Chewa language: Difference between revisions

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'''Chewa''', also known as '''Nyanja''', is a [[language]] of the [[Bantu languages|Bantu language]] family. The [[noun class]] prefix ''chi-'' is used for languages,<ref>''cf.'' ''Kiswahili'' for the [[Swahili language]].</ref> so the language is also called '''Chichewa''' and '''Chinyanja''' (spelled 'Cinyanja' in Zambia, and 'Cinianja' in Mozambique). In Malawi, the name was officially changed from Chinyanja to Chichewa in 1968 at the insistence of President [[Hastings Banda|Hastings Kamuzu Banda]] (himself of the [[Chewa people|Chewa]] tribe), and this is still the name most commonly used in Malawi today.<ref>Kishindo (2001), p.265.</ref> In Zambia, Chewa is spoken by other people like the [[Ngoni people|Ngoni]] and the [[Kunda people|Kunda]], so a more neutral name, Chinyanja '(language) of the lake' (referring to [[Lake Malawi]]), is used instead of Chichewa.