Introduction to Bemba Language

One of Zambia’s eight official languages is Bemba, which is sometimes known as Chibemba or Icibemba. The other seven are English and the regional tongues Nyanja, Lunda, Tonga, Nkoya, Lozi, Luvale, and Kaonde. The regional language of importance is Bemba. There are many dialects that belong to the Bemba language family, including Aushi, Bisa, Chishinga, Kinda, Lala, Lamba, Luunda, and Tabwa. Each dialect shows very slight variations in morphology and vocabulary, as well as tiny variations in pronunciation and phonology. The Roman alphabet is used to spell the language. Bemba has two basic tones, high and low, like the majority of Bantu languages. The phonemic nature of tone indicates the semantic differences between words. Several vocabularies from other languages have been incorporated into modern Bemba, most notably Portuguese, Arabic, Swahili, and English.