Britta speaking Chichewa (Nyanja) | Bantu languages | Folk songs | Wikitongues

Britta sings a folk song in Chichewa, one of the Bantu languages with Tumbuka, Sena, Nsenga, and others. Chichewa is an official language of Malawi and Zambia and recognized in Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
This video was recorded by Kristen Tcherneshoff and Daniel Bögre Udell in Lusaka, Zambia. Chichewa was spoken by 7,000,000 people in Malawi as of a 2001 census, with a global speaker population totaling 10,036,700. Chichewa is a Narrow Bantu language of the Benue-Congo group, belonging to the Niger-Congo language family, and is one of the seven official African languages of Zambia. It is also, by some accounts, the third most widely used local language in Zimbabwe. The language is also known as Chewa or Nyanja, but because it uses the chi- noun prefix for languages, it is often called Chichewa or Chinyanja. In 1968, the name was changed in Malawi from Chinyanja to Chichewa, but in Zambia, the language is generally known as Nyanja or Cinyanja/Chinyanja, meaning 'language of the lake.'
Chichewa makes some use of implosive consonants and is classified as a tonal language. There is a regional variety of Chichewa known as Town Nyanja that exists in Lusaka, Zambia, and differs from standard Nyanja in several key ways (influences from Bemba, loanwords from English, and differing sets of concords, or nominal agreement markings with pronouns, adjectives, and verbs), but the fact that it is not recognized as an official language and differs from the standard Nyanja taught in schools presents challenges to literacy among children in Zambia.
This video is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license. To download a copy, please contact [e-mail].
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[@winterland122977]

I love the sound of this language.

[@blackchild8887]

I'm from South Africa and I can speak 5 languages from South Africa, this is amazing that I can hear 70% of what she is saying. It's similar to TshiVenda

[@oolydnam]

Beautiful language, sung with a beautiful voice!

[@danielapinto7914]

I got the chills! It's amazing how, even when we don't understand the words, we can feel so connected to her song. At least I do! It's so calming!

[@tomtomtomato1]

Happy she decided to sing!

[@angelaurelio7907]

I think african language are so melodic.

[@lwasampijjalawrence7498]

Luganda is very close to kinyanja. I closely understood whatever you were saying. Love from Buganda.

[@afrisciencetec6585]

IM FROM ZIMBABWE AND I HEARD ALMOST EVERTHING.I SPEAK SHONA

[@nangithia]

Amazing! I am Kenyan and I understood almost all of the introduction and the song too! "Aka kanyimbo koyamba ni kanyimbo kotonthoza mwana ngati alira" - Chichewa. In colloquial Kiswahili: "Haka kanyimbo naimba ni kanyimbo ka kutuliza mwana wakati a(na)lia" We are family!

[@bantuvoicemuchaik.k.7715]

I got everything as well …its kind of a mix of Swahili kikuyu

[@allanmagala345]

Me too, I understood almost everything, the language sounds like my mother tongue, LUGANDA…..

[@Homoclassicus]

Bantu languages are so beautiful and elegant! I really think African countries should promote the formal education and written use of their native languages much more than most of them do nowadays. I get that they need a lingua franca that sounds "neutral", usually that being a former colonial European language, but they should strive to have at least 1 or 2 major national languages of indigenous extraction. They're really beautiful and deeply rooted in the local cultural heritage, so it'd be a shame if they didn't develop to become major formal languages, with a rich local literature and so on, in the future.

[@loweni7460]

I highly agree I used to want to learn some foreign European language but when I began to awaken to our greatness as black people I ditched those ambitions I wanted to learn more Bantu languages

[@allanmagala345]

The language is like many Bantu languages in Uganda, including Luganda and Lusoga wow, Africans should unite, I could understand almost everything yet I have never heard the language before.. this is so amazing

[@randomvintagefilm273]

Such a pretty lady too

[@ANTSEMUT1]

this is a beautiful language.

[@DeadbyDaylightDUO]

Beautiful singing and fantastic language! 💯

[@Makaka_M]

I'm a Luhya from Kenya and this language sounds like a mixture of both Luhya and Swahili.... Proud Bantu Abantu bosi ni bahla/All Bantus are just one

[@loweni7460]

Yes we are one wait til you realise we are also the 12 tribes of Israel spoken of in the bible

[@whukriede]

How lovely, I'm totally enchanted and actually in tears.

[@mutumbajrsulaiman9429]

Am from Uganda but I can understand what she is singing about She is singing about a child we who is crying cuz of hunger and wanting to sleep

[@Zaitoon55]

Honestly I find this interesting. I'm from Uganda too. Sounds like Lusoga. lol. Its interesting how a dialect from South Africa can have similarities to a dialect in E.Africa. It may be that Bantu tribes have a common origin.

[@listenup2882]

@@Zaitoon55 Of course they do that's why they are grouped into the family of languages called Bantu languages. Bantu is a language family.

[@ezekielsmith3571]

I kept thinking there was a bug on my screen

[@NighatKousar53]

Why? You clearly have eyes

[@Almightservant]

African people have the DNA for music! A love it!

[@Dawghome]

I enjoyed that, especially being sung 🤗 to! 😁💞

[@SamuelGichaga]

Chi Chewa seems very close to Swahili. In Swahili we would have said, "mpelekeni kwa mamake (take the baby to the mother) aache kulia (to stop crying). Mwana kalila is transalted as mwana analia (baby is crying).

[@Mehrunissah93]

Are you able to translate the entire lullaby from Chichewa to English?

[@SamuelGichaga]

@@Mehrunissah93 No. I cannot manage to do that. I can only pick few words which are close to Swahili.

[@Phakamani8]

Good day, sir. Is the surname Mwamusse Swahili?

[@SamuelGichaga]

@@Phakamani8 not sure of the pronunciation, but 'muamushe' in swahili is "wake him/her up". 's' in swahili is pronounced as in 's'chool (i.e. school, something etc). 'sh' is pronounced as in 'sh'oe (i.e. a pair of shoe).😂😂

[@Phakamani8]

@@SamuelGichaga 😂thank you, I am getting somewhere with my research🙏🏿. But have you ever heard of the surname Mwamusse? I'm from South Africa and I've recently found out that my grandfather's surname was Mwamusse, now I'm trying to trace it's origins.

[@GloriamMonarchia]

That's why her songs were so *soothing. The first one was a lullaby. Here I was calm, laying on my bed and enjoying it. Everything makes sense now :)

[@krystingrant6292]

Lol I started falling asleep ♥️

[@GloriamMonarchia]

@@krystingrant6292 I hope you got a wonderful rest out of it! 😊❤️ BTW, your reply made me discover a typo in my initial comment that stayed there for a year... Thank you so much for giving me the chance to fix it! Be well, dear!

[@aasouza424]

Amazing. So beautiful.

[@clauza03]

Wow! Both songs too me back to my childhood 🇿🇲

[@DewyPeters96]

I think Bantu languages are the most beautiful on Earth, far more so than French or Italian

[@eb.3764]

yesss, so much romanticism on the latin languages

[@TnboinChi45]

Very true. The Xhosa language is my language

[@catchyname5403]

@@TnboinChi45 I absolutely love the sound of the Xhosa language💚 I agree with OP these language are so romantic and beautiful. I follow African Xhosa on here for sleep ASMR and I drift to a lovely sleep listening to your beautiful language often.

[@jeyjo325]

Hahahahaha. This is your think, not universal! Italian is most beautiful

[@feliz5919]

@@jeyjo325 “Italian is most beautiful” is also just what you personally think/your opinion, not exactly a universal opinion, either. just because you’re clearly biased to the whole “European languages are the best” thing, doesn’t mean other people can’t have different opinions than you. I personally love Bantu languages more than European languages, because the sound of Italian and many other European languages irritate me (but all languages are unique and beautiful in their own way). People have other opinions.

[@etherealmist76]

Just gorgeous

[@paulbeauregard2603]

Very beautiful indeed...

[@AlejandroGabrielcasco]

BELLISIMA VOZ Y BELLISIMA MEMORIA DE LA COMUNIDAD

[@listenup2882]

This language sounds lovely. Watching from Saint Lucia 🇱🇨.

[@braulioteixeira116]

So lovely!

[@quranreader7616]

nice vedeo beatiful language

[@RandomClips01070]

Beautiful video ! ! ~

[@AllanEddye]

Que lindo, e que linda!

[@dominiki7581]

Sounds alot like Gikuyu from central Kenya

[@Almightservant]

👏👏👏👏😍😍😍😍😍 greetings from Brazil!

[@havingagr8time]

Love this video!

[@BulletTheEnforcer]

What a beautiful language! Thank you for sharing.

[@lunemacabre6006]

Amazing.

[@JIML0316]

Beautiful singing

[@Otaku2803]

My cat really enjoyed the song in the beginning.

[@deonlionheart]

Everything about this is so beautiful. Africa unite! ☮️❤️

[@marvellbgry]

Beautiful! I love you Africa. I love you Yasharel! Selah

[@linguaphilly]

I would learn and sing this to this to my child if I had one :)

[@jacksonamaral329]

cool to listen it.

[@africa3627]

I love the bantu languages

[@krystingrant6292]

Beautiful

[@sergiorivera3966]

Hello. Good lessons. Thank you❤❤😍

[@ISO_-]

Thanks!

[@kristentcherneshoff8118]

Love your KZbin name :D

[@ISO_-]

Kristen Tcherneshoff Thank you, I'd have gone for 639-6, but it doesn't quite have enough recognition, and It's withdrawn anyways. Big fan btw.

[@valansley]

I come from Fort Jameson/Chipata = Know these lullabies 👍👍👍

[@rovalin6300]

Moving.

[@alextheuri448]

I understand this and am from Kenya

[@mzbuzisprout3884]

Moni, from Scotland. Muli bwanji

💗

[@chancelove5430]

Wow I like that language.. just found out iam bantu but never knew the sounds...that's kool 💯

[@sarahssebowa7851]

I'm from Uganda🇺🇬, Buganda surprisingly understanding the song

[@themostgraciousqueenmarger2015]

Hello hello hello!!!

[@Wikitongues]

Welcome!

[@felixketwo440]

I speak Kiswahili from Kenya i can listen to the first song. The language is actually the same

[@Mehrunissah93]

Can anyone translate the lyrics into English or write the lyrics in Chichewa?

[@vicariousrainyliving8045]

Mwana kalila ni njala (If a baby cries then he/she is hungry) Mwana kalila ni tulo (If a baby cries then he/she is sleepy) sorry I am lazy to translate the whole song lol.

[@Mehrunissah93]

@@vicariousrainyliving8045 Thank you so much! I appreciate the part that you have translated. :)

[@kumbikhanna]

Wah nimeskia kikamba, kiswahili flani ka ya congo, sijui kiluhya? Lazima nifike hii mtaa!

[@mariabenjamin2618]

Ndimakonda mnyumba kuona mwana kulira .Tikwe tikwe

[@baileyryan488]

She should perform her song on America's got talent

[@sweetcupcake2741]

Fellow Malawian

[@itumelengmosailane1192]

O bina ha monate o tle South Africa ke tlo o nyala

[@edgardmacena2704]

Incrivell como a pronuncia lembra o português brasileiro. Aparentemente a intercalação entre consoantes e vogais que tornam o português brasileiro tão agradável na poesia tem raízes nas linguas banto

[@theophonchana5025]

Chewa

[@allanmagala345]

“Sounds like the baby is crying because it’s hungry, baby is crying because it’s sleepy”

[@crazyintention9]

Zikomo!

[@annieslife4476]

My husband's native tongue is chichewa and I want to learn it so much so your young children can be fluent in their tongue and English

[@charlesmcshonay5901]

It really sounds like Swahili

[@juliusbintu]

Sounds like Lusoga, Luganda and Kiswahili.

[@stephenomondimbayi1437]

The language contains both Swahili and luhya Kenyan🇰🇪🇰🇪🇰🇪 bantu languages ,am able to get the words clearly.

[@Tr.Abdussamiy]

Very much similar to Swahili

[@chancelove5430]

I wanna learn the spiritual side... witch doctor ... it's in our family so I wanna learn

[@drqtgurl7]

9/23 Dream I am Dominican and had a dream last night with a chant including Bantu language. Mind you, I only speak English, Spanish, and some Italian but this dream certainly has meaning and I want to share with anyone of the culture. How do i know it is Bantu? Well I googled the chant and it was translated from Nyanja to English. In the dream they were honoring the death of an older gentleman and they were walking down the street in the pouring rain celebrating his death. His family passed by in front to also join in the parade and as they chanted , we joined in the chant to honor and respect his life. The chant was “Akulaki chi kulala”🎶 and when i googled the translation, it said “He is still sleeping.” 🤯 I am not sure if anyone can help me interpret my dream and how I was able to learn these words of a language i’ve never spoken!

[@axel_madikera7627]

Wow

[@bodibaski4164]

ᱟᱹᱰᱤ ᱥᱤᱵᱤᱞ ᱟᱲᱟᱝ❤️

[@gertvirtualtechtelecom]

Someone said my mothertongue is quite similar to Chichewa and I totally agree am from coastal Kenya looking for a Mchewa friend 🥰

[@eb.3764]

how beautiful 😍

[@TRACTS4JESUS]

KODI CHOFUNIKA KWAMBIRI NCHIYANI KWAMBIRI NCHIYANI PA DZIKO LAPANSI? Pakuti onse anachima naperewera pa ulemero wa Mulungu Aroma

[@felixngati7584]

This language its similar to Kenyan swahili🇰🇪🇰🇪

[@johnnyyi9027]

"MULUNGU ALIPO!!!" "CHONDE DZIONE WEWE!!!". NDIKULONJEZANI, SUKUKUTAYANI NTHAWI. PITA KU U TUBE NDIKULEMBA DZINA... Mtengo wa KRYON MULUNGU AMATIKONDA KWAMBIRI!!!

[@gertvirtualtechtelecom]

Wow wow wow

[@lakudalakudenstein831]

Zamrock brought me here

[@ilshyf]

I find interesting whenever European minority language speakers speak their regional one it usually is heavily influenced by dominant langue in their home country, but when African speaks, every language sounds to me as African even though s/he speaks English lol

[@isaackyaligonza6254]

am ugandan, but i seem to understand..the child is crying bse of anger and crying bse wants to sleep (alira)..hahaha

[@mariabenjamin2618]

Mukuyimba bwino kusamba lala la amayi athu wa zambia

[@thienta8304]

Nhờ ơn Chúa Thánh Thần nên trong năm 2016 ở Việt Nam giống Xuất hành chương 7 câu 14 đến chương 10 câu 29: Số 1: Nước biến thành máu: Cả 4 tỉnh miền Trung và thế giới từ 2016 đến 2023: Nước biến thành máu Số 2:Ếch: Cả nước Số 3:Muỗi: Cả nước Số 4:Ruồi nhặng: Cả nước Số 5:Ôn dịch : Sốt xuất huyết, sốt rét Số 6:Ung nhọt: Bệnh Tay Chân Miệng Số 7:Mưa đá: ở Sapa và các vùng lân cận Số 8:.Châu chấu: ở Lai Châu và thế giới từ 2016 đến 2023 Số 9:Cảnh tăm tối: Đó là 21,22,23 tháng 12 khi trái đất ở xa nhất mặt trời thì Bắc cực sẽ có ba ngày ba đêm không nhìn thấy nhau Rồi một đêm tôi nằm mơ thấy những nấm mồ mầu trắng ở đó có hình Thánh Giá mầu trắng chung quanh là tím than. Rồi có tiếng hét: Chết hết cả rồi ! Tôi giật mình thức giấc:12 giờ đêm ở Mỹ (1 giờ đêm). Ở Việt Nam là 15 giờ cùng ngày Rồi một đêm khác tôi nằm mơ thấy hai con chim nhạn bị bắn chết . Tôi nghe nó nói: Nó là anh em sinh đôi. Tôi liền nghĩ là…. và Tận thế Vậy …. rồi tận thế lúc 12 giờ đêm ở Mỹ (1 giờ đêm). Ở Việt Nam là 15 giờ cùng ngày KZbin:” Những dòng sông nước chảy như máu từ thế giới 2016 đến 2023” và “Những đàn châu chấu từ thế giới 2016 đến 2023” Dịch bệnh, lủ lụt, các điềm lạ, động đất , hạn han… Phản Kito là ĐGH Sắp tận thế lúc 15 giờ cùng ngày

[@robiebag5764]

you should've put she's singing instead of speaking cuz that was quite annoying , I wanted to hear her speaking .

[@clivenaylor5392]

I scratched a hole in my monitor

[@oledshwfgk3068]

I thought there was a booger on my monitor.