Nasara learns Ngambai

Ngambai is a language spoken by people in parts of Chad, spoken in most of Moundou, and certainly in my family it is everyone’s fist language. Children’s first language in my house is Ngambai and they begin learning French when they go to school. So while I try to learn the parts of the body in Ngambai, Junior my 5-year-old brother is learning them in French.

I have said it is a language spoken and that is because Ngambai is by and large a spoken language. In fact there are few people who can read and write fluently in Ngambai. I have had the priviledge of having a Ngambai teacher who is able to read and write, so I’m learning how to read and write as well as speak.

Chadians seem to think that Ngambai is easy, but I do not fully agree with them. It is true that the verb conjugation is fairly simple but what makes Ngambai difficult for me is:

-The fact that there are 3 tones- there is a high tone, a middle tone and a low tone. It is important to pronounce the words with the proper tone otherwise people may not understand you.

-The same word can have many meanings. My favourite so far has been the word

Erî tromper (to mislead)

Erî pleuvoir (to rain)

Erì etre cuit (to be cooked)

Ërì    caillou (rock)

Erì cicatriser (the healing of a wound)

Erì urine (urine)

Erì tenter (to attempt)

Both of these areas produce challenges for me when I try to understand and also when I try to speak.

The Ngambai language uses images to make many words. My favourite example of this so far has been words used for a house. Ngambai uses body parts to express the different parts of a house:

Kei = house

Do kei = the head of the house ie. roof

Tâkei- the mouth of the house ie. door

Kembôlé- eye opening ie. window

Kei-kuman- house of medicine ie. pharmacy/hospital

Another example of imagery is ‘kura ge dara’ or friend from heaven (which is translated to be angel).

So Ngambai is a tonal language, which uses imagery and while I finish up my Ngambai lessons this week, I hope to still continue to work on my comprehension and spoken Ngambai because this is what is used in my everyday life at home.