Bemba language
The Bemba language, ChiBemba, 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, 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 Bantu language and a lingua franca in Zambia where the Bemba form the largest ethnic group. 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, Levy Mwanawasa, was a Lenje, who belong to the Bantu Botatwe 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.
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, which is spoken by Twa pygmies and sometimes considered a separate language. The Twa of Bangweulu speak another dialect of Bemba.A form known as Town Bemba, with slightly altered grammar and incorporating many English and Swahili loanwords, is used in the major cities of the Copperbelt.
Phonology and orthography
The orthographical system in common use, originally introduced by Edward Steere, is quite phonetic. Its letters, with their approximate phonetic values, are given below.
| Letter: | A | B | C/Ch | D | E | F | G | I | J | K | L | M | N | Ng' | Ny | O | P | S | Sh | T | U | W | Y |
| : | , |
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. 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 has limited effect on 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.
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, has a word order that is subject-verb-object. 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. They 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, they are arranged as follows :| Class | Singular prefix | Concord prefix | Plural prefix | Concord prefix | Notes |
| 1 | mu-, mw-, m- | a, mu, u/w | ba- | ba- | persons, and several inanimate nouns |
| 2 | mu- | u- | mi- | i- | generally inanimate nouns, and most trees and fruit |
| 3 | n-, lu- | i, lu- | n- | shi- | generally not human nouns |
| 4 | chi-/ch- | chi-/ch- | fi-/fy-/f- | fi-/fy-/f- | augmentatives, kinds, languages |
| 5 | li-, ku-, bu-, lu- | same as noun prefix | ma- | ya- | Plural can be used for singulars of class 3 to emphasise larger number or size |
| 6 | ka- | ka | tu- | tu- | diminutives |
| 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 |
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. The numerals 6-10 are left unchanged. 'Ikumi' has the plural 'makumi', which can be used as a noun with 'na' 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', 'iwe', 'ifwe', 'imwe'. 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 deixis, and relative pronouns are formed from these.Verbs
Verbs have simple forms, usually ending in '-a', and are agglutinated 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- | a- | 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, 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. |
| 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- | 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 time than the previous two; used in relative clauses |
| Simple past of yesterday | ali | unmodified | The stress must not be on the 'a' of the infix |
| Simple past of yesterday | 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 |
Moods
The moods correspond closely to the Bantu norms.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 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. 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.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'. | 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 | Expresses completion or finality of an action |
| Reciprocal | V-na | 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 |
| 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 phrases
- ee - yes
- awe - no
- Uli shani? - how are you
- Muli shani? - how are you
- Shaleenipo - goodbye
- Ishina lyandi ni... - My name is...
- umuntu - person
- umunandi - friend
- umwana - child
- iciBemba - the Bemba language
- na - and, with
- nga - like, as
- suma - good/beautiful
- onse - all
- uluceelo - morning
- Natotela - Thank you
- Saana - A lot
- Natotela saana - Thanks a lot
Sample
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.
Literature
There is a sizeable amount of literature in Bemba. There are narratives, poems and plays. Some of the notable writers in Bemba include Stephen Mpashi, Chongo Kasonkomona, Chishimba, Paul Mushindo, Bwalya Chilangwa, Mwila Launshi and Kambole, among others.A lot of the novels and narratives in Bemba were written between the period 1950 and 1980. Recently, very few creative works are published in Zambia mainly due to two reasons: the readership is generally poor and secondly, because of the first reason, publishers tend to hesitate to publish creative works in Bemba, especially novels of substantial length, for financial reasons due to the likely low levels of readership and thus profit. Instead, there are many short stories and novellas in Bemba literature.
Despite these hiccups, such as poor readership and lack of publishing, the quality of the works that are published in Bemba is often high. Moreover, there seem to be many talented writers who would like to write in this language but could not because of the reasons that have been given above and others that are related.
In terms of literary criticism, a lot of the works in Bemba language have not been reviewed and criticised. This is because there are very few literary critics in Bemba, though the interest is slowly growing. Some of these include Lutato and Shadreck Kondala, among others. Classic Bemba books include Uwauma Nafyala, Pano Calo and Imilimo ya bena Kale.