Tumbuka
Encyclopedia
The Tumbuka are a Bantu ethnic group living in Northern Malawi
, Eastern Zambia
and Southern Tanzania
. Their chief god is called Chiuta, who is all-powerful, omniscient and self-created, just like the God of the Abrahamic religions. The language of the Tumbuka is called chiTumbuka – the 'chi' in front of Tumbuka meaning 'the language of the' just like 'ki' in 'kiSwahili' or 'se' in 'seTswana'. A Tumbuka will call another vatumbuka, meaning one of the tribe of Tumbukas.
The World Almanac (1998) estimates approximately 2,000,000 Tumbuka speakers exist in the aforementioned three countries. Ethnologue
estimates a total of 1,332,000 Tumbuka speakers, including 940,000 in Malawi and 392,000 in Zambia, with no Tumbuka presence listed for Tanzania.
Tumbuka
is a Bantu language, similar to Swahili
in structure and vocabulary.
Malawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...
, 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....
and Southern 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...
. Their chief god is called Chiuta, who is all-powerful, omniscient and self-created, just like the God of the Abrahamic religions. The language of the Tumbuka is called chiTumbuka – the 'chi' in front of Tumbuka meaning 'the language of the' just like 'ki' in 'kiSwahili' or 'se' in 'seTswana'. A Tumbuka will call another vatumbuka, meaning one of the tribe of Tumbukas.
The World Almanac (1998) estimates approximately 2,000,000 Tumbuka speakers exist in the aforementioned three countries. Ethnologue
Ethnologue
Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International , a Christian linguistic service organization, which studies lesser-known languages, to provide the speakers with Bibles in their native language and support their efforts in language development.The Ethnologue...
estimates a total of 1,332,000 Tumbuka speakers, including 940,000 in Malawi and 392,000 in Zambia, with no Tumbuka presence listed for Tanzania.
Tumbuka
Tumbuka language
The Tumbuka language is a Bantu language which is spoken in parts of Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania.The language of the Tumbuka people is called chiTumbuka — the chi- marker in front of Tumbuka means “thing”, “concept”, and is understood in this case “the language of ”...
is a Bantu language, similar to Swahili
Swahili language
Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
in structure and vocabulary.