Chewa language

Chewa
Nyanja
Chichewa, Chinyanja
Native to Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe
Native speakers
 12 million  (2007)[1]
Latin (Chewa alphabet)
Chewa Braille
Official status
Official language in
  Malawi
 Zimbabwe
Recognised minority
language in
Language codes
ISO 639-1 ny
ISO 639-2 nya
ISO 639-3 nya
Glottolog nyan1308[2]
N.30 (N.31, N.121)[3]
Linguasphere 99-AUS-xaa – xag

Chewa, also known as Nyanja, is a language of the Bantu language family. The noun class prefix chi- is used for languages,[4] so the language is also known as Chichewa and Chinyanja (spelled Cinyanja in Zambia), and locally Nyasa in Mozambique.

Distribution

Chewa is the national language of Malawi. It is also one of the seven official African languages of Zambia, where it is spoken mostly in the Eastern Province. It is also spoken in Mozambique, especially in the provinces of Tete and Niassa, as well as in Zimbabwe where, according to some estimates, it ranks as the third-most widely used local language, after Shona and Northern Ndebele. It was one of the 55 languages featured on the Voyager.

Town Nyanja

Town Nyanja
Native to Zambia
Region Lusaka
Native speakers
 (no estimate available)
Nyanja-based
Language codes
ISO 639-3 None (mis)
Glottolog None
none[3]

An urban variety of Nyanja, sometimes called Town Nyanja, is the lingua franca of the Zambian capital Lusaka and is widely spoken as a second language throughout Zambia. This is a distinctive Nyanja dialect with some features of Nsenga, although the language also incorporates large numbers of English-derived words, as well as showing influence from other Zambian languages such as Bemba. Town Nyanja has no official status, and the presence of large numbers of loanwords and colloquial expressions has given rise to the misconception that it is an unstructured mixture of languages or a form of slang.

The fact that the standard Nyanja used in schools differs dramatically from the variety actually spoken in Lusaka has been identified as a barrier to the acquisition of literacy among Zambian children.[5] iSchool.zm, which develops online educational content in Zambian languages, has begun making 'Lusaka Nyanja' available as a separate language of instruction after finding that schoolchildren in Lusaka do not understand standard Nyanja.

History

Chinyanja has its origin in the Eastern Province of Zambia from the 15th century to the 18th century. The language remained dominant despite the breakup of the empire and the Nguni invasions and was adopted by Christian missionaries at the beginning of the colonial period.

In Zambia, Chewa is spoken by other peoples like the Ngoni and the Kunda, so a more neutral name, Chinyanja "(language) of the lake" (referring to Lake Malawi), is used instead of Chewa.

The first grammar, A grammar of the Chinyanja language as spoken at Lake Nyasa with Chinyanja–English and English–Chinyanja vocabulary, was written by Alexander in 1880 and partial translations of the Bible were made at the end of 19th century. Further early grammars and vocabularies include A vocabulary of English–Chinyanja and Chinyanja–English: as spoken at Likoma, Lake Nyasa[6] and A grammar of Chinyanja, a language spoken in British Central Africa, on and near the shores of Lake Nyasa,[7] by George Henry (1891). The whole Bible was translated by William Percival Johnson and published as Buku Lopatulika ndilo Mau a Mulungu in 1912.[8]

A strong historical link of the Nyanja, Bemba and Yao people to the Shona Empire, who can point their earlier origins to Mashonaland, proves linguistically evident today. The ancient Shonas who temporarily dwelt in Malambo, a place in the DRC, eventually shifted into northern Zambia, and then south and east into the highlands of Malawi. The language is changing everyday. This is because people are mixing certain words from English with chichewa.( Henry kanjanga 2015)

Spoken and written language

The letter "R" does not articulate clearly in the spoken form of the language. For example bwera (come) is pronounced "bwela". Thus there is a kind of disparity between written grammar and the spoken word.

Sample phrases

English Chewa (Malawi) Town Nyanja (Lusaka)
How are you? Muli tyani? Muli bwanji?
I'm fine Ndili luweme Nili bwino / Nili mushe
Thank you dzikomo Zikomo
Yes Inde Ee
No Ai Iyai
What's your name? Dzina lanu ndani? Zina yanu ndimwe bandani?
My name is... Dzina langa ndine... Zina yanga ndine...
How many children do you have? Muli ndi ana angati? Muli na bana bangati?
I have two children Ndili ndi ana awiri Nili na bana babili
I want... Ndikufuna... Nifuna...
Food Chakudya Vakudya
Water Madzi Manzi
How much is it? Ndi zingati? Ni zingati?
How are you? Mukuchita bwanji? Muli bwanji?
See you tomorrow Tidzaonana mawa Tizaonana mailo
I love you Ndimakukonda Nikukonda

References

  1. ↑ Nationalencyklopedin "Världens 100 största språk 2007" The World's 100 Largest Languages in 2007
  2. ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Nyanja". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  4. ↑ cf. Kiswahili for the Swahili language.
  5. ↑ Williams, E (1998). Investigating bilingual literacy: Evidence from Malawi and Zambia (Education Research Paper No. 24). Department for International Development.
  6. ↑ Woodward, M. E. 1895.
  7. ↑ Henry, George. 1891.
  8. ↑ The Umca in Malawi, p 126, James Tengatenga, 2010: "Two important pieces of work have been accomplished during these later years. First, the completion by Archdeacon Johnson of the Bible in Chinyanja, and secondly, the completed Chinyanja prayer book in 1908."

Bibliography

External links

Nyanja edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Nyanja phrasebook.