Bemba language
Encyclopedia
The Bemba language, ChiBemba (also spelled Cibemba, Ichibemba, Icibemba, 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 language most spoken as a mother tongue in Zambia.
, which existed in what is now the Katanga
province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and in north-eastern Zambia.
Since British rule, English has been Zambia's main literary language, and is now its only official language. However, the Bemba language has played a prominent political role. Zambia's first president, Kenneth Kaunda
, though Malawian by descent, was raised in a Bemba-speaking community, and every Zambian president since has been a Bemba-speaker. 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.
of Bangweulu speak another dialect of Bemba, and a Bemba-English creole, known as Town Bemba, is used in the major cities of the Copperbelt.
, is quite phonetic. Its letters, with their approximate phonetic values, are given below.
It has become increasingly common to use 'c' in place of 'ch'. In common with other Bantu languages, as affixes are added, combinations of vowels may contract and consonants may change. For example, 'aa' changes to a long 'a', 'ae' and 'ai' change to 'e', and 'ao' and 'au' change to 'o (in other cases, a 'y' is often used to separate other combinations of vowels). The nasal 'n' changes to 'm' before 'b' or 'p', and is pronounced ŋ before 'k' or 'g'; after 'n', 'l' changes to 'd'. These rules will all be implicit in the tables given below.
Like many Bantu languages, Bemba is tonal, with two tones; however, tone carries limited meaning as the number of words that would otherwise be confused is small. Stress tends to fall on the prefix, when it exists, and can lead to subtle differences of meaning (see the verb forms below).
The prefixes in class 9 essentially indicate case: 'ku-' corresponds to 'to' or 'from', 'mu-' to 'in', 'into', or 'out of', and 'pa-' to 'at'.
The numerals 1-5 take adjectival concord prefixes (except for class 1 singular: muntu umo, 'one person'). The numerals 6-10 are left unchanged. 'Ikumi' has the plural 'makumi', which can be used as a noun with 'na' (and, with) to form all numbers up to 99: for example, makumi yatatu na pabula, 'thirty nine'. 100 is 'mwanda', with plural 'myanda'.
('this one, that one, and that one over there'), and relative pronouns are formed from these.
according to person, number and class of subject and object, tense, mood, voice, aspect and whether they are affirmative or negative. Further, their stems change to indicate various other shades of meaning. The following rules can all be combined in a mostly straightforward manner, Bemba being agglutinative and not inflective, but there are still some exceptions.
These can vary slightly according to mood, and the subject prefixes change for negative verbs. Where they are different, object prefixes are given in brackets.
The subject prefix is placed first, and then the object infix. When the subject or object is a specific noun in a given class, the verbal concord prefix of this class is used, and the negative form adds the prefix 'ta-' before this.
Some of these require a modified stem, changing final 'a' to 'ile' if the preceding vowel is 'a', 'i' or 'u', and to 'ele' if it is 'e' or 'o', or, if the last consonant is nasal
, changing the 'a' to 'ine' or 'ene' accordingly. There are irregularities in several verbs.
The tense infixes are given below. They come after the subject and object prefixes, and before the verb stem, except for the recent, completed or historic past in 'na-', which appears at the very beginning. Stress is marked with an acute (´) accent.
The simple singular imperative is identical to the 'dictionary' form of the verb consisting of the stem and the suffix '-a', changing to an '-e' if an object prefix is used - there is no subject prefix. The simple plural imperative changes '-a' to '-eni'. Prefixing 'aku-' or 'uka-', adds a sense of instruction to resume or continue an action. An emphatic form can be given by using the subject pronoun prefix (generally of class 1) and following this by the infix '-inda-'.
The subjunctive is used hypothetically, as an indirect imperative, in exhortations, and in subordinate clauses, similarly but not identically to the subjunctive of many European languages. The common feature is a change of the final '-a' of the verb to '-e'. Its forms are given below. Here V stands for the verb stem, and P for any pronoun prefixes (infixes). The usual phonological rules apply.
The infinitive, strictly a verbal noun, has two forms. The simple form has prefix 'ku-' added to the simple form, as mentioned above, and the habitual infinitive has prefix 'kula-'.
There are also several compound tenses, many using the copula 'kuli' and 'kuba'.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. (First article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
.)
Bantu languages
The Bantu languages constitute a traditional sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages. There are about 250 Bantu languages by the criterion of mutual intelligibility, though the distinction between language and dialect is often unclear, and Ethnologue counts 535 languages...
language spoken primarily in north-eastern Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
by the Bemba people
Bemba people
The Bemba belong to a large group of peoples mainly in the Northern, Luapula and Copperbelt Provinces of Zambia who trace their origins to the Luba and Lunda states of the upper Congo basin, in what became Katanga Province in southern Congo-Kinshasa...
and as a lingua franca
Lingua franca
A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
by about 18 related ethnic groups, including the Bisa people of Mpika and Lake Bangweulu, and to a lesser extent in Katanga
Katanga Province
Katanga Province is one of the provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Between 1971 and 1997, its official name was Shaba Province. Under the new constitution, the province was to be replaced by four smaller provinces by February 2009; this did not actually take place.Katanga's regional...
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
, Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
, and Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
. Including all its dialects, Bemba is the language most spoken as a mother tongue in Zambia.
History
The Bemba people are descendants of inhabitants of the Luba kingdomKingdom of Luba
The Kingdom of Luba or Luba Empire was a pre-colonial Central African state, which arose in the marshy grasslands of the Upemba Depression in what is now southern Democratic Republic of Congo.-Origins:...
, which existed in what is now the Katanga
Katanga Province
Katanga Province is one of the provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Between 1971 and 1997, its official name was Shaba Province. Under the new constitution, the province was to be replaced by four smaller provinces by February 2009; this did not actually take place.Katanga's regional...
province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and in north-eastern Zambia.
Since British rule, English has been Zambia's main literary language, and is now its only official language. However, the Bemba language has played a prominent political role. Zambia's first president, Kenneth Kaunda
Kenneth Kaunda
Kenneth David Kaunda, known as KK, served as the first President of Zambia, from 1964 to 1991.-Early life:Kaunda was the youngest of eight children. He was born at Lubwa Mission in Chinsali, Northern Province of Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia...
, though Malawian by descent, was raised in a Bemba-speaking community, and every Zambian president since has been a Bemba-speaker. 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.
Dialects
Bemba has several dialects, many being varieties of Bemba spoken by other tribes which have historically fallen under Bemba influence. They include Chishinga, Lomotwa, Ngoma, Nwesi, Kabende, Luunda, Mukulu, Ng’umbo and Unga. The TwaTwa
The Twa are any of several hunting peoples of Africa who live interdependently with agricultural Bantu populations, and generally hold a socially subordinate position: They provide the farming population with game in exchange for agricultural products....
of Bangweulu speak another dialect of Bemba, and a Bemba-English creole, known as Town Bemba, is used in the major cities of the Copperbelt.
Phonology and Orthography
The orthographical system in common use, originally introduced by Edward SteereEdward Steere
The Rt Rev Edward Steere was a Colonial Bishop in the second half of the 19th century. He was born in 1828, educated at London University and ordained in 1850. After curacies in Devon and Lincolnshire he joined Bishop Tozer 7 years later. He was created Bishop of Nyasaland in 1874 and died on 26...
, is quite phonetic. Its letters, with their approximate phonetic values, are given below.
| Letter: | A | B | Ch/C | D | E | F | G | I | J | K | L | M | N | Ng' | O | P | S | Sh | T | U | V | W | Y |
| Value: | a | b/ɓ~w/β | tʃ/tj | d | e} | f~v | ɡ | i | dʒ/dj | k | l | m | n | ŋʰ | ɔ | p | s | ʃ | t | u | f~v | w | j |
It has become increasingly common to use 'c' in place of 'ch'. In common with other Bantu languages, as affixes are added, combinations of vowels may contract and consonants may change. For example, 'aa' changes to a long 'a', 'ae' and 'ai' change to 'e', and 'ao' and 'au' change to 'o (in other cases, a 'y' is often used to separate other combinations of vowels). The nasal 'n' changes to 'm' before 'b' or 'p', and is pronounced ŋ before 'k' or 'g'; after 'n', 'l' changes to 'd'. These rules will all be implicit in the tables given below.
Like many Bantu languages, Bemba is tonal, with two tones; however, tone carries limited meaning as the number of words that would otherwise be confused is small. Stress tends to fall on the prefix, when it exists, and can lead to subtle differences of meaning (see the verb forms below).
Grammar
Many of the main features of Bemba grammar are fairly typical of Bantu languages: it is agglutinative, depends mainly on prefixes, has a system of several noun classes, a large set of verbal aspects and tenses, very few actual adjectives, and, like English, uses subject-verb-object word order. Most of the classification here is taken from that given by Schoeffer, Sheane and Cornwallis.Nouns
Bemba nouns are divided into several partially semantic classes. These are indicated by their prefixes and are generally similar, but not always identical, to the concord prefixes attached to verbs they govern, adjectives qualifying them, and pronouns standing for them. By one convention, based on the plural, these are arranged as follows (most alternate forms are due to phonetic considerations):| Class | Singular prefix | Concord prefix (singular) | Plural prefix | Concord prefix (plural) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | mu-, mw-, m- | a (verbs), mu (adjectives), u/w (pronouns) | ba- | ba- | persons, and several inanimate nouns |
| 2 | mu- | u- (sometimes mu- for adjectives) | mi- | i- (sometimes mi- for adjectives) | generally inanimate nouns, and most trees and fruit |
| 3 | n-, lu- | i (sometimes n- for adjectives), lu- | n- | shi- | generally not human nouns |
| 4 | chi-/ch- (ichi-) | chi-/ch- | fi-/fy-/f- (ifi-) | fi-/fy-/f- | augmentatives, kinds, languages |
| 5 | li-, ku-, bu-, lu- | same as noun prefix | ma- | ya- (sometimes ma- for adjectives) | Plural can be used for singulars of class 3 to emphasise larger number or size |
| 6 | ka- | ka | tu- | tu- | |
| 7 | bu- | bu- | none | none | abstract nouns |
| 8 | ku- | ku- | none | none | infinitives |
| 9 | ku-, mu-, pa- | same as noun prefix | not strictly a noun class (see below) |
The prefixes in class 9 essentially indicate case: 'ku-' corresponds to 'to' or 'from', 'mu-' to 'in', 'into', or 'out of', and 'pa-' to 'at'.
Adjectives
As is common in Bantu languages, adjectives follow the words they qualify, and take the adjectival concord prefixes, but there are not many of them in the strictest sense. Adverbs, relative clauses, or 'descriptors', often fulfil their function instead. Descriptors are placed after the noun, with the particle '-a', and the relevant pronoun prefix between them: chintu cha nomba, 'new thing'.Numerals
The numbers from 1 to 10 are:| English: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Bemba: | mo | bili | tatu | ne | sano | mutanda | chine lubali | chine konse konse | pabula | ikumi |
The numerals 1-5 take adjectival concord prefixes (except for class 1 singular: muntu umo, 'one person'). The numerals 6-10 are left unchanged. 'Ikumi' has the plural 'makumi', which can be used as a noun with 'na' (and, with) to form all numbers up to 99: for example, makumi yatatu na pabula, 'thirty nine'. 100 is 'mwanda', with plural 'myanda'.
Pronouns
The class-independent personal pronouns are: 'ine' (1st person sg.), 'iwe' (2nd person sg.), 'ifwe' (1st person pl.), 'imwe' (2nd person pl.). These are absolute, in the sense that they stand alone, and cannot appear as subjects or objects as they are. There are separate possessive pronouns, and the third person pronouns depend on class. There are also demonstrative pronouns, divided both by class and into three kinds by deixisDeixis
In linguistics, deixis refers to the phenomenon wherein understanding the meaning of certain words and phrases in an utterance requires contextual information. Words are deictic if their semantic meaning is fixed but their denotational meaning varies depending on time and/or place...
('this one, that one, and that one over there'), and relative pronouns are formed from these.
Verbs
Verbs have simple forms, usually ending in '-a' (everything before the 'a' being the 'stem', 'root' or 'radical'), and are agglutinatedAgglutination
In contemporary linguistics, agglutination usually refers to the kind of morphological derivation in which there is a one-to-one correspondence between affixes and syntactical categories. Languages that use agglutination widely are called agglutinative languages...
according to person, number and class of subject and object, tense, mood, voice, aspect and whether they are affirmative or negative. Further, their stems change to indicate various other shades of meaning. The following rules can all be combined in a mostly straightforward manner, Bemba being agglutinative and not inflective, but there are still some exceptions.
Subject and object prefixes
The subject prefixes and object infixes for the personal pronouns are given below.These can vary slightly according to mood, and the subject prefixes change for negative verbs. Where they are different, object prefixes are given in brackets.
| Person | 1st sg. | 2nd sg. | 3rd sg. | 1st pl. | 2nd pl. | 3rd pl. |
| Affirmative | n- | u- (ku-) | a- (mu-) | tu- | mu- | ba- |
| Negative | nshi-, shi- | tau- | taa-, ta- | tatu- | tamu- | taba- |
The subject prefix is placed first, and then the object infix. When the subject or object is a specific noun in a given class, the verbal concord prefix of this class is used, and the negative form adds the prefix 'ta-' before this.
Tenses and Aspects
The classification given here is that presented by Schoeffer.Some of these require a modified stem, changing final 'a' to 'ile' if the preceding vowel is 'a', 'i' or 'u', and to 'ele' if it is 'e' or 'o', or, if the last consonant is nasal
Nasal consonant
A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :...
, changing the 'a' to 'ine' or 'ene' accordingly. There are irregularities in several verbs.
The tense infixes are given below. They come after the subject and object prefixes, and before the verb stem, except for the recent, completed or historic past in 'na-', which appears at the very beginning. Stress is marked with an acute (´) accent.
| Tense/aspect | Infix | Stem | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present continuative | le | unmodified | Used for verbs of action to indicate a progressive action; can be used adjectivally, and even as an immediate future (especially when used with verbs of state). |
| Present definite | a | unmodified | Used for verbs of state, and intransitive verbs |
| Stative, necessary habitual | Ordinary form; no infix | unmodified | Indicates a state that is always true, or a habitual action; connotes necessity of the action |
| Voluntary habitual | la | unmodified | For habitual actions, connoting that they are voluntary, or may otherwise not be necessary; used only for verbs of state; can be used in subordinate clauses |
| Immediate past | a | unmodified | For actions occurring 'today', or 'nowadays' |
| Recent, completed or historic past | na- (prefix) | unmodified | For actions completed today; can be used in a historic sense, but does not emphasise a distant past |
| Specific past | No infix | modified | Also used for actions done 'today' or 'nowadays', but emphasising more distance in timne than the previous two; used in relative clauses |
| Simple past of yesterday (1) | ali | unmodified | The stress must not be on the 'a' of the infix |
| Simple past of yesterday (2) | a | modified | The stress must not be on the infix |
| Remote past simple | á | modified | |
| Remote past of duration | ali | modified | For remote actions whose effects are still present, or for states established in the remote past which have not changed |
| Remote past definite, past perfect | áli | unmodified | A remote past further distant than some other relevant time |
| Past imperfect or habitual | ale | unmodified | Used for actions once, but no longer, habitual |
| Immediate future | ala | unmodified | |
| Immediate progressive or habitual future | akula | unmodified | |
| Proximal future | le | unmodified | For future states and conditions to be established shortly, but not necessarily immediately |
| Future indefinite | ka | unmodified | For actions and states at some unknown time in the future |
| Future indefinite habitual | kala | unmodified | For habitual actions and states at some unknown time in the future |
Imperative
The simple singular imperative is identical to the 'dictionary' form of the verb consisting of the stem and the suffix '-a', changing to an '-e' if an object prefix is used - there is no subject prefix. The simple plural imperative changes '-a' to '-eni'. Prefixing 'aku-' or 'uka-', adds a sense of instruction to resume or continue an action. An emphatic form can be given by using the subject pronoun prefix (generally of class 1) and following this by the infix '-inda-'.
Subjunctive
The subjunctive is used hypothetically, as an indirect imperative, in exhortations, and in subordinate clauses, similarly but not identically to the subjunctive of many European languages. The common feature is a change of the final '-a' of the verb to '-e'. Its forms are given below. Here V stands for the verb stem, and P for any pronoun prefixes (infixes). The usual phonological rules apply.
| Tense/aspect | Infix | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Simple present | P-V-e | Used for the present and for verbs for which time is not specified |
| Present of movement | ka-P-V-e | Expresses a change in position, state or mental attitude |
| Present of insistence, exhortative | na-P-V-e | Similar to a first-person plural imperative |
| Future immediate | P-le-V-a | Same as the indicative |
| Future immediate of insistence | na-P-le-V-a | Also used as an exhortative, or indirect imperative; can take plural in -eni when used imperatively |
| Future remote momentary | P-ka-V-e | Used for a single action in the remote future |
| Future remote continuous | P-kale-V-a | Used for a progressive or habitual action in the remote future |
| Future remote of insistence | shina-P-V-e | Used as an indirect imperative for some unknown remote future time |
The infinitive, strictly a verbal noun, has two forms. The simple form has prefix 'ku-' added to the simple form, as mentioned above, and the habitual infinitive has prefix 'kula-'.
Voices
The passive is formed by placing the infix '-w-' before the last vowel of the verb, but it is not frequently used. A 'neutral' voice can be formed by using '-ik-' instead if the preceding vowel is a, i or u, and '-ek-' if the preceding vowel is e or o. This form is differs in meaning from the passive in that it emphasises the state resulting from an action rather than the action itself (cf. English 'the pot is broken', as opposed to 'the ball is kicked').Negation
Generally, the indicative prefixes 'ta-' to the subject prefix except for the first person singular which changes to 'nshi' or 'shi'. Generally, the subjunctive adds 'i' after the pronoun prefixes and in most cases changes a final 'e' to 'a'. The infinitive occasionally uses the negative 'te'. However, the precise rules are more complex, and the forms depend more finely on tense, aspect and mood. When the negative is used with the imperfect 'le', it is often in the sense of action not yet done, and is referred to by Schoeffer as a separate 'deferred tense'.Other forms
There are several other verb forms which change the stem by adding an extra syllable before the final 'a'. These are given below.| Tense/aspect | Form | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Applied | The modified stem, with 'a' (instead of 'e' for the specific past). | Used to make an object indirect, usually translated by adding a preposition like 'for' after the verb |
| Completive | Doubles vowel-consonant pair of the applied stem (e.g., fikila becomes fikilila, from fika, 'to arrive') | Expresses completion or finality of an action |
| Reciprocal | V-na (or V-nya if V ends in y) | Expressing actions done to 'each other' |
| Causative | Softens the last consonant accordingly: 'ba', 'pa' to 'fya'; 'nda', 'ka' 'la', 'sa', 'ta', to 'shya' or 'ishya', 'ushya'; adds 'y' before the 'a' of 'ema', 'ima', 'uma', 'ana'; adds 'ik' before the 'a' of 'ala', 'ama', 'ana' | Several exceptions exist; 'ishya' and 'ushya' is particularly common for verbs of colour |
| Intensive | Changes 'a' to 'ishya' if preceding vowel is 'a', 'i', 'u'; changes 'a' to 'eshya' if 'e', 'o' | Adds emphasis or a sense of energy to the verb |
| Reversive | Changes 'a' to 'ula' or 'ulula' if preceding vowel is 'a', 'i', 'u'; changes 'a' to 'ola' or 'olola' if 'e', 'o' | Expresses a reversal of an action (cf. English 'do', 'undo') |
| Frequentative | Changes 'a' to 'ula' | Expresses frequent repetition of an action; translatable by the adverb 'repeatedly' |
| Reflexive | Prefixes 'i' to the verb stem | Expresses doing 'to oneself' |
There are also several compound tenses, many using the copula 'kuli' and 'kuba'.
Conjunctions
These are used to introduce coordinating or subordinate clauses, similarly to their use in English.Basic Vocabulary and Phrases
- ee - yes
- awe - no
- ulishani - hello
- shalenipo - goodbye
- Ishina lyandi ni... - My name is...
- umuntu - person
- umunandi - friend
- umwana - child
- chiBemba - the Bemba language
- na - and, with
- nga - like, as
- suma (adj.) - good
- onse (adj.) - all
Sample Text
Abantu bonse bafyalwa abalubuka nokulingana mu mucinshi nensambu. Balikwata amano nokutontonkanya, eico bafwile ukulacita ifintu ku banabo mu mutima wa bwananyina.All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. (First article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...
.)