Zambia has several major indigenous languages, all of them members of the Bantu family and are closely related to one another. English is the official language and the major language of business and education throughout Zambia.

 

Indigenous languages

Zambia is widely claimed to have over 72 languages, although many of these might be better regarded as dialects. 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)

• Kaonde, Luvale and Lunda (Northwestern Province).

These seven languages are used, together with English, in early primary schooling and in some government publications. 

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Zambian English

English, the former colonial language, serves as a common language among educated Zambians. At independence in 1964, English was declared the national language. English is the first language of only 2% of Zambians but is the most commonly used second language.

The English spoken in Zambia has some distinctive features, such as the omission of certain object pronouns that would be obligatory in Western English ("Did you reach?"), the simplification of some phrasal verbs ("throw" instead of "throw away"), subtle differences in the usage of auxiliary verbs such as "should", simplification of vowel sounds (Some Zambians may regard "taste" and "test" as the same word), and the incorporation of particles derived from Zambia's indigenous languages (such as chi "big/bad" and ka "little"). Zambian English also incorporates South African words such as braai for "barbecue".

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