Languages of Malawi

Malawi, a country located in Southeastern Africa, is home to a diverse population with rich linguistic heritage. The current only official language of the country is English, while Chichewa and Chitumbuka are the most widely spoken languages, and were official languages of Malawi until 1968. Other local languages exist and are mostly spoken in specific localities of the country.

There are only six distinct (standalone) languages spoken in Malawi. The total can be 14 but only by adding dialects of those six languages. All of the non foreign languages belong to the Bantu language family. The foreign spoken languages are English, Spanish and French.

In the 10th century, Bantu-speaking peoples migrated to the region. The major tribes that came later and settled in the area were the Tumbuka and Chewa peoples who all came from the same area that is currently known as Democratic Republic of the Congo and formerly Zaire.

There are only 6 distinct languages spoken in Malawi, if removing dialects of those main languages. Mang'anja and Chinyanja are all merged into one to form Chichewa. On the other part, Chitumbuka, Senga, Chiwenya, Chiphoka, Tonga, Yombe and 9 other variants are merged into one to form Chitumbuka. Similarly, Ngonde and Nyakyusa are merged into one to form Nyakyusa-Ngonde language. In return, Ndali, Sukwa and Lambya form Chilambya.

In the late 19th Century, Malawi, then Nyasaland, was colonized by Britain and they introduced English. English, Chitumbuka and Chichewa (then Chinyanja) became the official languages of the country and were used in government, education, and commerce. The two local languages, Chichewa and Chitumbuka, were adopted as official languages in 1942 and they were used in schools, government, national radio and public. Chichewa was used as the language of instruction in primary schools in the Central and Southern Region, whereas Chitumbuka was used as the language of instruction in schools of the Northern and Central Region respectively.

English remained the official language after independence in 1964 along with Chichewa (then Chinyanja) and Chitumbuka. But in 1968 during the reign of Kamuzu Banda, Malawi's first president, changes were made to the language policy of the country. Chichewa and Chitumbuka were removed as official languages of the country, leaving English alone on the official level in 1968.^{[citation needed]} From then, the government of Malawi has never explicitly declared Chichewa or Chitumbuka as official or national languages, neither does the constitution of Malawi say so, but rather lists them as common languages.

Malawi is divided into three regions: Northern, Central, and Southern.

In the Northern Region of Malawi, Chitumbuka is the lingua franca of the entire region and is spoken in all districts such as Rumphi, Mzimba, Karonga, Chitipa, Nkhata-Bay and Likoma. It is understood by 99.9% of the entire population of the region. Chitumbuka is also spoken in the Central Region of Malawi in 4 districts, including Kasungu, Nkhotakota and Dowa.