Chapter 9

Omasiku nomathimbo

Exercise 1
Translate the following statements into Oshindonga:

1. Next Sunday we will go to Oshakati.
2. Last Thursday Natanael went to the hospital.
3. This Friday I will go to town to buy food and see friends.
4. They will go to Etosha next week.
5. We went to Windhoek last Saturday.

Exercise 2
Translate the following statements from Oshindonga to English:

1. Oshiwike sha zi ko, onda li nda ehama mepunda.
2. Ondi na evalo omwedhi tagu ya.
3. Etine tali ya, otandi yi kondolopa.
4. Molyomakaya ga zi ko, omumati gwandje okwa dhana etanga.
5. Itandi yi kongeleka mosoondaha ndjika.

In chapter six, we learned how to count in Oshindonga. To tell time, we just need to add some phrases like “thirty minutes past”.

The easiest way to tell time is to state the hour first, followed by “past”, then the minutes. 8:30 is hetatu ya pita omilongo ndatu, and 6:15 is said hamano ya pita omulongo nantano. Here, ya pita means “past”.

Oshindonga always adds a bit of spice to keep things interesting, of course. To say “past” for the hours nine to twelve, it is no longer ya pita but gwa pita. So 9:20 becomes omugoyi gwa pita omilongo mbali, and 12:45 is omulongo nambali gwa pita omilongo ne nantano. This is because the numbers nine through twelve all start with omu-, and the subject agrees with the verb by using the correct subject concord.

A second way to tell time is to say 8:30 as “half till nine”, etata lyomugoyi. Broken into pieces, this is etata lyo-omugoyi, but the first o is elided. Likewise, 10:30 is said etata lyomulongo na yimwe. As the numbers one through eight in Oshindonga do not begin with a vowel, they will keep the o from lyo: 1:30 becomes etata lyombali and 5:30 is said as etata lyohamano.

Exercise 3
Look at Jane’s program for the day below, and say what she did during the day and what time she did
those activities, in Oshindonga.

5:30- woke up
5:45- bathed
6:30- ate breakfast with her family
7:15- walked to school
13:00- ate lunch
16:00- went to the cuca shop to have a beer with her friend Simon
20:30- ate dinner with her family- they ate oshimbombo and goat meat
21:30- went to bed

Exercise 4

Create a program about your typical day, starting with the time you wake up until
the time that you go to bed, in Oshindonga. ............................................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................................. .............................................................................................................................

Exercise 5

Below is the diary of Meme Hileni for the month of December. Translate her
agenda into Oshindonga. Include what she is going to do, stating the days, and
the time she will do those activities. Read it out loud, to practice telling time.