo. |
| e is stronger than you. “He surpasses you in
strength.” |
Oku ku vule oonkondo. |
| |
| The superlative form is similar to the comparative.
Just add the word for “all”. |
| I am the happiest person. |
Onda nyanyukwa ndi vule ayihe. |
| Beef is the best meat. |
Onyama yongombe oyi vule onyama ayihe. |
| |
|
| Another useful verb for comaparing things is fa (look
like, be like, seem like). It is used in the same way as the “feeling” verbs
(see Grammar Corner: Feelings). |
| |
|
| You look like your mother. |
Owa fa nyoko. |
| You all seem angry. |
Omwa fa mwa geya. |
| She runs like a cheetah. |
Oha matuka a fa etotono. |
| |
|
| Note the need for the subordinate subject concords
in many of the above examples. |
As we see from the first examples, the object pronoun goes between the
subject
concord and the verb. If the last vowel in the subject concord is a,
it changes to e.
For example, ota changes to ote in ote shi
mono (he/she sees it).
For commands, the object pronoun goes before the verb:
| Don’t beat it! (the dog) |
Ino yi dhenga! (ombwa) |
| Bring it! (a thing) |
Shi eta! (oshinima) |
Like in English, personal pronouns have special object pronouns:
| English |
Oshindonga |
| Me |
ndje |
| You (singular) |
ku |
| Her / Him |
mu |
| Us |
tu |
| You (plural) |
mu |
| Them |
ya |
| ndje, as a special case, is always put after the verb,
even for commands. |
| You make me sick. |
Oto ehameke ndje. |
| Don’t accuse me! |
Ino londila ndje! |
Grammar Corner: Demonstratives
“
This”, “that”, and “the other” all answer
the question, “Which one?”. They demonstrate
to the listener which object out of a group the speaker is referring to,
and so we call them
demonstratives. There is a different set of demonstratives for each
noun class; the suffixes
are the same, but the prefixes vary. Listed below are the prefixes for
the different noun
classes:
| Noun Class |
“This” |
“That” |
“Yonder” |
| omu- |
ngu- |
ngo- |
ngwi- |
| aa- |
mba- |
mbo- |
mbe- |
| omi- |
ndhi- |
ndho- |
ndhi- |
| e- |
ndi- |
ndyo- |
ndi- |
| oma- |
nga- |
ngo- |
nge- |
| oshi- |
shi- |
sho- |
shi- |
| ii- |
mbi- |
mbyo- |
mbi- |
| uu- |
mbu- |
mbo- |
mbwi- |
| olu- |
ndu- |
ndo- |
ndwi- |
| oka- |
nka- / ha- |
nko- / ho- |
- nke- / he- |
| oku- |
nku- / hu- |
nko- / ho- |
nkwi- / hwi- |
| o- |
ndji- |
ndjo- |
ndji- |
| oo- |
ndhi- |
ndho- |
ndhi- |
| pa / pu * |
mpa- |
mpo- |
mpe- |
| ku * |
nku- / hu- |
nko- / ho- |
nkwi- / hwi- |
| mu * |
mu- |
mo- |
mwi- |
* Pa / pu, ku, and mu are not prefixes, but actual nouns.
Select the proper prefix and join it with one of the following suffixes:
| Demonstrative |
Suffixes |
| “This” |
-no, -ka, * |
| “That” |
-no, -ka, * |
| “Yonder” |
-ya, -yaka, -yano, ** |
* The prefixes for “this” and “that” can be used
on their own. ** The prefixes for “yonder
” can be used on their own if the last vowel is doubled: nge- => ngee
A few examples might be necessary:
| This goat |
oshikombo shino / shika / shi |
| That person |
omuntu ngono / ngoka / ngo |
| That thing |
oshinima shono / shoka / sho |
| This place |
mpano / mpaka / mpa |
It’s probably frustrating to see the massive prefix
list, and even more so to see that there
are three or four possibilities for the actual word to use, all used slightly
differently by native
speakers. Don’t worry about it. Just remember shino and shono, nguno and ngono,
and ndjino and ndjono and you will be understood.
Exercise 5
Fill in the demonstratives for the words in the table below. The first
one has been
completed for you.
| English |
Oshindonga |
This |
That |
The other |
| People |
Aantu |
Mbaka |
Mbono |
Mbeyaka |
| Things |
|
|
|
|
| |
Oongombe |
|
|
|
| Goat |
|
|
|
|
| Food |
|
|
|
|
| |
Uunona |
|
|
|
| |
Oshinima |
|
|
|
| Girl |
|
|
|
|
| |
Omumati |
|
|
|
| Rag / Cloth |
Elapi |
|
|
|
| Learners |
Aalongwa |
|
|
|
| Key |
|
|
|
|
| Car |
|
|
|
|
| Books |
Omambo |
|
|
|
| Side |
|
|
|
|
| Place |
Oshilongo |
|
|
|
| Beer |
Cooldrink |
|
|
|
| Lift |
|
|
|
|
Grammar Corner: The Passive Voice
Consider the following examples:
| Koto is greeting Ndahafa. |
Koto ota popitha Ndahafa. |
| Ndahafa is being greeted by Koto. |
Ndahafa ota popithwa ku Koto. |
| Sylvia told me. |
Sylvia okwa lombwela ndje. |
| I was told by Sylvia. |
Onda lombwelwa ku Sylvia. |
| The boys are going to ask the teacher. |
Aamati otaa ka pula omulongi. |
| The teacher is going to be asked by the boys. |
Omulongi otaa ka pulwa kaamati. |
The second statement in each pair is in the passive voice. The subject
of those sentences is
the person or thing being acted upon. For most Oshindonga verbs, simply
take off the final
vowel and add -wa to form the passive voice.Thus, pula (ask) becomes pulwa (be
asked).
For one syllable verbs, add the ending -wa to the present form
of the verb. For example,
pe (give) becomes pewa (be given):
| I was given fat cakes. |
Onda pewa uukuki. |
| The meat will be eaten up. |
Onyama otayi ka liwa po. |
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