Ovambo language

Ambo
Ambo
Person	Omuwambo
People	Aawambo, Ovawambo
Language	Oshiwambo
Country	Owambo, Ouwambo

Owambo
Owambo
Oshiwambo
Native to	Angola, Namibia
Ethnicity	Owambo
Native speakers	(1,441,000 cited 1990 mm)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta–Congo languages Benue–Congo Bantoid languages Southern Bantoid Bantu Kavango – Southwest Southwest Bantu Owambo; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Standard forms	Kwanyama; Ndonga;
Language codes
ISO 639-1	kj, ng
ISO 639-2	kua, ndo
ISO 639-3	Variously:; kua – Kwanyama; ndo – Ndonga; kwm – Kwambi; lnb – Mbalanhu (Central Wambo); nne – Ngandjera
Glottolog	ndon1253
Guthrie code	R.20 (R.21–24,211–218,241–242)

An Ovambo speaker, recorded in Namibia.

The Ovambo (English: /ɒˈvæmboʊ/) language is a dialect cluster spoken by the Ovambo people in southern Angola and northern Namibia, of which the written standards are Kwanyama and Ndonga.

The native name for the language is Oshiwambo (also written Oshivambo), which is also used specifically for the Kwanyama and Ndonga dialects. It is the largest spoken local language in Namibia,^[3] particularly by the Ovambo people.

The language is closely related to that of the Herero and Himba, the Herero language (Otjiherero). An obvious sign of proximity is the prefix used for language and dialect names, Proto-Bantu *ki- (class 7, as in the name of the Swahili language, Kiswahili), which in Herero has evolved to Otji- and in Ovambo further to Oshi-.

^ Kwanyama at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Ndonga at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Kwambi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Mbalanhu (Central Wambo) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Ngandjera at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
^ "Namibia – People". New African Frontiers. Archived from the original on January 30, 2009. Retrieved May 16, 2009.

[e18-1] Kwanyama at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Ndonga at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Kwambi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Mbalanhu (Central Wambo) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Ngandjera at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[Guthrie-2] Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online

[3] "Namibia – People". New African Frontiers. Archived from the original on January 30, 2009. Retrieved May 16, 2009.

[1]

[2]

[3]

Owambo
Oshiwambo
Native to	Angola, Namibia
Ethnicity	Owambo
Native speakers	(1,441,000 cited 1990 mm)^[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta–Congo languages Benue–Congo Bantoid languages Southern Bantoid Bantu Kavango – Southwest Southwest Bantu Owambo
Standard forms	Kwanyama Ndonga
Language codes
ISO 639-1	`kj, ng`
ISO 639-2	`kua, ndo`
ISO 639-3	Variously: `kua` – Kwanyama `ndo` – Ndonga `kwm` – Kwambi `lnb` – Mbalanhu (Central Wambo) `nne` – Ngandjera
Glottolog	`ndon1253`
Guthrie code	`R.20 (R.21–24,211–218,241–242)`^[2]