Oshikwanyama Grammar

Oshikwanyama Grammar: this Namibian language is more commonly used amongst Wambo people outside Owambo.
Zimmermann, Wolfgang; Hasheela, Paavo
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978-0-86848-820-2
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Title: Oshikwanyama Grammar
Editors: Wolfgang Zimmermann; Paavo Hasheela
Publisher: Macmillan Education Namibia Publishers (Pty)
Windhoek, Namibia 2014
ISBN 9780868488202 / ISBN 978-0-86848-820-2
Softcover, 15 x 21 cm, 155 pages

About: Oshikwanyama Grammar

Owambo (also erroneously called "Ovamboland") is the traditional home of the majority of the Wambo people, and geographically forms part of northern Namibia and southern Angola. Thus, this is another typical example of a phenomenon so common in Africa, a people divided by arbitrarily drawn international borders. Although the larger part of the Kwanyama territory is situated in Angola, it is estimated that, due to a consistent influx during the past decade or two, the numbers of Oshikwanyama speakers in Namibia and Angola have more or less balanced out, with about 350 000 now living on each side of the border (Legare/Ntondo). This makes the Kwanyama by far the largest Wambo tribe on the Namibian side of the border.

It should be noted that subdialects of Oshikwanyama, such as Oshimbadja, Oshivale and Oshikafima, occur in Angola, and all of these are spoken east of the Kunene River. Of the seven Oshiwambo dialects in Namibia, the two major ones, Oshikwanyama and Oshindonga, have been developed into established written languages. However, due mainly to the influence of the Finnish Mission Society, whose missionaries were active mainly amongst the Ndonga, the other five western dialects, Oshikolonkadhi, Oshimbalanhu (or Oshimbalantu), Oshikwaluudhi, Oshingandjera and Oshikwambi, adopted Oshindonga as their written language for educational and religious purposes. As a result, Oshindonga became, as a written language, the largest in the country, with approximately 400 000 users. All Oshiwambo dialects are closely related and interintelligible.

However, both Oshindonga and Oshikwanyama are recognised as national languages in their own right, and this fact could give rise to the question of whether two Oshiwambo languages are justified instead of only one. This is a complex and delicate issue, and one which is not easily answered. For the purposes of this grammar, suffice it to say that various direct as well as more subtle attempts have been made in the past in this respect, all of which, regrettably, have failed. Oshindonga is slightly more advanced as a written language than is Oshikwanyama; on the other hand, it appears as if Oshikwanyama is more commonly used amongst Wambo people outside Owambo. For instance, Oshikwanyama was the language mainly used by SWAPO members in Angola and elsewhere. Both Oshikwanyama and Oshindonga are taught as subjects (first language) in Namibian schools.

Content: Oshikwanyama Grammar

INTRODUCTION
1 PRONUNCIATION

Vowels
Consonants
Semi-vowel Combinations
The Pronunciation of the Syllable mu
Aspirated Nasals
2 THE INFINITIVE AND IMPERATIVE FORMS OF THE VERB; THE VOCATIVE
Forming the Infinitive
The Dualistic Character of the Infinitive
Negative Formation
The Imperative¦
Singular and Plural Forms
The Negative Imperative
Other Imperative Forms
The Vocative
3 FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD PERSON
Pronouns
The Nominal Class System
Singular and Plural
The Oshikwanyama Class-prefixes
Class-prefix Variations
The Third Person
4 THE CONCORDIAL SYSTEM
What is Meant by Concordial System'?
The Oshikwanyama Concord Table
The Subjectival Concord
5 THE INDICATIVE SENTENCE AND THE PRESENT TENSE
The Indicative
The Negative of the Indicative
6 CLASSES 1 AND 2 (omu-, ova-)
Contents
Deverbatives
Concords
The Vowel Assimilation Rule of the Present Tense
7 CLASSES la AND 2a (-, oo-)
Contents
Concords
The Conjunction na- (and, with)
8 MONOSYLLABIC VERB STEMS
9 CONCORDS OF THE PERSONAL PRONOUNS; HABITUAL ACTIONS; THE COPULATIVE
The Concords of Personal Pronouns
Habitual Actions
The Copulative (Identified Copulative)
The Positive Form
The Negative of the Copulative
10 CLASSES 3 AND 4 (omu-, omi-)
Contents
Concords
The Possessive Construction
Table of Possessive Concords
11 CLASSES 5 AND 6 (e-, oma-)
Contents
The Secondary Semantic Functions of Class-prefixes
Primary Contents
Derivations
Concords
Possessive and Absolute Pronouns
Possessive Pronouns
Absolute Pronouns
Table of Absolute Pronouns
12 CLASSES 7 AND 8 (oshi-, oi-)
Contents
Plural
Secondary Semantic Function
Concords
Forms of Greeting
Greetings in the Morning
Greetings during Mid-day
Greetings in the Evening
The Verbals // (be) and na (have)
To Express "must"
Demonstratives
Formation of Demonstratives
Table of Demonstratives
Emphatic Forms of Demonstratives
13 CLASSES 9 AND 10 \o(n)-, ee(n)-\
Contents
Deverbatives
The Phonological Effects of the Nasal Prefix
The Dissimilation Rule of Oshikwanyama
Concords of Classes 9 and 10
The Past Tense
Characteristics of the Past Tense
The Negative of the Past Tense
Three Useful Verbs
The Form okwa ti
The Concord Table of the Past Tense
14 THE LOCATIVE CLASSES 16 (pu-), 17 (ku-) AND 18 (mu-)
Contents
Locative Prefixes with Pronouns
Adverbial Function of Locatives
Other Locatives
Locatives in Possessive Constructions
The Locative Enclitics po, ko and mo
Concords of Locative Classes
15 ADVERBS OF TIME AND MANNER
Adverbs of Time
Adverbs of Manner
16 CLASS 11 (olu-)
Contents
The Plural of Class-11 Nouns
Concords
The Secondary Function of olu-
The Future Tense
17 QUALIFICATIVES
The Adjectival Construction
Table of Adjectival Concords
Verb Stems acting as Adjectival Stems
Numerals
Numeral stems for the cardinal numbers one to eight
Counting More than 10
Multiples
Units between Multiples of 10, 100 or 1 000
Quantitatives
Concords
18 CLASS 12 (oka-)
Contents
The Young of Animals
Concords
19 CLASS 14(ou-)
Ou- as Plural Prefix
Ou- as Singular Prefix
Contents
20 CLASS 15 AND 15a (oku-)
Contents and Concord
Compounds with na (to have)
Class-Prefix Combinations
Secondary-Function Class-Prefix Substitutions
21 OBJECTIVAL CONCORDS
The Object
Table of Objectival Concords
Direct and Indirect Object
22 VERBS, PREFIXAL AND SUFFIXAL MORPHEMES
Defective Verbs
Passive Formation
Passive Forms of Monosyllabic Verbs
Examples of Passive Sentences
The Neuter-Passive Extension
The Applied Extension
Assimilation Rule of the Applicative Extension
The Causative Extension
Further Uses of the Suffix -ek(a), -ik(a)
Intensive Forms with -elel(a), -ilil(a), -enen(a), -inin(a)
The Reversive or Inversive Extension -ulula, -olola, -ununa, -onona
The Reciprocal Extension -afan(a) and the Reflexive, Prefixal
Formative li-
-afana
li-
Restricted or Inactive Verbal Extensions
Combinations of Verbal Extensions
Reduplication
23 PAST TENSES
General Past Tense, Recent and Stative Actions
The Remote Past Tense
Compound Tenses
Compound Tenses with fyaala, hangika, uhala and panga
24 MOODS
The Indicative Mood
The Imperative Mood
The Subjunctive Mood
Table of Concords
The Hortative Mood
The Participial (or Situative) Mood
The Habitual Aspect
Negative
Future Habitual
25 RELATIVE CLAUSES
26 CONJUNCTIONS (CO-ORDINATE AND COMPOUND SENTENCES)
27 ADVERBS AND ADVERBIALS

Adverbials Derived from Other Word Categories
Locatives
Nouns acting as adverbials
Adverbial formatives na-, ka-, u- and lu-
Adverbials formed by nominal prefixes na-, molwa- or polwa-, nga- and pa-
Words which Primarily are Adverbs
Adverbs of Time
Adverbs which are Difficult to Categorize
Comparisons
28 QUESTIONS
29 IDEOPHONES
30 COLOURS

The Use of the Verb twima
TRANSLATING EXERCISES
BIBLIOGRAPHY