Fangwa

Welcome to the page on the Fangwa Language. (OchiFangwa)

OchiFangwa is an a posteriori constructed Bantu Language based on a large number of these languages. The main sources are Swahili, Afrihili, Shona, Chichewa, Lingala, Tswana, Luganda, Xhosa and Zulu. This language draws a lot of its vocabulary from these sources, and the grammmar also has a strong Bantu influence. The basic order in a sentence is SVO and head initial. The stress is usually on the penultimate syllable. Fangwa is part of a larger constructed Bantu-languages family: The other members are: Entesi, Oseroa, Qolape, Fangwezi, Nashari and Zande. There is also an unrelated language Anara that has a lot of influence from Fangwa. Vocabulary:

Singular	Plural	Meaning
umonto	obanto	the person- the persons
umolendzi	obalendzi	the boy- the boys
umofazi	obafazi	the woman- the women
egitabo	ebitabo	the book- the books
emuti	emiti	the tree- the trees
esinja	bizinja	the dog- the dogs
oganto	adzonto	the giant- the giants
epinto	etinto	the little man- the little men
esilavu	bizilavu	the lion - the lions
egipewa	ebipewa	the hat - the hats

Vocabulary

ukogenda = to go; ukobona = to see; egimkono= the arm; egimpuno= the nose;

ukorusha = to work egimtemo = the law; omamto = the river; omabahori = the sea

ukopá = to give; -kulu = big/ great; egidziko = the kitchen; egijika = the spoon

ukocheka = to laugh; egiwavu = the net; egibarafo = the ice; ukosikia = to hear

umodzukala = grandchild; esiusagi = the hare; uko-imba= to sing; egisikio= ear

esinyondzi = bird; -naiba= beautiful; esikitsune = the fox; ukodota= to dream

omandzi = the water; ubonto = humanity; esingeke = tilapia (a type of fish)

ukopeka = to cook; ukopenya = to love; ukosopa = to like; egiatu = the shoe;

ukotunda = to teach; umofazi = the woman; emuvoka = the pear, egimbedzi = the month

umogabo = man; ukosana = to drink ; ukosama = to find; eginyama = the meat; the animal

esingombe = the cow; esinkoko = the chicken; ukodzira = to wait; esidaubu = the bear

ukososoli = to understand; esinahashu = the snake; esisaru= the ape; -dzuri = good

umowana = the child; umokama = the king; ukoladi = to ask; ukokimbia = to run;

egiti = the chair; egiluti = the stick; the branch; ukoluma = to bite; ukosema = to speak

ukodyá = to eat; ukolala = to sleep; ukofale = to look; egieneche = the land;

esimbudzi = the goat; esinguruve = the pig ; egimeli = the boat; ukoadza= to begin

esimpaka = the cat; umokwetu = the friend; ukobadziri = to break; egilamba= the clothing

omangawa = the rain; ukojika = to close; ukowekwe = to speak; ukodzua = to know

ochiFangwa = the Fangwa Language ; ukotaya = to help; ukokabe = to advise; egidzai = the egg

egikeni = the glas; ukobinda = to write; ukolomu = to enter; ukogula = to buy;

ukofotokodza = to explain; egibisi = the office; ukobade = to divide; ukozunda = to hate

umotsikana = the girl; omadziwa = the milk ; esindzovu = the elephant; egiumba= the room

ukofahamu = to understand; esitwiga = the giraffe; egikombe = the cup; egidzina = the name

umoru = the chief; egiature = the flower ; ukokute = to obey; ukofanya = to do;

egikaramu = the pen; egiadenle = the street; egitanda = the bed; ukojá =  to come

umokulima = the farmer; ukolipa = to pay; ukopyoma = to read; egintu = the thing

esiawindzi = the sheep; esiura = the frog; egintoka = the car, umorume = the man

ukobyada= to bear children (to be pregnant); egidzuwo = the sun; emuintore = the eggplant

ubomotlovo = the pride; egicho = the eye; umofazi umorebyada = the pregnant woman;

egiloba = the word; ukobere = to carry; egimbazi = moon; egidzuwa = the sun; egiupa = the bottle

Personal Pronouns

English	Fangwa
I	nd(z)e
you	u
(s)he	a
we	tu
you	bu
they	ba

Possesive pronouns

The possessive pronoun is formed by attaching the particle ye at the front of the pronoun, e.g. yende = my. The possessive pronoun comes after the noun. So yeu = your (sing); yea = his/her/it's; yetu = our; yebu = your (plur); yeba = their

Grammar

Fangwa is basically a SVO (Subject Verb Object) Language. The verbs have five tense markers:

Present tense	Past tense	Future tense	Perfect tense	Prensent Progressive
-na-	-li-	-ta-	-me-	-re-

Examples

umorume umonasana mandzi
the man drinks water

umofazi umolibona umorume
the woman saw the man

umotsikana umotapyoma gitabo
the girl will read a book

umolendzi umomepyoma egitabo

the boy has read the book

umowana umoredyá ginyama
the child is eating meat

Noun Classes:

OchiFangwa has a noun class system like a lot of Bantu languages, the classifier is a prefix that attaches to the noun. This classifying particle is also attached to the verb, adjectives, numerals that are governed by the noun. The particle has a long and a short form; the long form denotes definiteness: umo-wana = the child; the short form signals undefiniteness; mo-wana: a child.

The main noun classes are: umo/oba = (sing/plur) humans; egi-ebi = things; esi-bizi: animals; oma- : (singular) :only certain fluids e.g. omandzi (from oma-mandzi)= water; oma-ngawa = rain and oma-dziwa = milk; emu/emi = fruits/vegetables/plants; uko- = denotes verbs; ubo- : denotes abstact concepts.

There are some classes that are almost obsolete now: epi/eti = diminutive (humans): etinto-epinto = small man - small men and the augmentative (humans) : ago/adzo = agonto - adzonto = giant- giants.

These last two classes are being slowly incorporated into the umo/oba class: umotinto-obatinto = small man- small men. And umogonto- obagonto = giant- giants. The younger people only use the newer forms, elderly people can use both and in poetry the old forms are used. It looks like the old form will only be preserved in poetry and old texts.

Adjectives:

All adjectives follow their nouns: umowana umodzuri = the good child; mowana modzuri = a good child. The adjectives get the same prefixes as the corresponding nouns that they modify.

Questions:

To ask a quetion you can put the particle ni in front of a sentence, for example ndenasema ochi-Fangwa = I speak the Fangwa language. Ni ndenasema Ochi-Fangwa? Do I speak the Fangwa language?

To emphasize what the question is you can place ni after de part of the sentence that you want to ask about, e.g.:

ndeninasema Ochi-Fangwa? Do I speak the Fangwa language?

ndenasémani Ochi-Fangwa? Do I speak the Fangwa language? (not hear or write?)

ndenasema Ochi-Fángwani? Do I speak the Fangwa language? (not English or Swahili or Zulu?)

Negation

The negation of an action can be expressed in two ways:

1. First you can add the prefix ka- to the verb.
2. The second way is to put te after the verb. (strong negation)
3. If you use both you get a very strong negation.

E.g.

Ndekanapyoma egitabo
I don't read the book

Ndenapyoma egitabo te
I do NOT read the book (strong negation)

Ka pyoma ebitabo!
Don't read the books!

Ka pyoma egitabo te!
Don't read any books !

Numerals

Here are the numerals of Fangwa from 1 to 10, Fangwa uses a base 10.. These numerals take on the prefixes of the nouns they quantify.

Number	Fangwa
1	-modzi
2	-bili
3	-tatu
4	-ne
5	-tano
6	-toba
7	-sambo
8	-nane
9	-kenda
10	-kumi
11	-kumi na modzi

Number	Fangwa
20	-bili omakumi
30	-tatu omakumi
40	-ne omakumi
50	-tano omakumi
60	-toba omakumi
70	-sambo omakumi
80	-nane omakumi
90	-kenda omakumi
100	-keme
1000	-kalo
1.000.000	-fuku

The cardinal numerals also have a short form, eg: -bili kumi = 20; -bili keme= 200; ne kalo= 4000; -kenda fuku

= 9.000.000

The numerals always follow the noun that is counted with the corresponding prefix: abantu (a)babili= the two persons; bizinja bizisambo = the seven dogs; bitabo binane= eight books, bitabo bitoba = 6 books.

For numbers higher than 10 only the first part will take the prefix:

miti mikumi na ne= 14 trees

Ordinal numerals

Ordinal numrals are formed by putting the particle 'ye' in front of the number and after the noun it refers to, for example: "umogabo ye (u)momodzi" = the first man; "umotsikana ye (u)mobili" = the second girl; "esinkoko ye (e)sikenda" = the ninth chicken;

As for ordinal numbers higher then 10 the same rule applies as for cardinal numbers: only the first part gets the same prefix as the noun that refers to, for example: esimpaka ye (e)sikumi na sambo = the 19th cat

Months of the year

Gwadze = January

Raume = February

Nyobi = March

Foraiso = April

Hambali = May

Beali = June

Jovare= July

Shobu= August

Dwaro= September

Donsau= October

Vabwa= November

Mbanze = December

Colours

The names of the coulours are:

gedzane = green

mwodzano = yellow

nyokaudzo = red

nyosi = black

roendzi = orange

bwaleyo = blue

nyopfe = wit

fyadha = silver

dzohavo = gold

kawha = brown

dzovaro = purple

moriye = blue- green

ruonge = colour