Names For The Days Of The Week In Four Bantu Languages That Are Spoken In Zambia, South Africa

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post provides information about Zambia, South Africa. This post also provides information and lists for names of the days of the week in four major Bantu languages that are spoken in Zambia, South Africa: chiBemba (Bemba), chiChewa (Chewa, also known as Nyanja), chiTonga (Tonga) and siLozi (Lozi).

Some of these languages may also be spoken in certain other surrounding nations. That information is provided in the summaries that are given below about those languages.

This post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series that provides information about and lists for day names in various African languages. Click the "African languages days of the week" tag to find other posts in this ongoing series.

The content of this post is presented for linguistic, cultural, and educational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

Click the "Bantu languages" tag for more examples of Bantu languages.

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GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT ZAMBIA
Excerpt #1:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zambia
"Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa,[8] neighbouring the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west. The capital city is Lusaka, in the south-central part of Zambia. The population is concentrated mainly around Lusaka in the south and the Copperbelt Province to the northwest, the core economic hubs of the country.

Originally inhabited by Khoisan peoples, the region was affected by the Bantu expansion of the thirteenth century. After visits by European explorers in the eighteenth century, Zambia became the British protectorate of Northern Rhodesia towards the end of the nineteenth century. For most of the colonial period, Zambia was governed by an administration appointed from London with the advice of the British South Africa Company.
On 24 October 1964, Zambia became independent of the United Kingdom”…

[...]

The official language of Zambia is English, which is used to conduct official business and is the medium of instruction in schools. The main local language, especially in Lusaka, is Nyanja, followed by Bemba."...

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Excerpt #2
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Zambia
"Zambia is widely claimed to have over 72 languages, although many of these might be better regarded as dialects. Some of these languages have a long history within Zambia, while others, such as Lozi, arose as a result of 18th and 19th-century migrations. All of Zambia's vernacular languages are members of the Bantu family and are closely related to one another.

Seven vernacular languages have official status. Together these represent the major languages of each province: Bemba (Northern Province, Luapula, Muchinga and the Copperbelt), Nyanja (Eastern Province and Lusaka), Lozi (Western Province), Tonga (Southern Province), and Kaonde, Luvale and Lunda (Northwestern Province)*. These seven languages are used, together with English, in early primary schooling and in some government publications. A common orthography was approved by the Ministry of Education in 1977.[1][2]

According to the 2000 census, Zambia's most widely spoken languages are Bemba (spoken by 52% of the population as either a first or second language), Nyanja (37%), Tonga (15%) and Lozi (11%).

In some languages, particularly Bemba and Nyanja, Zambians distinguish between a "deep" form of the language, associated with older and more traditional speakers in rural areas, and urban forms (sometimes called "town language" or Chitauni, such as Town Bemba and Town Nyanja) that incorporate a large number of borrowings from English and other innovations.

An urban variety of Nyanja is the lingua franca of the capital Lusaka and is widely spoken as a second language throughout Zambia. Bemba, the country's largest indigenous language, also serves as a lingua franca is some areas."...
-snip-
*My intention was to provide the names for the days of the week in all seven of the major languages in Zambia, but unfortunately, I couldn't find the names for the days of the week online for Kaonde, Luvale, or Lunda.

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NAMES OF THE WEEK IN FOUR BANTU LANGUAGES THAT ARE SPOKEN IN ZAMBIA
(Information about these languages are given in alphabetical order)

chiBemba
Excerpt #1:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bemba_language
"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.[4] The Lamba language is closely related and some people consider it a dialect of Bemba.

History
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.[5] Although the lingua franca of the Zambian capital Lusaka is a dialect of Nyanja language, it incorporates numerous Bemba words and expressions.[6]

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Excerpt #2
From http://kitweonline.com/kitweonline/discover-kitwe/culture/language/bemba-lesson-8-days-weeks-months-seasons.html
"MONDAY - Pali Cimo

TUESDAY - Pali Cibili

WEDNESDAY – Pali Citatu

THURSDAY - Pali Cine

FRIDAY - Pali Cisano

SATURDAY – Pa Cibelushi

SUNDAY - Pa Mulungu

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chiChewa (Chewa; Nyanja)
Excerpt #1:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewa_language
"Chewa, also known as Nyanja, is a language of the Bantu language family. The noun class prefix chi- is used for languages,[4] 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 Kamuzu Banda (himself of the Chewa tribe), and this is still the name most commonly used in Malawi today.[5] In Zambia, Chewa is spoken by other people like the Ngoni and the Kunda, so a more neutral name, Chinyanja '(language) of the lake' (referring to Lake Malawi), is used instead of Chichewa.
Chewa belongs to the same language group (Guthrie Zone N) as Tumbuka, Sena,[6] and Nsenga.

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Excerpt #2
From https://dashtomalawi.blogspot.com/2015/08/days-of-week-chichewa.html DASH to Malawi, Once upon a time we went to Malawi, Days of the week (Chichewa), Monday, 31 August 2015
"Days of the week:
Monday - Lolemba
Tuesday - Lachiwiri
Wednesday - Lachitatu
Thursday - Lachinayi
Friday - Lachisanu
Saturday - Loweluka
Sunday - Lamulungu"

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chiTonga (Tonga)
Excerpt #1:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonga_language_(Zambia_and_Zimbabwe)
"The Tonga language, Chitonga, of Zambia and Zimbabwe, also known as Zambezi, is a Bantu Language primarily spoken by the Tonga people in those countries who live mainly in the Southern and Western provinces of Zambia, and in northern Zimbabwe, with a few in Mozambique. The language is also spoken by the Iwe, Toka and Leya people, perhaps by the Kafwe Twa (if that is not Ila), as well as many bilingual Zambians and Zimbabweans. It is one of the major lingua francas in Zambia, together with Bemba, Lozi and Nyanja. The Tonga of Malawi, which is classified by Guthrie as belonging to zone N15, is not particularly close to Zambian Tonga, which is classified as zone M64, and can be considered a separate language.*

The Tonga-speaking inhabitants are the oldest Bantu settlers, with the Tumbuka, a small tribe in the east, in what is now known as Zambia. There are two distinctive dialects of Tonga, Valley Tonga and Plateau Tonga. Valley Tonga is mostly spoken in the Zambezi valley and southern areas of the Batonga (Tonga People) while Plateau Tonga is spoken more around Monze district and the northern areas of the Batonga.[4]

Tonga (Chitonga or iciTonga) developed as a spoken language and was not put into written form until missionaries arrived in the area. The language is not standardized, and speakers of the same dialect may have different spellings for the same words once put into written text.[5]

At least some speakers have a bilabial nasal click where neighboring dialects have /mw/, as in mwana 'child' and kumwa 'to drink'.:..
-snip-
*Here's some information about the Tonga language in Malawi:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonga_people_(Malawi)
"Tonga people (Malawi)
The Tonga (also called Batonga, Lake Shore Tonga or Nyasa Tonga) are an ethnic group living in northern Malawi on the shores of Lake Malawi in the region around Nkhata Bay and Chintheche. They are to be distinguished from the Tonga people of Zambia and Zimbabwe, whose language belongs to a different branch of the Bantu family."

[...]

Language
There are about 170,000 speakers of the Malawi Tonga language.[1]

(Note that the Tonga language in Zambia is also classified as of the Bantu language family, but belongs to a completely different type.[2][3])

The language is called chiTonga. The 'chi' means 'the language of the', like 'ki' in kiSwahili or 'se' in seTswana."
-snip-
I added italics to highlight this last sentence.
-snip-
Note that another language named "Tonga" is the national language of the Polynesian nation of Tonga.

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Excerpt 2:
From http://www.mulonga.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=179:chitonga-dictionary&catid=43:tonga-culture&Itemid=93
"[Days of the week]
Muvulo - Monday
Bwabili - Tuesday
Bwatatu - Wednesday
Bwane Thursday
Bwasanu Friday
Mugibelo Saturday
Nsondo Sunday"
-snip-
I'm not sure if this list for names of the week is for the Zambian Tonga language or the Malawian Tonga language or if the names of the days of the week are the same in both languages.

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siLozi (Lozi)
Excerpt #1:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lozi_language
"Lozi, also known as siLozi and Rozi, is a Bantu language of the Niger–Congo language family within the Sotho languages branch of Zone S (S.30), that is spoken by the Lozi people, primarily in southwestern Zambia and in surrounding countries. This language is most closely related to Northern Sotho (Sesotho sa Leboa), Tswana (Setswana), Kgalagari (SheKgalagari) and Sotho (Sesotho/Southern Sotho). Lozi and its dialects are spoken and understood by approximately six percent of the population of Zambia. Silozi is the autoglottonym or name of the language used by its native speakers as defined by the United Nations. Lozi is the heteroglottonym.

The Lozi language developed from a mixture of two languages: Luyana and Kololo. The Luyana people originally migrated south from the Luba-Lunda empire in the Katanga area of the Congo River basin, either late in the 17th century or early in the 18th century. The language they spoke, therefore, was closely related to Luba and Lunda. They settled on the floodplains of the upper Zambezi River in what is now western Zambia and developed a kingdom, Barotseland, and also gave their name to the Barotse Floodplain or Bulozi.

The Kololo were a Sotho people who used to live in what is now Lesotho. The Kololo were forced to flee from Shaka Zulu's Mfecane during the 1830s. Using tactics they had copied from the Zulu armies, the Kololo conquered the Luyana on the Zambezi floodplains and imposed their rule and language. However, by 1864 the indigenous population revolted and overthrew the Kololo. By that time, the Luyana language had been largely forgotten; the new hybrid language is called Lozi or Silozi and is closer to Sesotho than to any other neighbouring languages in Zambia.

Lozi is also spoken in Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia (Zambezi Region)."...

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Excerpt #2:
From https://www.facebook.com/LearnLozi/posts/1037003909684371 Learn Lozi, January 30, 2016 ·
"Days of the week | Mazaza a sunda.
Sunda » Sunday
Kachanu kila sunda | Today its sunday.

Mubulo ». Monday
La mubulo | On Monday

Bubeli» Tuesday
Nikaya kwa musika la bubeli | I will be going to th market on tuesday.

Bulaalu » Wednesday
Nenile kwa sikolo la balaalu | I went to school on wednesday.

Bune » Thursday
Kamuso kila bune | Tomorrow is Thursday.

Bufaifi » Friday
Maluba lani la bufaifi | Previous day was friday.

Pelekelo » Saturday
Kachenu kila pelekelo | Today its saturday."

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