Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Kwanyama
open-in-new
<h2 id="phonology">Phonology</h2> Consonants<table><tbody><tr><th colspan="2"></th><th><a href="/facts/Labial_consonant/bv4MqTMf">Labial</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Dental_consonant/Yraaz9Nm">Alveolar</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Palatal_consonant/KLcKyXE8">Palatal</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Velar_consonant/blWClp79">Velar</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Glottal_consonant/rMdEdLxH">Glottal</a></th></tr><tr><th rowspan="3"><a href="/facts/Plosive/okC9pztc">Plosive</a></th><th>voiceless</th><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_bilabial_plosive/w4M9Igp6">p</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_alveolar_plosive/1GaDe2Vy">t</a>~<a href="/facts/Voiceless_dental_plosive/1GaDe2Vy">t̪</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_postalveolar_affricate/14FYMJvN">tʃ</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_velar_plosive/dDppVb6e">k</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><th>voiced</th><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_bilabial_plosive/6ReC9arR">b</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_alveolar_plosive/A6hNvmCp">d</a>~<a href="/facts/Voiced_dental_plosive/A6hNvmCp">d̪</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_postalveolar_affricate/o7oYJUqz">dʒ</a></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th>prenasal</th><td><a href="/facts/Prenasalized_consonant/TR6JyXvU">ᵐb</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Prenasalized_consonant/TR6JyXvU">ⁿd</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Prenasalized_consonant/TR6JyXvU">ⁿdʒ</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Prenasalized_consonant/TR6JyXvU">ᵑɡ</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><th rowspan="2"><a href="/facts/Fricative/1FQuuhfX">Fricative</a></th><th>voiceless</th><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_labiodental_fricative/dUkN8guL">f</a></td><td>(<a href="/facts/Voiceless_alveolar_fricative/WLKtEYDe">s</a>)</td><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_postalveolar_fricative/enUwqS2w">ʃ</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_velar_fricative/mrKPhobk">x</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_glottal_fricative/lfRB7CPW">h</a></td></tr><tr><th>voiced</th><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_labiodental_fricative/v9lESng4">v</a></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th rowspan="2"><a href="/facts/Nasal_consonant/m6D3cVhe">Nasal</a></th><th>voiced</th><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_bilabial_nasal/1pd7NK2x">m</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_alveolar_nasal/0CEs8314">n</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_palatal_nasal/dLa9YG49">ɲ</a></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th>voiceless</th><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_bilabial_nasal/HfIPem3c">m̥</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_alveolar_nasal/7uHxW2xs">n̥</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_palatal_nasal/WClPD5Js">ɲ̊</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_velar_nasal/k3sPCT1N">ŋ̊</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Approximant/SXrlw7zY">Approximant</a></th><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_labial%25E2%2580%2593velar_approximant/HLDqbrvr">w</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_alveolar_lateral_approximant/dgbHhqeK">l</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_palatal_approximant/v0NVCbUh">j</a></td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table> <p>/t/ and /d/ are dentalized when followed by a front vowel /i/. An /s/ sound can only occur in loanwords. </p> Vowels<table><tbody><tr><th></th><th><a href="/facts/Front_vowel/htKQs3AT">Front</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Back_vowel/gyHoGCH0">Back</a></th></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Close_vowel/Ne6tHQHR">Close</a></th><td><a href="/facts/Close_front_unrounded_vowel/rSUdlCPU">i</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Close_back_rounded_vowel/gqlQLfse">u</a></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Mid_vowel/uzjGLRhf">Mid</a></th><td><a href="/facts/Close-mid_front_unrounded_vowel/e9YNLF97">e</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Close-mid_back_rounded_vowel/VwS9cKWJ">o</a></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Open_vowel/roS0Y7lA">Open</a></th><td colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Open_front_unrounded_vowel/s80pvmYh">a</a></td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Tones </p><p>Kwanyama has two tones : high and low. </p> <h2 id="grammar">Grammar</h2> <h3>Verbs</h3> <p>Verbs are inflected for two tenses: present and non-present. There is a mandatory subject concord before verbs, indicating person, tense, and negation. Verbs are divided into two categories, active and stative, each of which have different subject concords. The future tense in active verbs is indicated by inserting the auxiliary <i>ka</i> after the nonpast subject concord. </p> Kwanyama subject concords<table><tbody><tr><th colspan="4">Active</th><th colspan="5">Stative</th></tr><tr><th>Person</th><th>Negation</th><th>Past</th><th>Nonpast</th><th>Person</th><th>Negation</th><th>Past</th><th>Present</th><th>Future</th></tr><tr><th rowspan="2">1S</th><th>+</th><td>Onda</td><td>Ohandi/Ohai</td><th rowspan="2">1S</th><th>+</th><td>Onda li ndi</td><td>Ondi</td><td>Ohandi ka kala ndi</td></tr><tr><th>-</th><td>Inandi</td><td>Itandi</td><th>-</th><td>Kandi li ndi</td><td>Kandi/ Nghi</td><td>Itandi ka kala ndi</td></tr><tr><th rowspan="2">2S</th><th>+</th><td>Owa</td><td>Oto</td><th rowspan="2">2S</th><th>+</th><td>Owa li u</td><td>Ou</td><td>Oto ka kala u</td></tr><tr><th>-</th><td>Ino</td><td>Ito</td><th>-</th><td>Kwa li u</td><td>Ku</td><td>Ito ka kala u</td></tr><tr><th rowspan="2">3S</th><th>+</th><td>Okwa</td><td>Ota</td><th rowspan="2">3S</th><th>+</th><td>Okwa li e</td><td>oku</td><td>Ota ka kala e</td></tr><tr><th>-</th><td>Ina</td><td>Ita</td><th>-</th><td>Ka li e</td><td>Ke</td><td>Ita ka kala e</td></tr><tr><th rowspan="2">1P</th><th>+</th><td>Otwa</td><td>Ohatu</td><th rowspan="2">1P</th><th>+</th><td>Otwa li tu</td><td>Otu</td><td>Ohatu ka kala tu</td></tr><tr><th>-</th><td>Inatu</td><td>Itatu</td><th>-</th><td>Katwa li tu</td><td>Katu</td><td>Itatu ka kala tu</td></tr><tr><th rowspan="2">2P</th><th>+</th><td>Omwa</td><td>Otamu</td><th rowspan="2">2P</th><th>+</th><td>Omwa li mu</td><td>Omu</td><td>Otamu ka kala mu</td></tr><tr><th>-</th><td>Inamu</td><td>Itamu</td><th>-</th><td>Kamwa li mu</td><td>Kamu</td><td>Itamu ka kala mu</td></tr><tr><th rowspan="2">3P</th><th>+</th><td>Ova</td><td>Otaa/Otava</td><th rowspan="2">3P</th><th>+</th><td>Ova li ve</td><td>Ove</td><td>Otava ka kala ve</td></tr><tr><th>-</th><td>Inaa/Inava</td><td>Itaa/Itava</td><th>-</th><td>Kava li ve</td><td>Kave</td><td>Itava ka kala ve</td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Another way to negate a verb is to add the prefix <i>ha-</i> before the verb stem (ex. <i>okwiimba</i> 'to sing' -> <i>okuhaimba</i> 'to not sing').<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="bibliography">Bibliography</h2> <ul><li>Crane, Thera; Lindgren-Streicher, Karl; Wingo, Andy (2004). <a href="http://wingolog.org/pub/hai-ti/hai-ti.pdf"><i>Hai ti! A Beginner's Guide to Oshikwanyama</i></a> (PDF).</li> <li>Halme, Riikka (2004). <a href="https://archive.org/details/tonalgrammarkwan00halm"><i>A Tonal Grammar of Kwanyama</i></a>. pp. <a href="https://archive.org/details/tonalgrammarkwan00halm/page/n6">12</a>-18.</li> <li>Zimmerman, W.; Hasheela, P. (1998). <i>Oshikwanyama Grammar</i>. Windhoek: Gamsberg Macmillan.</li></ul> <h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2> <ul><li>Turvey, B. H. C. (1977) <i>Kwanyama-English Dictionary</i>; compiled by B. H. C. Turvey; edited by W. Zimmermann and G. B. Taapopi. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0854943153 (based on the work compiled by George Tobias & Basil Henry Capes Turvey, 1954)</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="http://www.ethnologue.com/show_map.asp?name=NA&seq=10">Language map of Namibia</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.ikuska.com/Africa/Lenguas/kwanyama/index.htm">Grammar and vocabulary</a> (in Spanish)</li> <li><a href="http://www.panafril10n.org/wikidoc/pmwiki.php/PanAfrLoc/Kwanyama">PanAfrican L10n page on Kwanyama</a></li> <li><a href="http://mammana.org/bcp/kwanyama1957/">Omalinjongameno Ōngeleka. (Services of the Church in Kwanyama Authorised for Use in the Diocese of Damaraland, 1957)</a> digitized by Richard Mammana 2015</li></ul> <i>Kwanyama test</i> of <a href="/facts/Wikipedia/KDRNKWnc">Wikipedia</a> at Wikimedia Incubator <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Ombibeli, 1974, front page <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"Jehovah's Witnesses Release the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures in Kwanyama". Jw.org. 20 August 2019. <a href="https://www.jw.org/en/news/jw/region/south-africa/Jehovahs-Witnesses-Release-the-New-World-Translation-of-the-Christian-Greek-Scriptures-in-Kwanyama/" target="_blank">https://www.jw.org/en/news/jw/region/south-africa/Jehovahs-Witnesses-Release-the-New-World-Translation-of-the-Christian-Greek-Scriptures-in-Kwanyama/</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>A Beginners Guide to Oshikwanyama (PDF). Peace Corps. <a href="https://fsi-languages.yojik.eu/languages/PeaceCorps/Kwanyama/haiti.pdf" target="_blank">https://fsi-languages.yojik.eu/languages/PeaceCorps/Kwanyama/haiti.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>