Bemba
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Fact corner
- Language: Bemba
- Alternate names: Chibemba, Ichibemba, Wemba, Chiwemba
- SIL-code: Ethnologue:bem
- Language family: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Narrow Bantu, Central, M, Bemba (M.40)
- Number of speakers: 3,600,000
- Script: Latin script
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Introduction
The Bemba language, Chibemba, is a Bantu language that is spoken primarily in Zambia by the Bemba people and about 18 related ethnic groups. The noun class prefix 'chi-' indicates languages and the prefix 'ba-' indicates people, so 'Babemba' also means the Bemba people.
Bemba and its dialects are spoken and understood by a sizable percentage of the population of Zambia. Over three million people are estimated to be native Bemba speakers in Zambia alone, with others using Bemba as a second language. Bemba is used as a lingua franca in Zambian cities.
Bemba is also spoken, to a lesser extent, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Botswana.
It is an SVO language, and is also a tonal language.
The verb
Sample verb: fwáy
| Today past | Today future | Remote past | |
| Sg.1 | n-ací-fwáy-a | n-léé-fwáy-a | n-aalíí-fwáy-ile |
| Sg.2 | u-ací-fwáy-a | ? | ? |
| Sg.3 | ? | ? | ? |
| Pl.1 | ? | ? | ? |
| Pl.2 | ? | ? | ? |
| Pl.3 | ? | ? | ? |
Conjugate other Bemba verbs
Click verbs to conjugate them in the table above!
fwáy,
lím,
sáng.