Namlish — Can you guess what these expressions mean?
Namlish is a portmanteau word from the English words Namibian and English. It’s a hybrid language which is spoken in Namibia mainly from the black-african population, especially in Ovambo and Kavango. Some say that it is a special form of English, a variation that might count as a pidgin English.
Since it is very similar to British English (and not so much to American English) one can say that it results from the British occupation in 1919 when Southwestafrica, nowadays Namibia, started the management under the League of Nations of South Africa. This mandat ended in 1946 or 1966. Namibia remained under South African occupation until 1988 and obtained final independce on March 21st 1990. (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namlish; http://www.serasphere.net/Extras/namlish.htm; https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britische_Kolonien_und_Protektorate)
But now the fun part! Although Namlish is very similar to British English some expressions can be really confusing to native speakers or to those who have learned “classic” British English.
So I want to ask you now to guess what these typical Namlish expressions and phrases mean. (I will give you the answers in the end.)
- to dirtify something
- I am coming
- and what what
- Can I go with it?
- Help me 20 Dollar?
- How is the morning?
- ka-thing
- Hang the calendar or else I’ll hang myself!
And here are the answers:
1. To dirtify somthing means “to make somthing dirty”. The expression to dirtify doesn’t exist in BrE.
2. I am coming can be really confusing because Namlish speakers say so while leaving the room. It means “I will be right back!”.
3. And what what means “and so on”. It is typical for Namlish speakers to repeat words in order to put emphasize on somthing.
4. When a Namlish speakers asks you Can I go with it? he want to borrow something from you. BrE speakers would say “Can I borrow it?”.
5. Help me 20 Dollar? means “Could you please give me 20 Dollar?”. Help me is the polite form to ask for somthing in Namlish.
6. How is the morning? or How is the day/afternoon/evening refers to the question “How are you?”. Each variant can be used regardless of the actual time of the day.
7. The expressions ka-thing is the Namlish way to say that something is little or small. Ka- is the prefix to express littleness.
8. People in Namibia who say Hang the calendar or else I’ll hang my self! don’t actually want to kill themselves but rather want to say “Hang up the calender or I will do it myself!”
I hope you were able to get some answers right, even though I am pretty sure you were. And I also hope that you enjoyed getting to know some about another language — I, as having (comparative) linguisitcs as my main subject, always do.
