Ndonga
/nˈdɔŋ.ɡa/noun
Ndonga is a Bantu language spoken mainly in northern Namibia and southern Angola, and is one of the standardized Oshiwambo varieties.
Did you know?Ndonga is closely related to Oshikwanyama, and both belong to the wider Oshiwambo language continuum spoken across borders created during European colonial rule.
Etymological Timeline
Precolonial period
Bantu
Ndonga
“The name of an Ovambo-associated language variety; its deeper lexical etymology is not securely established.”
19th Century
Ndonga
Ndonga
“An established spoken language of communities in the Ovambo region of what is now northern Namibia and southern Angola.”
Late 19th Century
German / Ndonga
Ndonga
“Missionaries and colonial-era scholars began recording the language and developing written conventions for it.”
Early 20th Century
Ndonga
Ndonga
“A standardized written form increasingly used in religious instruction, literacy, and local administration.”
20th Century
English scholarship
Ndonga
“The language became widely identified in linguistic literature as a major Oshiwambo variety.”
Modern English
English
Ndonga
“The conventional English name for the language, also called Oshindonga in some contexts.”