Kwanyama () is a national language of Angola and Namibia. It is a standardized dialect of the Ovambo language, and is mutually intelligible with Oshindonga, the other Ovambo dialect with a standard written form.
The entire Christian Bible has been translated into Kwanyama and was first published in 1974 under the name Ombibeli by the South African Bible Society.Ombibeli, 1974, front page Jehovah's Witnesses released a translation of the new testament, the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures in Kwanyama in 2019, both printed and electronic online version.
Phonology +ConsonantsLabialAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottalPlosivevoiceless~voiced~prenasalFricativevoiceless()voicedNasalvoicedvoicelessApproximant
/t/ and /d/ are dentalized when followed by a front vowel /i/. An /s/ sound can only occur in loanwords.
+VowelsFrontBackCloseMidOpen Tones
Kwanyama has two tones : high and low.
Grammar
Verbs 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 ka after the nonpast subject concord. +Kwanyama subject concordsActiveStativePersonNegationPastNonpastPersonNegationPastPresentFuture1S+OndaOhandi/Ohai1S+Onda li ndiOndiOhandi ka kala ndi-InandiItandi-Kandi li ndiKandi/ NghiItandi ka kala ndi2S+OwaOto2S+Owa li uOuOto ka kala u-InoIto-Kwa li uKuIto ka kala u3S+OkwaOta3S+Okwa li eokuOta ka kala e-InaIta-Ka li eKeIta ka kala e1P+OtwaOhatu1P+Otwa li tuOtuOhatu ka kala tu-InatuItatu-Katwa li tuKatuItatu ka kala tu2P+OmwaOtamu2P+Omwa li muOmuOtamu ka kala mu-InamuItamu-Kamwa li muKamuItamu ka kala mu3P+OvaOtaa/Otava3P+Ova li veOveOtava ka kala ve-Inaa/InavaItaa/Itava-Kava li veKaveItava ka kala ve Another way to negate a verb is to add the prefix ha- before the verb stem (ex. okwiimba 'to sing' -> okuhaimba 'to not sing').
References
Bibliography
Further reading Turvey, B. H. C. (1977) Kwanyama-English Dictionary; compiled by B. H. C. Turvey; edited by W. Zimmermann and G. B. Taapopi. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press (based on the work compiled by George Tobias & Basil Henry Capes Turvey, 1954)
External links Language map of Namibia Grammar and vocabulary PanAfrican L10n page on Kwanyama Omalinjongameno Ōngeleka. (Services of the Church in Kwanyama Authorised for Use in the Diocese of Damaraland, 1957) digitized by Richard Mammana 2015