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Zambia has several major indigenous languages, [1] all members of the Bantu family, as well as Khwedam, Zambian Sign Language, several immigrant languages and the pidgins Settla and Fanagalo. English is the official language and the major language of business and education. [1] [2]
The Bantu peoples are an indigenous ethnolinguistic grouping of approximately 400 distinct native African ethnic groups who speak Bantu languages. The languages are native to countries spread over a vast area from West Africa, to Central Africa, Southeast Africa and into Southern Africa. Bantu people also inhabit southern areas of Northeast ...
Bemba, ChiBemba (also Cibemba, Ichibemba, Icibemba and Chiwemba), is a Bantu language spoken primarily in north-eastern Zambia by the Bemba people and as a lingua franca by about 18 related ethnic groups.
The Bantu languages descend from a common Proto-Bantu language, which is believed to have been spoken in what is now Cameroon in Central Africa. [21] An estimated 2,500–3,000 years ago (1000 BC to 500 BC), speakers of the Proto-Bantu language began a series of migrations eastward and southward, carrying agriculture with them.
Kaonde (kiiKaonde) is a Bantu language spoken primarily in Zambia but also in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kaonde and its dialects are spoken and understood by perhaps 350,000 people or more. [citation needed]
The Bemba language (Ichibemba) is most closely related to the Bantu languages Kiswahili in East Africa, Kaonde in Zambia and the DRC, Luba in the DRC, and Nsenga and Chewa in Zambia and Malawi. In Zambia, Bemba is primarily spoken in the Northern, Luapula, and Copperbelt Provinces. It is not an indigenous language in the Copperbelt region ...
The language is also spoken by the Iwe, Toka and Leya people among others, as well as many bilingual Zambians and Zimbabweans. In Zambia Tonga is taught in schools as first language in the whole of Southern Province, Lusaka and Central Provinces. The language is a member of the Bantu Botatwe group and is classified as M64 by Guthrie.
The Nsenga people are among the earliest tribes to migrate into modern day Zambia after the Tonga speaking people. It is believed that the Nsenga speaking people embarked on the trekking journey (Nsenga) almost at the same time with Bemba, Bisa, Lala. During this long journey, the Nsenga people had an intimate encounter with the Bemba people.