Zemba or Dhimba is a Bantu language spoken mainly in Angola where the language has about 18,000 speakers, and also in Namibia with some 7,000. It is closely related to Herero, and is often considered a dialect of that language, especially as the Zemba are ethnically Herero. There are various spellings and pronunciations of the name: ''Zimba, Dhimba, Tjimba, Chimba,'' etc. However, when spelled ''Tjimba'' or ''Chimba'' in English, it generally refers to the

Tjimba people The Cimba , also spelled Tjimba, are a remote, Herero-speaking hunter-gatherer people of the Kaokoveld desert in northwest Namibia and southwest Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_cap ...

, non-Herero hunter-gatherers who speak Zemba. The spelling ''Himba'' should be distinguished from the

Himba people The Himba (singular: OmuHimba, plural: OvaHimba) are an indigenous people with an estimated population of about 50,000 people living in northern Namibia, in the Kunene Region (formerly Kaokoland) and on the other side of the Kunene River in sout ...

and their dialect of Herero. ''Ethnologue'' separates Zemba as a distinct language from Himba (Otjihimba, Ovahimba), classified as a dialect of Herero proper. Maho (2009), however, sets up a Northwest Herero language, which includes Zemba; from the map, it would appear to include Himba and Hakaona as well.

References

Herero language Languages of Angola Languages of Namibia {{Bantu-lang-stub