View source for Ndonga

{{Short description|Dialect in Namibia}}
{{redirect|Ndonga dialect}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Ndonga
|nativename=ndonga
|states=[[Namibia]] and southern Angola
|region= [[Ovamboland]]
|speakers= {{sigfig|807,000|2}}
|date=2006
|ref=e18
|familycolor=Niger-Congo
|fam2=[[Atlantic–Congo languages|Atlantic–Congo]]
|fam3=[[Benue–Congo languages|Benue–Congo]]
|fam4=[[Southern Bantoid]]
|fam5=[[Bantu languages|Bantu]]
|fam6=[[Kavango–Southwest]]
|fam7=[[Southwest Bantu]]
|fam8=[[Ovambo language|Ovambo]]
|iso1=ng
|iso2=ndo
|iso3=ndo
|glotto=ndon1254
|glottorefname=Ndonga
|lingua = 99-AUR-lc 
|guthrie=R.22
}}

'''Ndonga''', also called '''Oshindonga''', is a [[Bantu language|Bantu]] dialect spoken in [[Namibia]] and parts of [[Angola]]. It is a standardized [[dialect]] of the [[Ovambo language]], and is [[mutual intelligibility|mutually intelligible]] with [[Kwanyama dialect|Kwanyama]], the other Ovambo dialect with a standard written form. With 810,000 speakers, the language has the largest number of speakers in Namibia.  

[[Martti Rautanen]] translated the [[Bible]] into the Ndonga dialect. Beginning his work in 1885, he published the New Testament in 1903, but it took until 1920 to finish the Old Testament. His Bible translation became the basis of a standardized form of Ndonga.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.namibweb.com/olukonda.htm |title=Namiweb.com |publisher=Namibweb.com |access-date=2013-03-16 |archive-date=2013-02-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130213062434/http://www.namibweb.com/olukonda.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Phonology==
{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2025}}
===Vowels===
Oshindonga uses a five-vowel system: 
{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center
!
![[Front vowel|Front]]
![[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|{{IPAlink|i}}||{{IPAlink|u}}
|-
![[Mid vowel|Mid]]
|{{IPAlink|e̞|e}}||{{IPAlink|o̞|o}}
|-
![[Open vowel|Open]]
|colspan=2|{{IPAlink|ä|a}} 
|}

===Consonants===
Oshindonga contains the following consonant phonemes: 
{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center
!colspan=2|
![[Labial consonant|Labial]]
![[Dental consonant|Dental]]
![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
!rowspan=2|[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
!<small>[[voicelessness|voiceless]]</small>
|{{IPAlink|m̥}}
|
|{{IPAlink|n̥}}
|
|{{IPAlink|ŋ̊}}
|
|-
!<small>[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
|{{IPAlink|m}}
|
|{{IPAlink|n}}
|{{IPAlink|ɲ}}
|{{IPAlink|ŋ}}
|
|-
! rowspan="3" |[[Plosive consonant|Plosive]]
!<small>[[voicelessness|voiceless]]</small>
|{{IPAlink|p}}
|
|{{IPAlink|t}}
|
|{{IPAlink|k}}
|{{IPAlink|ʔ}}
|-
!<small>[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
|{{IPAlink|b}}
|
|{{IPAlink|d}}
|
|{{IPAlink|g}}
|
|-
!<small>[[Affricate consonant|affricate]]</small>
|
|
|{{IPAlink|ts}}
|
|
|
|-
!rowspan=2|[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
!<small>[[voicelessness|voiceless]]</small>
|{{IPAlink|f}}
|{{IPAlink|θ}}
|{{IPAlink|s}}
|{{IPAlink|ʃ}}
|{{IPAlink|x}}
|{{IPAlink|h}}
|-
!<small>[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
|{{IPAlink|v}}
|{{IPAlink|ð}}
|{{IPAlink|z}}
|{{IPAlink|ʒ}}
|{{IPAlink|ɣ}}
|
|-
!rowspan=2|[[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
!<small>[[central consonant|central]]</small>
|{{IPAlink|w}}
|
|
|{{IPAlink|j}}
|
|
|-
!<small>[[lateral consonant|lateral]]</small>
|
|
|{{IPAlink|l}}
|
|
|
|}

Prenasalized sounds are listed below: 

* [m̥p], [mb], [ɱv], [n̥θ], [nð], [n̥ʃ], [n̥t], [nd], [nz], [n̥ts], [ŋk], [ŋɡ] 

Oshindonga also contains many other consonant compounds, listed below:

* [m̥pʰ], [n̥tʰ], [n̥kʰ], [m̥pʰw], [n̥tʰw], [n̥kʰw], [n̥dz], [n̥tsʰ], [ndʒ], [xw], [tsʼ] (voiceless, ejective, alveolar affricate), [psʲ] (voiceless, palatalized, labio-alveolar affricate)

===Tones===
Oshidonga has two tones: high and low.

==References==
<references/>
* {{cite book|last1=Fivaz|first1=Derek|title=A Reference Grammar of Oshindonga|date=2003|publisher=Out of Africa Publishers|location=Windhoek|edition=2}}

==External links==
{{Incubator|code=ng}}
*[http://www.flw.com/languages/ndonga.htm Ndonga]

{{Languages of Angola}}
{{Languages of Namibia}}
{{Narrow Bantu languages (Zones N–S)}}

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ndonga Language}}
[[Category:Ovambo language]]

{{Bantu-lang-stub}}
{{Namibia-stub}}
{{Angola-stub}}