The Meaning Of The Bemba Word "Mulopwe" And Two Zambian Gospel Songs Entitled "Mulopwe"

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post presents information about the Bemba language. This post also provides information about the meaning of the Bemba word "mulopwe" and showcases two Zambian Gospel songs entitled "Mulopwe".

The content of this post is presented for linguistics, cultural, religious, and aesthetic purposes.

Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to all those who are associated with the Mt. Sinai Choir and thanks to Deborah C. and thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE BEMBA LANGUAGE
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bemba_language
"The Bemba language, ChiBemba (also Cibemba, Ichibemba, Icibemba and Chiwemba), is a 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 Bantu language and a lingua franca in Zambia where the Bemba form the largest ethnic group.[4] The Lamba language is closely related and some people consider it a dialect of Bemba.”...

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TWO ONLINE REFERENCES THAT INCLUDE THE WORD "MULOPWE"
Excerpt #1:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Luba
The Kingdom of Luba or Luba Empire (1585–1889) was a pre-colonial Central African state that arose in the marshy grasslands of the Upemba Depression in what is now southern Democratic Republic of Congo.

[...]

Luba Empire
Government
The kingdom of Luba's success was due in large part to its development of a form of a government durable enough to withstand the disruptions of succession disputes and flexible enough to incorporate foreign leaders and governments. The Luba model of governing was so successful that it was adopted by the Lunda Kingdom and spread throughout the region that is today northern Angola, northwestern Zambia, and southern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Law and order were handled by the king, known as the Mulopwe ('sacred king')[1],"...

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Excerpt #2
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Kalonji
Albert Kalonji Ditunga (6 June 1929 – 20 April 2015)[1][2] was a Congolese politician best known as the leader of the short-lived secessionist state of South Kasai (Sud-Kasaï) during the Congo Crisis.

[...]

On 12 April 1961, Kalonji's father was granted the title Mulopwe (which roughly translates to "emperor" or "god-king"),[6] but he immediately "abdicated" in favor of his son.[4] On 16 July, In April 1961, Kalonji took the royal title Mulopwe ("King of the Baluba") to tie the state more closely to the pre-colonial Luba Empire.”...

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SHOWCASE EXAMPLES
Example #1: Mulopwe-Mt Sinai Choir



Mt Sinai Choir, Jan 26, 2014

Mulopwe From Mt Sina Choir.Kitwe Zambia.
-snip-
Selected comments from this video's discussion thread (with numbers added for referencing purposes only)
1. Maureen Tonga, 2016
"Thanks to youtube,am enjoying zed gospel far from from zambia #greatful"

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2. Fyson Magalasi, 2017
"beautiful song. If translated into English wonders would have happened as the audience would be expanded thereby redeeming many."

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REPLY
3. Hendrix Chalwe, 2019
"It is a beautiful song of praise fashioned after the Bemba traditional way of paying homage to their chiefs. Terms like "Mulopwe", "Kanabesa" are equivalent to "Your Majesty", "Your Honor", "Your Worship", "My Lord..." In other words, the singers are praising Yehova as King and hence their use of terms for Royalty."

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Example #2: Deborah C _ Mulopwe Nimwe _2019 Zambian Gospel Song



Deborah C Music, Apr 24, 2019

Worshiping God in my language.
-snip-
Here's information about the meaning of the word "ninwe" from https://pclive.peacecorps.gov/pclive/index.php/pclive-resources/restricted-resources/1207-zambia-bemba-trainees-book/file

“Nimwe. It's you (Sing-resp/plural)”

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Karen Chintelelwe - Ni Lesafye (Zambian Gospel video, information, & comments)

Eddited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases the Gospel song "Ni Lesa fye" by Zambian Gospel singer Karen Chintelelwe.

Information about Zambia, information about the Bembe language that I believe is used for this song, and information about this vocalist are also included in this post. In addition, this post presents selected comments from this video's discussion thread and from another YouTube sound file of Karen __ 's performance of this song.

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The content of this post is presented for religious, cultural, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Karen Chintelelwe for this beautiful song. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this video on YouTube.

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE: REQUEST THAT PUBLISHERS OF YOUTUBE VIDEOS INCLUDE INFORMATION ABOUT THE VIDEOS THAT THEY PUBLISH ON YOUTUBE [with the sub-title: How I found some information about Zambian Gospel singer Karen Chintelelwe and her song Ni Lesafye]

There are two YouTube videos and one sound files with the title "Ni Lesafye" by Karen (no last name given). There are other YouTube videos and sound files with this title by other singers who are presumably from Zambia as this examples are given in Zambia's YouTube listings. Unfortunately, only a few of the YouTube examples of this song include comments and none of them include any information about the language used, or any song lyrics or any information about the meaning of the song's title in English or any other language, or any summary of this song in any language.

It's true that you can arrive at a general sense of what this song means by reading the comments in the discussion thread for the video that is featured in this post, but it would be very helpful to those who don't understand this language (and don't even know which language it is) if the YouTube publisher and/or the commenters who do understand this language would be considerate of those who don't understand the language/s that the singers are using.

I tried to find online lyrics for "Ni Lesafye" as sung by Karen or by anyone else-, but had no success.

I then tried googling the words "Ni Kesafye" and only got one "hit"- a Google book about Bemba language proverbs:

Google Book: "PA NSAKA" BEMBA PROVERBS & SAYINGS 1 (Explained both in English and Bemba)
By Joseph Mwila Bwembya
p. 151
"proverb 955

a) Lesafye eukancimfisahako nokulandula abalwani bani
b) God is my avenger"
-snip-
I learned from that Google book page that the word "Lesafye" translates to "God" in English. Having read the comments in that video's discussion thread, I had guessed that the song was about God helping people in their times of need. And I was glad to learn which word in that song's title means "God" (note: "Lesafye" is also given as "Lesa fye" in that video's discussion thread.)

That Google book about Bemba proverbs also suggested the language that the vocalist used for that song was was Bemba. However, because I didn't know anything about the Bemba people/language, I needed to confirm that Bembas were a Zambian ethnic group. So I googled "Bemba ethnic group" and clicked on the Wikipedia link for "Bemba". That Wikipedia page confirmed that Bemba people are from Zambia.

I then googled "Karen Zambian Gospel singer" and found this singer's first and last name. That led me to the article excerpt that is given below and this link to an August 2016 Gospel video by Karen with her full name "Karen Chintelelwe Official Video" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVmhO8o_NM8

The point of this note is that it shouldn't be this difficult for people throughout the world to find information about music videos and vocalists who feature their music on an international platform such as YouTube.

I'm sorry that I don't understand any language but English, and sometimes I may not even be able to guess which language it is or which nation it comes from.

Please help people throughout the world who appreciate African music and want to know more about the songs that are showcased on YouTube by adding information about the songs that you share on YouTube-including by identifying the nation or nations where the vocalists are from, identifying the language or languages that are used in the song, and sharing a summary of the song's meaning if not the lyrics themselves. And please share that information in English, or French or Portuguese or Spanish, or Swahili or Yoruba as these are some of the languages that can be translated by the Google translate feature as it is found to date.

Thank you.

UPDATE January 12, 2018:
Thanks Denis Chambulikazi for sharing the Bemba lyrics to this song with their English translations in the comment section below. I really appreciate it!

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INFORMATION ABOUT ZAMBIA
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."...

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE BEMBA ETHNIC GROUP
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bemba_people
"The Bemba (or 'BaBemba' using the Ba- prefix to mean 'people of', and also called 'Awemba' or 'BaWemba' in the past) belong to a large group of Bantu peoples mainly in the Northern, Luapula and Copperbelt Provinces of Zambia who trace their origins to the Luba and Lunda states of the upper Congo basin, in what became Katanga Province in southern Congo-Kinshasa (DRC). They are one of the larger ethnic group in Zambia. (A few other tribes in the Northern, Luapula and Copperbelt provinces of Zambia speak languages that are similar to Bemba but are not the same (E.g. Lamba, Mambwe, Bisa etc.). Bemba history is a major historical phenomenon in the development of chieftainship in a large and culturally homogeneous region of central Africa."

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INFORMATION ABOUT KAREN CHINTELELWE
From http://lusakavoice.com/2013/08/20/karen-arguably-the-finest-gospel-diva-of-her-generation/ "Karen, arguably the finest gospel diva of her generation"
20/08/2013, [by] FELIX NYAMBE – Zambia Daily Mail

[...]

"Karen
Arguably the finest gospel diva of her generation, Karen has always been an inspiring minister of the gospel that she is intended to be.

She burst on the Christian music with some defining gem of an album titled Enough, on which she staggered and castigated the devil and his elements.
The album contained songs such as Azayankha, Ni Lesa Fye, Muzimu Oyera, Set Boundaries, Umubili Tautasha and Ngafweni Lesa.

I marvelled at the only video of Ngafweni Lesa and I guess there is nothing refreshing like the song itself when Karen sings her worship song.

She later announced that other videos, in addition to her stunning Chintelelwe from her previous album Who Can Say?, will be unveiled to the market “soon”."...

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SHOWCASE VIDEO - Karen Ni Lesafye



sfezed, Published on Dec 17, 2012
-snip-
Here are some selected comments from this video's discussion thread with numbers assigned for referencing purposes only:

1. Josephine Mutale, 2014
"ni lesafya chachina, its true its only god who makes things easier, love this song... our god is good, thanks for posting."

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2. Peter Chitabanta, 2014
"I will never stop listening to this music because of my elder sister who had it as a tone after the loss of her husband last year!..... I have never my sister so passionate about God.... This song changed her whole being!....Keep it up Karen it is true ni Lesa fye. "It's only God" who can do it!"

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3.Patrick Lupanda, 2014
"awe chachina, We can only manage with the almighty GOD."

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4. Abigail Phiri, 2014
"Ni Lesa fye for real. Great song karen. It strengthens me"

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5. Refilwe Molefi, 2015
"Guys please share lyrics, i love Zambian music, and i feel this song. I have no idea what the song is saying, i love the beat, the calmity of the song. Please translate as you post lyrics. Thank you."

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Reply
6. Refilwe Molefi, 2015
"Thank you Kassy, okay summarize it for me. I have to learn this language. God bless.
-snip-
I didn't find any comment from Kassy in this discussion thread and no responses to Refilwe Molefi's request are shown as of the date of this pancocojams post.

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7. Veronica Chipatela, 2016
"great song God bless zambia"
-snip-
This comment indicated that this video was from Zambia. That wasn't indicated in the video summary.

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A shorter video of Karen singing this song is also found on YouTube "Karen Ni Lesa Fye Video Clip" by
Eugene kass (Feb 11, 2013). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsYTPr_ro9g. As of this date that video has only one comment - by Abigail Phiri, 2013 "Great song, strengthens me."

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A sound file entitled "Ni Lesa fye" was published on YouTube by destinyhive on December 19, 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgBIKrVby7c. That publisher didn't give the singer's name, but did add in the summary that this was "Zambian Gospel Music".
A commenter wrote that the singer's name is Karen, in response to a request for that information by another commenter.

Here are selected comments from this sound file (numbers assigned for referencing purposes only)
1. Larson Mutembu, 2012
"Wonderful & encouranging song & good singing. Yes, it's only God who can help us & it's His power & grace that is able to sustain us in all that we go through."

**
2. george chisanga, 2012
"THIS SONG I FIRST HEARD FROM MY I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DESCRIBE THE RELATIONSHIP, ANYWAY I WAS SO TOUCHED SUCH THAT I BROKE INTO TEARS, I AM GOING THROUGH HARD TIMES WHERE THERE SEEMS TO BE NO LIGHT AT THE END,I WAS REALLY LOOKING FOR THIS SONG AND THANKS FOR POSTING IT, JUST BELIEVING FOR THE BEST AND TRUSTING GOD BECAUSE NILESAFYE"

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3. cabica benjani, 2013
"I love this song! its so true ;- Ni Lesa fye ine...namaka yakwe...Amen..can some one be kind enough 2 tell me who sang this song pls..where can i find her songs"

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Reply
4. mitchelle chiyala, 2013
"her name is karen her songs are on cd,shes gt good songs"

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6. Mulotwa Mulewa, 2015
"Indeed it is out of the grace of the almighty that we manage ,not out of our own powers.thanks to all who contributed and may the glory be to the almighty Jehovah. Mathews 5 vs 16"

**
6. Chase Johnstone, 2016
"Ni Lesa fye, the song is beautiful thanks to the singer."

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Four Video Examples Of The Zimbabwe Hymn "Ishe Ndinzwe Nokufara"

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post presents examples of video examples Of a Zimbabwe hymn "Ishe Ndinzwe Nokufara". This hymn's title is also given as "Ishe Ndinzwe Nekufara".

Information about the Shona language and the Shona lyrics for this song are also included in this post. An English translation of those lyrics would be greatly appreciated.

The content of this post is presented for cultural, religious, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyright remains with their owners.

Thanks to the composer of this hymn. Thanks also to all those who are featured in videos shown in this post and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and the publishers of these examples on YouTube.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SHONA LANGUAGE
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shona_language
"Shona... or chiShona, is a Bantu language, native to the Shona people of Zimbabwe…
Shona is a principal language of Zimbabwe, along with Ndebele and the official business language, English. Shona is spoken by a large percentage of the people in Zimbabwe. Other countries that host Shona language speakers include Botswana and Mozambique"...

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From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bantu_languages
The Bantu language with the largest total number of speakers is Swahili; however, the majority of its speakers know it as a second language. According to Ethnologue, there are over 180 million L2 (second-language) speakers, but only about 45 million native speakers.[5]

According to Ethnologue, Shona is the most widely spoken as a first language, with 10.8 million speakers (or 14.2 million if Manyika and Ndau are included), followed closely by Zulu, with 10.3 million. Ethnologue separates the largely mutually intelligible Kinyarwanda and Kirundi, but, if grouped together, they have 12.4 million speakers

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LYRICS (SHONA LANGUAGE)
From https://www.facebook.com/nziyodzeafm/posts/206817866106723 June 14, 2012 Nziyo dzeChishona

Ishe Ndinzwe Nokufara

1.
Ishe ndinzwe nekufara
Ndinzwe netsitsi dzako
Dzaunopa vanhu vose
Ngadziuye pandiri, pandiri.

2.
Rega kundisiya, Baba,
Kana ndiri mutadzi,
Ndinokuipa pamwoyo,
Asi uya pandiri, pandiri.

3.
Uya pano, Muponisi!
Ngandichengetwenewe;
Kana uchindishevedza,
Ndichauya kwauri, kwauri.

4.
Mweya Mutsvenewa Mwari!
Rega kundipfuura,
Ngandione ndiri bofu,
Taurai izwi resimba, resimba.

5.
Rudo rwako Mwari Baba,
RoparaIshe wangu,
Nokuwadzana KwoMweya.
Kungavepo kwandiri, kwandiri

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REQUEST FOR ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS OF THIS SONG AND OTHER SHONA SONGS
Unfortunately, I don't speak Shona or any other language except English. While there are several video examples of this song and online lyrics for these songs in the Shona language, I've been unable to find any online English translations (or Spanish or French lyrics which can be translated to English via Google translate) for this or any other Shona Gospel song. Having an English translation, or at least an English translation of the title and summary of Shona songs would add to my (and I'm sure many others') appreciation of these songs.

UPDATE March 22, 2016: Thanks to Vivian Maravanyika for posting an English translation of this song in the comment section below. Your help is greatly appreciated!

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FEATURED EXAMPLES
These videos are presented in chronological order based on their publishing date on YouTube with the oldest dated video given first.

Example #1: Ishe ndinzwe nekufara.mp4



mtapemunya, Uploaded on Sep 23, 2011

AFM Worship team 2011
-snip-
"AFM" = Apostolic Faith Mission, part of the Christian Pentecostal demonination
-snip-
Here's a comment from this video's discussion thread:
Judalo J, 2013
"i love this hymn thank u for posting it ,it uplifts my soul weneva m down
-snip-
"weneva m down"= whenever I am down (sad).

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Example #2: ISHE NDINZWE NOKUFARA - Methodist Church Zimbabwe Fellowship - UK



Naison Bangure Published on Oct 14, 2013
-snip-
Selected comments:
dashing 16, 2013
"Where in UK is this???"

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Naison Bangure, 2013
@ Dashing 16, this was at a Conference heldbin Derbyshire. Participants came from Fellowship branches countrywide.

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Example #3: Ishe Ndinzwe by Richard Chimbetete & D28



Richard Chimbetete, Published on Apr 5, 2015
From the album One more move
-anip-
The video that was previously given for Example #3 is no longer available. I added this video on March 22, 2016.

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Example #4: Ishe Ndinzwe Nekufara by Dr A Madziyire



Judah Danda, Published on Jan 27, 2015

The Apostolic Faith Mission
-snip-
Is Dr. A Madziyire the composer of this hymn?

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Two Zambian Gospel Songs: “Sangalala” by Zambian Gospel Group Higher Calling &” Moyo wanga Sangala” by St Ignitius Catholic choir

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases two examples of Gospel songs from Zambia, South Africa which include the Nyanjan word "Sangalala" or a form of that word in their title. This post also provides some information about the nation of Zambia, and provides the English translation of the word "Sangalala".

Unfortunately, as of this date I've not been able to find any lyrics in English or otherwise for these songs. Nor have I been able to find any information about the vocal group "Higher Calling" or the Catholic church choir which is also featured in this post.

The content of this post is presented for cultural, religious, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

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INFORMATON ABOUT ZAMBIA
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zambia
"Zambia /ˈzæmbiə/, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are 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, located in the south-central part of the country. The population is concentrated mainly around Lusaka in the south and the Copperbelt Province to the northwest...

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. However, Bemba and Nyanja are spoken in the urban areas in addition to other indigenous languages which are commonly spoken in Zambia. Others are Kaonde, Tonga, Lunda and Luvale, which feature on the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC)'s local languages section. The total number of languages spoken in Zambia is 73...

Zambia is officially a Christian nation according to the 1996 constitution,[32] but a wide variety of religious traditions exist. Traditional religious thoughts blend easily with Christian beliefs in many of the country's syncretic churches. Christian denominations include: Roman Catholic, Anglican, Pentecostal, New Apostolic Church, Lutheran, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventist, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and a variety of Evangelical denominations"...

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ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE WORD "SANGALALA"
From Cyclopaedic Dictionary of the Mang'anja Language:
Spoken in British Central Africa (Google eBook)
David Clement Ruffelle Scott

Foreign Mission Committee of the Church of Scotland, 1892 - Nyanja language - 737 pages

Sangalala [page 562]– to rejoice, to be glad, happy, to exult, also heard tsangalala

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FEATURED VIDEOS
(These videos are presented in chronological order based on their posting date, with the oldest videos presented first.)

Example #1: Moyo wanga Sangala. By St Ignitius Catholic choir-Zambia



Kasonde Mike, Uploaded on Dec 30, 2010

Zambian Catholic Music

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Example #2: Sangalala - Higher Calling (Official Video)



ZedBeatsOfficial, Uploaded on Jan 20, 2012
-snip-
"Zed" is the contemporary colloquial term for "Zambia" and "Zambian". I'd love to know when "Zed" was first coined & used with those meanings.

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Thanks to these Gospel singers for their music. My thanks also to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.

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