Kwanyama or Cuanhama 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.

Kwanyama
Oshikwanyama
Native toNamibia and Angola
RegionOvamboland
Native speakers
(250,000 in Namibia (2006);
420,000 in Angola cited 1993)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-1kj
ISO 639-2kua
ISO 639-3kua
Glottologkuan1247
R.21[2]
Linguasphere99-AUR-la

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.[3] Jehovah's Witnesses released the modern translation of the new testament, the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures in Kwanyama in 2019,[4] both printed and electronic online version.

Phonology

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Consonants
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive voiceless p t~ k
voiced b d~
prenasal ᵐb ⁿd ⁿdʒ ᵑɡ
Fricative voiceless f (s) ʃ x h
voiced v
Nasal voiced m n ɲ
voiceless ɲ̊ ŋ̊
Approximant w l j

/t/ and /d/ are dentalized when followed by a front vowel /i/. An /s/ sound can only occur in loanwords.

Vowels
Front Back
Close i u
Mid e o
Open a

Tones

Kwanyama has two tones : high and low.

References

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  1. ^ Kwanyama at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. ^ Ombibeli, 1974, front page
  4. ^ "Jehovah's Witnesses Release the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures in Kwanyama". Jw.org. 20 August 2019.

Bibliography

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Further reading

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  • 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 ISBN 0854943153 (based on the work compiled by George Tobias & Basil Henry Capes Turvey, 1954)
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