Bemba language

The Bemba language, ChiBemba (also Cibemba, Ichibemba, Icibemba and Chiwemba), is a major Bantu language spoken primarily in north-eastern Zambia by the Bemba people and as a lingua franca by about 18 related ethnic groups, including the Bisa people of Mpika and Lake Bangweulu, and to a lesser extent in Katanga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Botswana. Including all its dialects, Bemba is the most spoken indigenous language in Zambia. The Lamba language is closely related and some people consider it a dialect of Bemba.

History

The Bemba people are descendants of inhabitants of the Luba kingdom, which existed in what is now the Katanga province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and in north-eastern Zambia.

Bemba is one of the most widely spoken languages in Zambia, spoken by many people who live in urban areas, and is one of Zambia's seven recognized regional languages. Zambia's first president, Kenneth Kaunda, though Malawian by descent, was raised in a Bemba-speaking community, and two of the four Zambian president since have been Bemba-speakers. The third president, Levi Mwanawassa, was a Lenje, who belong to the Bantu Botatwe [three people] ethnic grouping that comprises the Tonga-Lenje-Ila peoples. The Fourth President, Rupiah Bwezani Banda was a Chewa from the Eastern Province. In the years after the MMD took power in 1991, it was accused numerous times of promoting Bemba over other regional languages in the country. Although the lingua franca of the Zambian capital Lusaka is a dialect of Nyanja language, it incorporates numerous Bemba words and expressions.

This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Bemba_language

Buyu language

Buyu, or Buyi, is a Bantu language of Lake Tanganyika that is closely related to Nyanga.

Former ISO coding problems

A "Bemba" language of South Kivu was listed in Ethnologue 17 as ISO code [bmy]. However, the name, Kinyabemba, is the language of the Banyabemba, one of the tribes that speak Buyu. (It is not the Bemba language of Zambia.) "Songa" [sgo] is another Buyu-speaking tribe rather than a distinct language. "Buya" [byy] is unidentified, but may be a typo for Buyu. The codes were retired in 2014.