Oseroa

Welcome to the page on the Oseroa language. This is also a constructed Bantu language that is placed in the same group as Fangwa and Entesi. All these three languages are not mutually intelligible though, they are considered three separate branches. Oseroa's structure is similar to Entesi, it is also an SOV language and in Oseroa the adjective also precedes the noun like in Entesi. But on the other hand in Oseroa the noun class particle is a prefix and in Entesi it is a suffix, e.g. Oseroa  mo remo = the man. What separates Oseroa from both Entesi and Fangwa is the verb conjugation: in Oseroa the verb prefix consists of the tense particle first and then the personal particle, for example: ye nbona = I see [pres. tense-1p sg- see], in Fangwa the verb conjugation is also formed with prefixes but the order is different it's personal pronoun particle first and then tense particle; in Entesi on the other hand verbs are conjugated with suffixes. It is thought that in the proto-Yarima Bantu language the verb conjugation consisted of particles: a pronoun, a tense particle and the verb and that the order in which these particles were placed was initially free but in time it got fixed in at least 3 different ways (actually 4 if you include Entegwa) in the daugther languages.

The Oseroa language also has some words that don't correspond to or have cognates in the other Yarima Bantu languages like e.g. ndago = house, timbo = elephant and kango = lion; Fangwa has niumba, ndovu and simba respectively. Sometimes Oseroa also has metathesis of the vowels in a word like remo = man, Fangwa has rume.

Oseroa : swomake (salt water fish), omave (fresh water fish). Legend has it that some boys went fishing and when they caught a fish out of the sea they wanted to keep it alive. They brought the small fish to a small fresh water lake where they made an enclosure using small stones.

They put the fish, that they kept until then in a big bowl of wood filled with sea water, in the enclosure and when they came back the next day they found that the salt water fish had died. But then they saw other fish swimming in the lake.

When the boys told their parents, they in turn informed the chief of the village and the elders declared that fresh water fish and sea water fish were distinct creatures and decided to call them by different names.

This different vocabulary together with the different verb conjugation makes Oseroa harder to understand for speakers of other Yarima Bantu languages. But on the other hand the Oseroa language has aslo infuenced other languages like Entegwa in the counting system and also some vocabulary to a lesser degree the Fangwezi and the Qolape languages in vocabulary.

Geography
The land of the Oseroa "Oseroanshe" (in purple on the map) is relatively small compared to it's neighbours: The Entesi (in orange) in the north, the Entegwa (related to the Entesi, in dark pink) at the South West border and the Fangwezi (in yellow) in the South East and at the eastern most point it has a very tiny border with Fangwa-land. Because of the long shared border in the North it is thought that the many shared grammatical features are a result of some kind of Sprachbund between Entesi and Oseroa. The verbal system of the two languages is so different with Oseroa conjugation particles being prefixes and Entesi using suffixes that although being grouped together in one branch, i.e. the West Yárima Bantu languages both languages are considered as separate branches within this group.

Numerals
The number system is also different, in Oseroa the counting is done on base 6.

The numerals are:

1) moze 2) vedi 3) shato 4) ni 5 shano 6) shande 7) shande nwa moze 8) shande nwa vedi 9) shande nwa shato 10) shande nwa ní 11) shande nwa shano 12) veshande (= 2 times 6) 13) veshande nwa moze ; 18 = shashande;  24 = nishande;

30 = shanande ( 5 times 6), 36 = shandande ( but because the pronounciation is very much like the numeral 30 the construction  shande nwa shanande  is used to disambiguate the two numbers, 60 = konshande ( from the old word komi (10), so it means 10 times 6; and there is also dzanshande = 600 (100 times 6 from the old word dzane = 100) and nkuchande =  6000 (1000 times 6, from the old word nkuto = 1000); bojande = 6000.000 (1000.000 times 6) from the old word bogu = 1000.000).

It is said that the Oseroa started to count this way because their first king Rolawo was born with six fingers on both hands and the people saw that as a human manifestation of the God Mongu, the God of the sea. The Oseroa believe that Mongu created humans out of seashells.

Personal Pronouns
The personal pronouns are somewhat different to Entesi but not very far removed:

I =  hini ; you (sg) =  hiu ; he/she =  hia ; we =  hiti (inclusive);  hitu  (exclusive); you (pl) =  hinqu ; they = hiva 

Verb conjugation
The verb conjugation is the main difference between Oseroa, Entesi and Fangwa. Because of the similar word order SOV and the placement of the adjective in front of the noun, Oseroa is often grouped together with Entesi but the verb conjugation is so strikingly different that Oseroa is now considered a separate branch in its own right.

As an example to illustrate this we will show the conjugation of gobona = to see. Oseroa also has a noun class system and all verbs are indicated with the prefix go attached to the stem of the verb.

Oseroa uses 6 prefixes to conjugate for 3 tenses and 3 aspects: ye = present tense; li = past tense; ta = future tense and re = present continuous, ma = perfect and su = the past habitual. For the personal pronoun a short form is used as the particle to refer to person, this particle comes always after the tense particle and before the verb' in Oseroa.

These short personal particles are -n- = I; -u- = you (sg); -a- = he/she (human); -ti- = we (incl); -tu- = we (excl); -nqu- = you (plur); -va- = they (humans)

So 'I see' = ye nbona;  'I saw' = li nbona;  'I will see' = ta nbona and 'I am seeing' = re nbona; 

'I have seen' = ma nbona; ' I used to see' = su nbona

If a verb starts with an 'n' then longer form of the first person singular is used go n yoa = to drink: ye ni nyoa = I drink.

 

Oseroa can also combine the aspect particles ma and re with tense parcticles. The particle re is the one that is most used and comes after the tense particle but before the personal pronoun. For example: lirenbona = I was seeing; tarenbona = I will be seeing

Negation
To put a verb in the negative you can simply put the prefix si- at the beginning of the conjugated verb. So: si yenbona = I don't see; si liubanza = you didn't begin;  si tavapenzha = they will not love

Noun class system
Like the other languages in its family Oseroa also has a noun class system. This system consists of prefixes denoting the singular and plural within each class: mo/va denotes humans e.g. mokwaze - vakwaze ( the woman/ the women), mu/mi denotes plants, fruits and vegetables e.g. mute - mite (the tree/the trees), ge/ve is used for objects e.g. getavu - vetavu = (the book/ the books), me is used for certain fluids: metsi = the water, metsiwa = the milk, mengawa = the rain; ne/di is used for animals and insects e.g. nembwa - dimbwa = the dog - the dogs ; go is used for verbs: gobenda = to write; vu is used for abstract nouns vubandza = the beginning, for this prefix there is also a plural  du that is used when an abstract noun also has a plural form like vuyandzi = the kingdom,  du yandzi = the kingdoms.

The inessive noun particle
Oseroa has like Entesi and Entegwa a particle nwi that means 'in or inside' but unlike Entegwa or Entesi where the particle is a suffix in Oseroa it is a prefix. This prefix is inserted between the noun class particle and the noun, e.g.: gendago = the house (ge-ndago = noun class inanimate - house); ge nwi ndago = in the house ( noun cl inanim-in- house). This noun class particle  nwi  is derived from an old locative noun class in the ancestor of the Bantu languages but is not considered a noun class anymore, however the formation is a remnant of the combination of two noun class particles.

Other locative particles
Oseroa is special in this respect that it is the only Yarima Bantu language that has preserved the other two particles that have been lost in the other languages. The particle po means 'at' and ku means 'out of/from'. So ge po ndago = at the house; ge ku ndago = 'out of the house' or 'from a house'. You can also combine the locative particle with inessive particle: po nwi ndago = inside a house; ge po nwindago = inside the house;  po ge nwi ndago = at the inside of the house.

Days of the week
Because of their way of counting the Oseroa altered the names of the days of the week.

''King Rolawo, who is seen as the founder of the modern Oseroa land, had a great impact on the Oseroa people. Before him the Oseroa were mailny a coastal nation not interested in having contact with the other peoples of Yarima. But King Rolawo saw the importance of trading with the Fangwezi people who were landlocked and King Rolawo wanted to exchange the fish that they caught with goat meat or meat from other land animals. This proved to be so succesfull that some of the Oseroa expanded further inland and a few merchants settled permanently on land but going to the coast at any opportunity they could get.''

This king Rolawo was considered a sacred person during his life and because he had 6 fingers on each hand people started counting using bas 6. So the days of the week are numbered from the first to the sixth and Sunday (the seventh day) is named after King Rolawo.

Aru Moze = Monday (lit: first day)

Aru Vedi = Tuesday (second day)

Aru Shato = Wednesday (third day)

Aru Ní = Thursday (fourth day)

Aru Shano = Friday (fifth day)

Aru Shande = Saturday (sixth day)

Aru Lawo (earlier Aru Rolawo) = Sunday (lit day of king Rolawo)

Months of the year
For the Oseroa the year consists of two cylces of six months. The first six months are the months in which the Oseroa work hard to catch the most fish they can because in the second half of the year there is more wind and the chances for storms to arise at sea are greater. Part of the caught fish is also pickled to preserve it, some fish are smoked or fermented to keep it for longer. There is even an old tradition to preserve fish in pure salt to keep it for the stormy months of August and September when the seas are particularly rough and hurricanes can arise. In those months the Oseroa eat mainly crabs, shellfish and seaweed and they supplement their diet with the goat meat they buy from the Fangwezi.

The names of the months are:

Mwari Moze = January (first month)

Mwari Vedi = February (second month)

Mwari Shato = March (third month)

Mwari Ní = April ( fourth month)

Mwari Shano = May ( fifth month)

Mwari Shande = June (sixth month)

The names second set of months of the year all start with  Noswari , this is a name consisting of the words nosu (half) and mwari (month). So the the month of July is seen as the first month of the second half of the year and translates as something like "half a year and 1 month", August is then 'half a year and 2 months" etc:

Noswari Moze = July ( half a year and 1 month) or (first month after half a year)

Noswari Vedi = August (half a year and 2 months)

Noswari Shato = September (half a year and 3 months)

Noswari Ní = October (half a year and 4 months)

Noswari Shano = November (half a year and 5 months)

Noswari Shande = December (half a year and 6 months)

In earlier days the name  Noswari Lawo  was also used for December but nowadays it only refers to the second half of the year (second semester). In analogy to this  Mwari Lawo  was also created meaning the first half of the year (the first semester).

Also the name  Mwari Veshande  was used to refer to December but nowadays it is used to refer to a year as a whole (the entire 12 month period) and written without capital letters.

Sample texts
moremo metsi yeanyoa =  the man drinks (the) water. [lit: the-man water pres-he (human)-drink]

Shi-Oseroa yetisema = we speak Oseroa ( language particle- Oseroa pres tense - we [incl]-speak)