Oshifima oshinyenye

Oshikwanyama Home Wa lele po? Onda fya ondjala! Owa dja peni? Oshifima oshinyenye Ovaneumbo vange Kokamba Owa uka peni? Oundjolowele Omafiku nomafimbo Ohema iwa mEumbo mOshiwambo! Appendix Community

Chapter 4

Oshifima oshinyenye

Tula omeva mombiya na tula ombiya pediko. Fulukifa omeva nde to tula mo oufila. Pilula noluko ominute omilongo mbali. Tula oshifima poshiyaxa noluko. Teelela ile oto pi. Lya nombelela ile nombidi. Oshifima oshinyenye!

English	Past	Present	Future
Put (in/on/...)	Tula (mo/po/...)	Tula (mo/po/...)	Tula (mo/po/...)
Boil	Fulukifa	Fulukifa	Fulukifa
Stir	Pilula	Pilula	Pilula
Wait	Teelela	Teelela	Teelela
Burn yourself	Pya	Pi	Pya
Cook	Teleka	Teleke	Teleka
Bring	Eta	Eta	Eta
Pound	Twa	Tu	Twa
Take (from someone)	Tambula	Tambula	Tambula
Pick (from many)	Kufa	Kufa	Kufa

English	Oshikwanyama
Traditional porridge	Oshifima / Oifima
Meat	Ombelela
Cabbage / Spinach	Ombidi
Dried spinach	Evanda
Goat	Oshikombo
Beef	Ombelela yongobe
Chicken	Oxuxwa
Dog	Ombwa
Fish	Oshi
Field mouse	Omhuku
Frog	Efuma
Soup	Oshopa
Pasta	Omakoloni
Rice	Olwiishi
Oil	Omaadi
Tomato / Tomato sauce (Ketchup)	Etama / Edama
Salt	Omongwa
Fat cakes	Oukuki
Apple	Oshiyapela / Eyapela
Flour	Oufila
Sugar	Osuuka
Millet	Omahangu
Traditional non-alcoholic drinks	Oshikundu / Oshinwa
Traditional alcoholic drinks	malodu, Otombo, Ombike
Bread	Omboloto
Jam	Ongema
Butter	Ombuta
Beans	Omakunde
Tea	Otee
Coffee	Okofi
Cooldrink	Onamunate
Pot	Ombiya
Bowl / Basin	Oshiyaxa
Plate	Okayaxa
Traditional clay pot	Etiti
Spoon	Olunguto
Fork	Ofoloka
Knife	Ombele
Hand	Eke / Eenyala
Cooking stick	Oluko
Fire	Omundilo
Cooking fire	Ediko
Match	Okapalwa

OMUKWANYAMA TA TI:

~ Lya odididi u didilike. Lya okadila u diladile.Lya omhuku u pukuluke. Lya ongungu ungungumane.

~Eat an ant and remember. Eat a bird and think. Eat a mouse and be alert. Eat a bulb and be calm.

(It is important to remember, think, be alert, and be calm.)

Grammar Corner: Infinitives and Commands

Infinitives

Recall the verbs we saw in Chapter 2, Exercise 1:

English	Oshikwanyama
To sleep	Okukofa
To eat	Okulya
To sing	Okwiimba

On the left side, we have infinitive verbs in English. On the right, we have infinitive verbs in Oshikwanyama. Fortunately, they are used in the same way in both languages. Notice that the Oshikwanyama infinitive verbs are the past/future verb forms with the prefix oku-. The only exceptions are those verbs beginning in vowels. For these, change oku- to okw- and double the vowel, e.g. oku + imba => okwiimba.

By now, you’ve probably noticed that the past and future forms of verbs (not the subject concords) are always the same. Often the present tense is the same as the past and future: Onda kofa, ohandi kofa, ohandi ka kofa. Because this is the case, we will stop writing verbs in past / present / future tables, and just write (in this case) kofa. For verbs like “eat”, we will write lya (li): Onda lya, ohandi li, ohandi ka lya. The present form is put in parentheses.

Commands

To form a command in Oshikwanyama, just say the past / future tense of the verb without a subject concord:

Put the flour in the pot.	Tula oufila mombiya.
Eat meat!	Lya ombelela!
Wait ten minutes.	Teelela ominute omulongo.
Stay well.	Kala po nawa.
colspan="2" There are only a few irregular commands:
Go (away)	Inda!
Come!	Ila!
colspan="2" If you are talking to a group of people, take off the last a and put on -eni:
Come (many people)	Ileni!
Stay well (many people)	Kaleni po nawa. Also said: Kalii po nawa.
colspan="2" To make a negative command, put ino or inamu before the command:
Don’t be afraid!	Ino tila!
Don’t go! (many people)	Inamu ya!
colspan="2" Note that for negative commands, you use the past / future tense of the verb, not any irregular forms, and without adding -eni.

Grammar Corner: Habitual Actions

Observe the following translations:

Meme Sylvia ota li ombelela.	Meme Sylvia is eating meat.
Meme Sylvia oha li ombelela.	Meme Sylvia eats meat.
Oho li ombidi?	Do you eat cabbage?
Iha li oshi.	S/he does not eat fish [in general].
Ita li oshi.	S/he is not eating fish [right now].

Like in English, the present simple tense in Oshikwanyama is used to talk about actions that are ongoing. This kind of subject concord is formed from the normal present tense, but replacing the first t with an h when applicable.

Exercise 1

Respond to the following questions in Oshikwanyama.

1. Ou hole okunwa obiila?
2. Oho li oshifima?
3. Oho li oshikombo?
4. Owa hala okunwa onamunate?
5. OvaNamibia ove hole okulya ombelela. Naave, ou hole?
6. Oho nu okofi ile otee?
7. Oho li ombwa?
8. Ondi hole okulya oukuki. Ove ou hole?

Exercise 2

Translate the following commands into Oshikwanyama.

1. Boil water!
2. You (plural) come now.
3. Please bring bread.
4. Eat fat cakes.
5. Cook frog!
6. Bring beans.
7. Go to the toilet.
8. Please give me the oshifima and ombidi
9. Bring the apple!
10. Please give me the tea.
11. Help me one dollar.