chichewa
Language & Studying
Culture chichewa/cinyanja
The a-Chewa, a-Nyanja and a-Mang’anja have rich traditions of in the U.S.
folktales, historical narratives, music-making, dancing, and craft
making. As agriculturalists, the a-Chewa, a-Nyanja, and a- Below is a list of universities in the United
Mang’anja live in villages that consist of several huts led by a States that currently offer Chichewa. For
village headman, nyakwawa. further information, please contact the
The people engage in a variety of activities when they are not
National African Language Resource Center, or
working in the fields. Women tell folktales in the evenings. check the NALRC web site at
Sometimes children play games in the early part of the evening, http://www.nalrc.indiana.edu.
before they go to sleep. Other times young people, boys and
girls, organize traditional dances, which are usually done in Michigan State University
circles. The main instruments are drums and a variety of Stanford University
percussive instruments, including rattles and maseche.
University of California, Berkeley
Upon arriving in the Malawi region, the Kalonga and his
followers developed an elaborate system of worship to ensure
that their agricultural efforts were successful. It was a system of
belief that placed Chauta, the supreme being, who was
symbolized by the rainbow, as the creator, and ancestors as
spirits who interceded on behalf of people. Central to this
system of worship was Makewana, “the mother of children,” the
great mother figure who oversaw the welfare of the people.
Associated with her was the python, a symbol of fertility.
Associated with the cults of worship is the nyau or masquerade.
Also known as Gule Wamkulu, literally “the big dance” or “the
dance of the elder,” nyau is a secret society that is central to the
education of male youth and in ritual ceremonies. On
ceremonial occasions such as the graduation of initiates, funerals
of important people and weddings, a variety of masked figures
representing man, spirit, and animal enact moments of creation
to bring harmony to the world. The dancing is intense and National African
energetic, patterned by a variety of drums along with calls and Language Resource
responses between the masked figures and parts of the audiences Center (NALRC)
consisting of initiated men and women. Nyau emerged as a
powerful rallying anticolonial institution as the British worked 701 Eigenmann Hall, 1900 East 10th Street
to spread Christianity at the expense of traditional systems of Bloomington, IN 47406 USA
worship during the colonial period. A number of masks that Telephone: (812) 856-4199, Fax: 8128564189 on the shores of lake malawi, with the
were fashioned during that period satirized popular biblical and Ilala II in the background.
Email: nalrc@indiana.edu
colonial figures such as Joseph, Maria, and district officers. Website: http://www.nalrc.indiana.edu
Today, a substantial percentage of a-Chewa, a-Nyanja and a-
Mang’anja are Christian, but Gule Wamkulu remains an
National African Language
important part of the lives of their communities. Resource Center (NALRC)
Why Study chichewa? Who Speaks chichewa?
Chichewa or Chinyanja is a language of the Bantu family of Peopl e and History
languages that is widely spoken in parts of East, Central and
Southern Africa. It is the most widely-spoken language in Chichewa/Chinyanja is a language of the Bantu family, and is thus
Malawi where, from 1968 until the mid-1990s, it was the one of the significant languages of Bantu speaking peoples of
national language. It is also spoken in Mozambique; Zambia, southern Africa. More than 65% of Malawi’s population of 11
and Zimbabwe, where it is the third most widely used local million have active command of Chichewa, and perhaps as many
language. as 80% have some knowledge of the language. In Mozambique,
out of a population of 18 million, approximately 3.3%, mostly in
When the Malawi Government designated Chichewa the the Tete Province in the lower Zambezi Valley and Niassa Province
national language in 1968, it established, among other things, a in the northeast of the country, speak Chinyanja. In Zambia, with
Chichewa Board, which oversaw and coordinated research into a population of 10 million, approximately 16% are native
usage, grammar, spelling, linguistic structures, folklore, and speakers, and they live mostly in the Eastern Province, near the
other aspects. Students in Malawi schools were required to border with Malawi. However, Chinyanja is widely spoken beyond
study Chichewa throughout the primary school years. the Eastern Province, and it is estimated that as many as 42% of
Zambians have basic communication skills in the language.
Although no longer the sole national language in Malawi since A band performing a pop song in Chichewa
1994, Chichewa is still taught in schools and used widely in
Chichewa-speaking or Chinyanja-speaking people are known as a-
media and other activities. In addition, Chichewa is used
Chewa or a-Nyanja, respectively. Starting in the mid-fifteenth
widely in Zambia.
century, a number of entholinguistically related groups including
the a-Chewa, the a-Nyanja, and the a-Mang’anja, led by a leader
The adoption of Chichewa as a national language by the
who was called the Kalonga, migrated from the lower Congo basin
Malawi government in 1968 promoted Chichewa through into the Lake Malawi and Shire River valley regions.
active educational programs, media usage, newspaper and
creative writing and publishing, and research activities carried The Kalonga and his followers named the land west of the Lake
out under the auspices of the Chichewa Board. The prevalence Malawi where they settled “Malawi,” which means “flames,” after
of the language shows that visitors to these famous South the vision of shimmering flames that one saw over the lake in the
African countries will need a knowledge of the heat of the day. Having settled near a beautiful lake, others among
Chichewa/Chinyanja language to be able to get around. the group called themselves a-Nyanja, or “people of the lake,”
“nyanja” being the Chichewa/Chinyanja/Chimang’anja word for
Moreover, researchers in various disciplines, including “lake.” Still others gave a slight variation to the name to distinguish Children playing in a village in Central Malawi (above)
linguistics, folklore, anthropology, history, art history and themselves, calling themselves a-Mang’anja. In these ways, the
verbal art have a lot to learn in this South African culture and dispersion and ensuing diaspora of the Chichewa/Chinyanja
will find the knowledge of the Chichewa/Chinyanja language speaking peoples resulted in a proliferation of the language in
to be quite handy and essential. the region.
Studying Chichewa/Chinyanja is important for a number of Dr. Kamuzu Banda, the first president of Malawi, chose Chichewa
reasons. First, command of Chichewa/Chinyanja provides the as a national language in 1968 apparently for the sake of unifying
lingua franca that allows communication in this part of the country under one language. However the national language
southern Africa. Secondly, command of Chichewa/Chinyanja policy was also controversial, as it promoted the language as spoken
would enable scholars in varied fields, including linguistics, by the a-Chewa, who live in Central Malawi, at the expense of
anthropology, history and art history to conduct research into both other versions of the language as well as other native tongues
this part of Africa. Knowledge of Chichewa would enable of Malawi. Thus, since the end of Dr. Banda’s presidency in 1994,
critical understanding of its career as national language in Malawi has developed a language policy that promotes all local
Malawi from 1968 to 1994 as a means for thinking about languages as well as English in the media, schools and creative
various aspects of language planning. Command of Chichewa/ work. Even then, Chichewa still remains the most widely spoken
Chinyanja would also provide scholars with possibilities for language in Malawi.
comparative Bantu linguistic analysis.
Chewa mother and baby in Malawian Chewa woman
Lilongwe, Malawi (left) at work.
