Nyakyusa, or Nyakyusa-Ngonde, is a

Bantu language The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀) are a large family of languages spoken by the Bantu people of Central, Southern, Eastern africa and Southeast Africa. They form the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid languages. The t ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

and

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northe ...

spoken by the

Nyakyusa people The Nyakyusa (also called the Sokile, Ngonde or Nkonde) are a Bantu ethnolinguistic group who live in the fertile mountains of southern Tanzania. They speak the Nyakyusa language, a member of the Bantu language family. In 1993 the Nyakusa populatio ...

around the northern end of

Lake Malawi Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is the fifth largest f ...

. There is no single name for the language as a whole; its dialects are Nyakyusa,

Ngonde The Nyakyusa (also called the Sokile, Ngonde or Nkonde) are a Bantu ethnolinguistic group who live in the fertile mountains of southern Tanzania. They speak the Nyakyusa language, a member of the Bantu language family. In 1993 the Nyakusa population ...

(Konde), Kukwe, Mwamba (Lungulu), and Selya (Salya, Seria) of Tanzania. Disregarding the Bantu language prefixes ''Iki-'' and ''Ki-,'' the language is also known as Konde ~ Nkhonde, Mombe, Nyekyosa ~ Nyikyusa, and Sochile ~ Sokili. Sukwa is often listed as another dialect; however, according to Nurse (1988) and Fourshey (2002), it is a dialect of

Lambya The Lambya, also known as the Nkoya, are an ethnic and linguistic group based along the border of northwestern Malawi and in Mbeya Region, Tanzania. A minority also exists in Zambia. In 2001 the Lambya population was estimated to number 85,000, i ...

. In Malawi, Nyakusa and Kyangonde are spoken in the northern part of

Karonga District Karonga is a district in the Northern Region of Malawi. The district covers an area of 3,355 km.² and has a population of 365,028. It is a border district between Malawi and Tanzania, mainly occupied by the Tumbuka and Nkhonde tribes. Ot ...

, on the shore of Lake Malawi, close to the border with Tanzania, while Nkhonde is spoken the centre of the district, including in the town of

Karonga Karonga is a township in the Karonga District in Northern Region of Malawi. Located on the western shore of Lake Nyasa, it was established as a slaving centre sometime before 1877. As of 2018 estimates, Karonga has a population of 61,609. H ...

. According to the Language Mapping Survey for Northern Malawi, carried out by the Centre for Language Studies of the University of Malawi, "Nyakyuska, though spoken by very few people, mainly at Iponga in Sub T/ A Mwakawoko’s area, is regarded as the parent language from which Kyangonde and Chinkhonde originated. Kyangonde, on the other hand, is regarded as the most prestigious and standard language/dialect of the district. ... Chinkhonde is seen as a dialect of Kyangonde which has been heavily influenced by Citumbuka." The same Survey contains a folktale (the Tortoise and the Hare) in Chinkhonde and other languages of Northern Malawi, as well as some comparative vocabulary. Below is the Tortoise and the Hare folktale in Chinkhonde. Sample text from Bible ''Mwalululu, Yehova ikwisa kutwabula ku nifwa, kangi inifwa yitisa kuyako bwila na bwila''! Translation Very soon, Jehovah will free all humans from death, and death will be gone forever!
p. 17.

Writing system

References

Languages of Tanzania Languages of Malawi Rukwa languages {{Bantu-lang-stub

Writing system

Further reading

References