Chibemba

Bemba
Chibemba
Native to	Zambia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania
Ethnicity	Bemba, Bangweulu Twa
Native speakers	4.1 million (2000–2010 census)
Language family	Niger–Congo Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Southern Bantoid Bantu Sabi South Bemba
Dialects	Town Bemba
Writing system	Latin (Bemba alphabet) Bemba Braille
Official status
Recognised minority language in	Zambia
Language codes
ISO 639-2	bem
ISO 639-3
Glottolog	bemb1257
Guthrie code	M.42
Linguasphere	99-AUR-r ichiBemba + ichiLamba incl. 24 inner languages 99-AUR-ra...-rx + varieties 99-AUR-rca...-rsb
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The Bemba language, ChiBemba (also Cibemba, Ichibemba, Icibemba and 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 most spoken indigenous language in Zambia. The Lamba language is closely related and some people consider it a dialect of Bemba.

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, Levi Mwanawassa, was a Lenje, who belong to the Bantu Botatwe [three people] 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.

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 (Nurse 2003). The Twa of Bangweulu speak another dialect of Bemba.