Yeyi (Shiyeyi)

Yeyi is a Bantu language spoken by about 55,000 people along the Okavango River in Namibia and Botswana. In particular, it is spoken in the Ngamiland North subdistrict of the North-West district of Botswana, and also in the Ghanzi and Central districts of Botswana, and in the east of the Zambezi Region in the northeast of Namibia. The majority of Yeyi speakers are older adults. Younger people and children are less likely to speak it in Botswana, but still speak it in Namibia.

Yeyi is also known as Shiyeyi, Yeei, Yei, Ciyei, Koba, Kuba, Seyeyi, Seyei or Ceyei, and Yeyi speakers call their language Shiyeyi, and themselves MaYeyi. The main dialect is Shirwanga.

Parts of the Bible were translated into Yeyi in the 1960s, although they were not published. A standard way to write Yeyi with the Latin alphabet was proposed and agreed on at a conference in 1997.

Yeyi alphabet and pronunciation

Yeyi alphabet and pronunciation

Download an alphabet chart for Yeyi (Excel)
Details of Yeyi pronunciation provided by Wolfram Siegel (PDF)

Sample text

  1. Ndakambiri Teofile, iwuka iyukutanga ndataisi shizusu kozo zamatakara Jeso kusi katiyaya shazo,
  2. kutwala kuldiiba lyamarakwenda kuldiro, atiakumana Shumuku Omuqa bayaywa bake wamatasharara.
  3. Bapa, atia akuyuvwa wutuku, kaya kulyumwahaza kuwo pwamarashiri muimi, shizimweniso zizinji. Kabamumonu shamaiba amakumi ane kali kauhana nawo, marukuhweta zumuwuso Urezha.
  4. Marukurayaya muso uldiiro,ati akushangana nawo kabatyeya atikya basiye kundzwa mo Jerusalema, baldindire Sheshi amata barayaya shashe urezha, "Shukutikya
  5. Johani mata nwengiswa shami. Yenwe nati nwengiswa Shumuku Omuqa mumaiba ngamace."

Source: https://door43.org/u/lversaw/yey_act_text_reg/ee04ab63e5/

Translation

  1. The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
  2. until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:
  3. to whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:
  4. and, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
  5. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
    Acts 1: 1-5

Source: https://www.bible.com/bible/1/ACT.1.KJV

Sample videos in Yeyi

Links

Information about Yeyi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeyi_language
https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/yeyi1239
https://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/1886
https://www.101lasttribes.com/tribes/yeyi.html
https://www.koeppe.de/titel_a-grammar-of-yeyi
http://olac.ldc.upenn.edu/language/yey
https://www.sil.org/resources/search/language/yey

Bantu languages

Aka, Bafaw-Balong, Bangi, Basaa, Bemba, Bembe, Bena, Benga, Bhaca, Bube, Bukusu, Bulu, Central Teke, Chichewa, Chokwe, Chuwabu, Comorian, Dciriku, Digo, Duala, Eton, Ewondo, Fang, Ganda/Luganda, Gogo, Gusii, Gwere, Haya, Hehe, Herero, Ibinda, Ikizu, Ikoma, Jita, Kabwa, Kako, Kamba, Kiga, Kikuyu, Kimbundu, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Kisi, Kogo, Komo, Kongo, Konjo, Koti, Kukuya, Kunda, Kuria, Kwambi, Lambya, Lingala, Loma, Lozi, Luba-Katanga, Luchazi, Lunda, Luvale, Luyana, Makaa, Makonde, Makhuwa, Mandekan, Maore, Masaaba, Mbama, Mbere, Mbukushu, Mbunda, Mbuun, Mende, Mongo, Mpiemo, Mushungulu, Mwani, Nambya, Nande, Ngoni, Nkore, North Teke, Northern Ndebele (South Africa), Northern Ndebele (Zimbabwe), Northern Sotho, Nyamwezi, Nyakyusa, Nyemba, Nyole, Nyoro, Nyungwe, Nzadi, Oroko, OshiWambo, Pagibete, Punu, Ronga, Safwa, Sena, Sengele, Shona, Soga, Songe, Southern Ndebele, Southern Sotho, Sukuma, Swahili, Swati, Tanga, Tembo, Tonga, Tooro, Tshiluba, Tsonga, Tswa, Tswana, Tumbuka, Umbundu, Venda, Vili, Vwanji, Xhosa, Yakam, Yansi, Yao, Yasa, Yeyi, Zigula, Zinza, Zulu

Languages written with the Latin alphabet

Page created: 04.04.25. Last modified: 05.04.25

[top]

Green Web Hosting - Kualo

You can support this site by Buying Me A Coffee, and if you like what you see on this page, you can use the buttons below to share it with people you know.

 

The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com

If you like this site and find it useful, you can support it by making a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or by contributing in other ways. Omniglot is how I make my living.

 

Note: all links on this site to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.fr are affiliate links. This means I earn a commission if you click on any of them and buy something. So by clicking on these links you can help to support this site.

[top]