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OSHIKWANYAMA OMUSHANGELO3 ORTHOGRAPHY 3 Gamsberg Macmillan IV Foreword This edition of the oshikwanyama orthography 3 comes 2g years after the second revised edition, I(wanyama orthography 2 of 19g0 ty th" Native Language Bureau of the Department of National Education. The first I{wanyama orthography was published approximately thirty fìve years ago (1968), by the Native Language Bureau oi the then Department of Banru Education in collabotation with the I{wanyamu Lurrgrrrge committee and the Native Language Board of the then South \X/est Africa. It was attempted in this version to revisit cerrain inconsistencies in speÌÌìng and linguistic terminology as welÌ as to make it, where possible, ,rr"r_ friendly without sacrificing the quality of the edition. punctuat-ioornË marks that were not included in previous orthogtaphies, are incruded in this one. The inclusion of a word Ìist and an expraoadãn of úe pronunciation of the Oshikwanyama speech sounds adds to the practical vatue of this orthography, e_speciaÌÌyf or non-speakers of oshikwanyama who might show intelest in the language. The major change in the oshikw'.Íìyao'^ orthography 3 is that for the fìrst time in the histoty of its language development, tÀe oshikwanyama verslon of the orthography is included. This is a significant step in rhe enhancemenr of the starus and role of úe language âmongst its speakers as wel as in the multilingual set-up in which we co-exist. Furthermore, it wil contribute to a better understanding of the language rules by teachers and users of the language. Another alteration is that the officiar name of the language (Oshikwanyama), is used in the title of its orthography. Oshikwanyama Orthography 3 is the soÌe official orthography for Oshikwanyama and thus replaces all former orthographies. The revision which started in 199g, was finarised by the oshikwanyama Curriculum Committee tn the year 2004. vi Map of Namibia with thirteen Political Regions and neighbouring countries ./.-çr .-.-, OSHANA a AtYoolA \.. zAr,BrA -.-.J.-.-.*--.-- ffifi;";"ru::È;iirr''''7 ïr"r* Jà- J zIItBlowE I o.to,o'*oth- .i oMAHEKE i _.J f KHOaTúAS I rorswnryA I ne'noap i i*i t\ t\ KARAS .r'-. i / !-.*.-.-..,."-rJ SOUÌH AER',CA (Source: Lazatus Hangula, 1993, International Boundaty of Namibia. Windhqek: Gamsberg Macmillan) Note: Mote people speak Oshikwanyma in these regions ' Few people speak Oshikwanyama in these regions IntetnationaÌ boundaty Regionalboundary ^.\.rv vlll This oshikwàÍyama orthography 3, was revised by the members of the curriculum committees for oshikwanyama for the years 199g to 2001 and 2001 to 2004. The OshikwanyamaO rthography 2, was compiÌed by Il Zimmetmann and G.S. Taapopi of the Native LanguageB uieau of the Department of NationaÌ Education in coÌlaborationw iú úe oshikwanyama LanguageC ommittee and the Native Langmge Board. 1. Compiled by: Zimmermann \Xl Taapopi G.S. 2. Revised by the members of the Curriculum Committees for Oshikwanyama: 2.1 Members of the Curiculum Committee for Oshikwanyamâ: September 1998t o June 2001 HasheelaP . ' Ndeutepo E. HanghuwoM . Tshirayi P. Nakwafila P. (Chairyerson) Munyika V. Nakale J. ShonenaJ . Ndinoshiho R. Legère I{. I{atonyala M. (Secretary) Pedro T. 2.2 Members of the Curriculum Committee for Oshikwanyama: June 2001 to September 2004 HasheelaP . Ndeutepo E. Hanghuwo M. Tshitayi P. Nakwafila P. (Chairperson) ShonenaJ . (Secretary) NdinoshihoR . Ìtronannes l. Shikukumwa A. PohambaH . Kaprya J. I(ashimba O. ShipokeV .T. OSHIKWANYAMA OMUSHANGELO3 ORTHOGRAPHY 3 I. THE SPEECH SOUND SYSTEM A. VOWELS Two kinds of vowels are distinguished in Oshikwanyama, viz: . Short vowels . areriroru . Long vowels: aa, ee, ii, oo, uu 1, Short vowels a la] Â Ìow mid vowels as in: ta/a - look $a - eaÍ aa /a - count ka/a - stay e [e] A midlow fiont vowel as in: eta _ bring, drop (rain) etu _ ours e,ke - hand llJeme -moúer ti] Â high front vowel as in: /i/a - cry, bleat ila - come indìla - ask ìma - bear fruit tl ] A mid-low back vowel as in: ongongololo - millipede mona - see,o btain ona - growl, louse o /a - becomer otten ["] A high back vowel, as in: uda - heat kokule - far umba - shoot, throw /u/a - become sour, bitter 2. Long vowels Long vowels are writren with a double symbol, and appear in the following cases: az la:1e, e fl, oo t,l, ii ti'1,u u [u:] (a) aa [uJ as in: eJa al aa - sort of locust Jaam a - seek shelter against rain kaama - fl,oat ok aana - child ee ["'] as in: beeno - yes m eeku/ u - grandmother eengobe - cattle tee/e/a - wait [i'] as in: shììka - expÌore diinìna - hold fast shiiua - know oììnatì - fruits []'l as in: koo la - rake out hoo/o/a - choose too/ a - pick up mboola - bore uu [r,] as in: Juuna - peel tuula - open shuuka - escape fau/a - mesmerize (U; firuf vowels of cÌass prefixes followed by üe same vowel at the beginning of a stem, as in: omuumbi - archer < omxt -l anbì eekelelo - displeasure {e* ekelelo okaanda - grainbasket < oka * anda okuu/a - to toaÍ < oku t x1/a oshììmbo - song < oshi 'l imbo okaana - child 1 oka I ana (c) Assimilation of úe final vowels of class prefixes with the following vowel of stem. as in: oshaamenìfo - defensive weapon < oshi -l anenifu osheendo -ptocession < oshi * entÌo oshuunda - cattÌe kraal < oshi Í anda oshooko - fore leg < oshi -l oko NOTE: AÌternadve spelling forms are recognised for words üke: oshiamenifo, oshiendo, oshioko, oshiunda. (d) Lengthening of voweÌs also takes place in the following cases when omu-, olu-, oku-, oshi-, appe t before noun stems, as in: omuumbi - archer < omu -l unbì o/uumbo - fence 1 olu I umbo o/wu/i - circÌe < ol-u-t ulì okuumba - to shoot ( oku I umba okuu/u - l.g < oku * ulu oshiìnda - mat < oshi -l inda oshiimatì - fruit < oshi -l ìnaíì Lengthening of vowels after non-syllabic [u] and [i] (written as semi-vowels w and y) co-occuring in class prefìxes, as in: omwãament - protector ( omu I ameni olwiidi - fever < oIu + idi omJooltgo * marula trees < oml + ongo omloonde - cameÌthorn trees ( omi I onde In the following cases no lengthening of the vowels take place and the vowel it is written singly, as in: omwanl - drying of marula fruit I omu + dno omuenge - sv/eet core of a cob or stem 1 omu + eftge oillwenJo -life 1 onu + enJo omwandì - African ebony 1 omu i andì omwa/ì - nursing mother 1 omu I ali omwilo -^ttap, agin-trap l omu * tJo