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Pre-publication version, paper appeardd in
Simpson, A. ed., 2008, Language and National Identity in Africa, Oxford: OUP, 291-313.
Zambia
‘One Zambia, One Nation, Many Languages’
L
UTZ
M
ARTEN AND
N
ANCY
C.
K
ULA
17.1 Introduction
This chapter aims to give the reader an idea about the linguistic situation in Zambia, and
how language relates to national identity in the Zambian context. Zambia lies in the heart
of central Africa and shares borders with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
to the north, with Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique in the east, with Zimbabwe,
Botswana and Namibia in the south, and with Angola in the west. Zambia has no direct
access to the sea, but the Zambezi, one of Africa’s largest rivers, runs through Zambia for
about 1000 km. Zambia also lies in the centre of the Bantu-speaking area. Historically,
Bantu languages became widely spoken in sub-Saharan Africa from around 300 BC, and
present-day Zambia’s Bantu languages are the result of several linguistic developments
which introduced the languages spoken today through gradual processes of migration,
language contact and language shift over the last two millennia. From the late 19
th
century onwards, different European languages were introduced into what is now Zambia
through missionary activities, in particular in education, and through colonial governance
as a British colony. As a legacy of this period, English plays an important role in the
current language situation, a role which was affirmed after independence in 1964, when
English became the official language. After the change from a one-party system to multi-
party democracy in 1991, emphasis has shifted towards the promotion of Zambia’s seven
national languages, Bemba, Nyanja, Tonga, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale and Kaonde, and
contemporary Zambia is an explicit example of a multilingual country.
Questions of language and identity have played an important role throughout
modern Zambian history, particularly after independence, when the question of the
national identity of the new state took centre stage. Language in Zambia is important for
national, political and ethnic identities, for communication, education and popular
culture. The language situation in Zambia is in some respects similar to those in other
African countries, but has its specific, local characteristics. In particular, the chapter
shows that a specific system of multilingual structures and traditions, which has its roots
in the period before contact with Europeans, is constitutive of Zambian linguistic identity.
The chapter is arranged as follows. In section 17.2, we provide background
information about the languages, language situation and use of language in Zambia in
different domains. Section 17.3 provides a historical account of language distribution, use
and policies in Zambia and how these are related to the formation and negotiation of
different identities. Section 17.4 provides a discussion of the contemporary situation in
light of the historic background provided, and addresses specific topics which are
important in the Zambian context. Finally, section 17.5 summarizes some of the major
points of the chapter in its conclusion.
2
17.2 Languages and Language Use in Zambia
The seemingly easy question of how many languages are spoken in Zambia is actually
not an easy question to answer, and numbers vary between about twenty to over eighty.
The reasons for this are, on the one hand, the notoriously difficult question of what is a
language as opposed to a dialect, and on the other hand, in the Zambian context, the
relation between language and tribe (cf. Kashoki 1978). Ethnic identification as tribes,
with a chief as leader and focal point, has a long tradition in Zambia and was explicitly
manipulated under colonial rule. Today, tribal affiliation is important for both cultural
identity and political coalition building (Posner 2005), with the total number of tribes
given as 72 in both the 1990 and 2000 censuses. However, tribal identity does not
correspond directly to linguistic distinctiveness, and there are fewer languages than
tribes. In their major survey of language in Zambia, Ohannessian and Kashoki (1978)
distinguish 83 varieties (excluding European, Indian and Khoisan languages) which are
grouped, based on lexical and grammatical similarity as well as on mutual intelligibility,
into 26 dialect clusters or ‘languages’, which in turn are grouped into 16 groups as
represented in Table 1, adapted from Ohannessian and Kashoki (1978) (see also Chanda
1996, 2002, Kula 2006, Bickmore 2006).
3
Table 1: Language groups and dialect clusters of Zambia
Group Dialect Clusters and Location
A Aushi, Chishinga, Kabende, Mukulu, Ngumbo, Twa, Unga, Bemba, Bwile, Luunda, Shila,
Tabwa (Northern province)
Bisa, Kunda (border of Northern and Eastern provinces)
Lala, Ambo, Luano, Swaka (Eastern and Central provinces)
Lamba, Lima (Copperbelt and Central provinces)
B Kaonde (North-Western province)
C1 Lozi (Western province)
C2 Kwandi, Kwanga, Mbowe, Mbumi (Western province)
Simaa, Imilangu, Mwenyi, Nyengo, Makoma, Liyuwa, Mulonga (Western province)
Mashi, Kwandu, Mbukushu (Western province)
D Lunda, Kosa, Ndembu (North-Western province)
E Luvale, Luchazi, Mbunda (border of Western and North-Western provinces)
Chokwe (North-Western province)
F Mambwe, Lungu (Northern province)
Inamwanga, Iwa, Tambo, Lambya (border of Northern and Eastern provinces)
G Nyiha, Wandya (border of Northern and Eastern provinces)
H Nkoya, Lukolwe (or Mbwela), Lushangi, Mashasha (North-Western and border of
Western and Southern provinces)
I Nsenga, Ngoni (of Chief Mpezeni speak Nsenga) (Eastern province)
J Chewa (Nyanja), Ngoni (Nyanja) (Eastern province)
K Tonga, Toka, Totela, Leya, Subiya, Twa, Shanjo, Fwe (Southern and border of Western
and Southern provinces)
Ila, Lundwe, Lumbu, Sala (border of Southern and Central provinces)
Lenje, Twa (Central province)
Soli (Central province)
L Tumbuka, Fungwe, Senga, Yombe, Ngoni (of Chief Magodi speak Tumbuka) (Eastern
province)
M Goba, Shona (Central province)
N Chikunda (Central province)
O Swahili (Northern and Copperbelt provinces)
In addition to these 26 clusters of indigenous Bantu languages, the 1978 survey noted
European and Asian languages spoken in Zambia, in particular English, which is the
official language, as well as Gujarati and, as spoken by less than 1,000 speakers each,
Italian, German, Hindu, French, Urdu and Portuguese. Small communities of Kxoe (San)
speakers live in western Zambia, having fled the civil war in neighbouring Angola,
numbering approximately 300-400 speakers (Robins et al. 2001).
In terms of language use and numbers of speakers, Zambian languages differ
considerably. With respect to these criteria, the main languages of Zambia are Bemba,
4
Nyanja, Tonga, Lozi, and English as shown in Table 2, where language use as
predominant language (as percentage of the whole population) and as second language
(as percentage of those who claim to speak a second language) is given.
1
Table 2: Language by numbers of speakers (based on 2000 census)
Language Use as
Predominant
Language
Use as
Second
Language Language Use as
Predominant
Language
Use as
Second
Language
Bemba 30.1 20.2 English 1.7 26.3
Nyanja 10.7 19.5 Luvale 1.7 1.9
Tonga 10.6 4.4 Lenje 1.4 1.5
Lozi 5.7 5.2 Namwanga 1.3 0.8
Chewa 4.7 2.3 Ngoni 1.2 1.2
Nsenga 3.4 1.6 Mambwe 1.2 0.9
Tumbuka 2.5 1.3 Bisa 1.0 0.4
Lunda 2.2 1.3 Ila 0.8 0.8
Lala 2.0 1.0 Lungu 0.6 0.4
Kaonde 2.0 1.8 Senga 0.6 0.2
Lamba 1.9 1.4
The data in the table show that Bemba, Nyanja, Tonga, and English are spoken by more
than 10 per cent as either first or second language. The table also shows that even a
number of the smaller languages are used as second language, and that languages like
Luvale and Lenje are spoken by more speakers as second language than as first language,
or have as many second language speakers as first in the case of Ila, even though in all
cases they are spoken by less than two percent of the population. This indicates the wide-
spread use of multilingual practices which will be discussed in more detail below. The
data in Table 2 are based on the level of dialect clusters. However, often language in
Zambia is discussed at the group level, rather than at the cluster level, that is, including a
number of related varieties. When language use is compared by language groups, the
importance of Bemba, Nyanja, Tonga, Lozi and English becomes even more apparent, as
Table 3, comparing data over three decades, shows.
2
1
8,702,932 was the total number considered for first language speakers excluding infants and those with
speech impairment. 3,385,745 were considered as second language speakers making up 34 percent of the
total population. This relatively low number of second language speakers is probably a reflection of the fact
that census data record people’s own estimation of their linguistic behaviour and not their actual behaviour.
2
The 2000 census recognises seven language groups (excluding English) that coincide with broad ethnic
groups; Bemba, Tonga, North-Western, Barotse (Lozi), Nyanja (or Eastern), Mambwe and Tumbuka. We
present four of these in Table 3.
5
Table 3: Dialect clusters language use (based on Census 1980-2000)
Percentage of Total Population
1980 1990 2000
Language
Group 1
st
lge 2
nd
lge 1
st
lge 2
nd
lge 1
st
lge 2
nd
lge
Bemba 39.7 24.4 39.7 27.5 38.5 24.1
Nyanja 19.0 18.0 20.1 25.5 20.6 25.0
Tonga 13.3 7.8 14.8 8.1 13.9 7.7
Lozi 8.0 7.5 7.5 8.4 6.9 6.4
English 4.6 0.8 1.1 17.8 1.7 26.3
As Table 3 shows, Bemba (as a language group) is the largest Zambian language spoken
as a first language. Nyanja and English have seen the most increase in second language
speakers from 1980 to 2000. Bemba, Nyanja and Tonga are spoken by more than 10%
each of the population as first language, comprising together almost 75% of the
population. Bemba and Nyanja, together with English, are spoken by more than 70% of
second language speakers. Lozi is spoken both as first and as second language by just
under 10% of speakers, while for English, there is a significant difference between use as
first language and as second language: In 2000, less than two percent of Zambians spoke
English as first language, but its use among second language speakers was over twenty-
five percent. The data in the table also shows that the use as second language of the five
languages increased in the decade from 1980 to 1990. In contrast, from 1990 to 2000 use
as a second language decreased in all cases (even though Nyanja remains fairly stable)
except for English which saw a significant increase. While the decrease in 2000 of the
Zambian languages as second languages can be attributed to the increase of English, it is
interesting to note that smaller languages that were recorded as having no second
language speakers in 1990 have in 2000 shown figures for second language speakers.
Thus while Bisa, Lungu and Senga had no second languages speakers in 1990 they
recorded 0.4%, 0.4% and 0.2%, respectively, in 2000 (see Table 2). The picture which
emerges from the data is one of a complex multilingual and dynamic situation, where
language use changes quite significantly over a comparatively short time-span.
Another important factor in the linguistic situation in Zambia is the social and
political status different languages have. English is the official language of Zambia, and
the only language so identified in the 1991 Constitution. In addition, seven African
languages are designated as national languages: Bemba, Nyanja, Tonga, Lozi, Kaonde,
Luvale and Lunda.
3
English is widely used in the media, in government and business, in
education and in many formal and semi-formal contexts, especially in urban settings. The
three major daily newspapers, the Times of Zambia, the Post, and the Daily Mail are all in
English, and print media in other languages are restricted to weekly or monthly
3
Henceforth the terms ‘official language’ or ‘official national language’ will be used to refer to English,
‘national languages’ to the seven nationally recognised African languages, ‘Zambian languages’ to
indigenous Zambian languages (therefore excluding European languages) and ‘local languages’ to Zambian
languages spoken in a specific area.
6
magazines.
4
Television programmes by the Zambian National Broadcasting Corporation
(ZNBC) are predominantly in English, with only short news programmes in the national
languages. In addition, programmes on satellite and cable TV, mainly provided in the
urban areas by South African broadcasting companies, are in English, or indeed in any of
the South African national languages, but not in the languages of Zambia. English is also
widely used on the radio, but here the indigenous Zambian languages are also heard, in
programmes produced in one of the national languages, covering a range of topics from
more serious political and economic issues to more light-hearted ‘phone-in’ programmes
where callers comment live on various issues of general interest.
5
English also plays an
important role in education in Zambia. After independence, English became the dominant
language at all levels of education, and was used as the medium of instruction
throughout, while national languages were taught as subjects. However, this situation has
changed more recently, as the use of national languages as languages of instruction in
primary schools has been adopted more widely (Carmody 2004). However, at secondary
and tertiary level English is still used almost exclusively. As in the media and education,
English is the dominant language in government, administration and business. The
majority of government publications, as well as government and official websites are in
English, as is the language of parliament, and the Constitution states that any person
wishing to stand for parliament has to be fluent in the official language, that is, English.
The predominant use of English in the media, government and education, in addition to
the wide-spread use of English as the language of business and administration, means that
knowledge of English is extremely important for finding employment, at least in the
‘formal’ sector, and English thus has a relatively high social status in Zambia.
The seven Zambian national languages are used alongside English in a number of
contexts. We have already mentioned their increasing use in primary education and on
the radio. They are also used to disseminate specific government policy or health
information (e.g. in Cholera alerts). Furthermore, the national languages are the main
media of wider communication in particular in spoken language and in less formal
contexts, although they are also used in the lower ranks of formal administration. Local
court proceedings are, for example, conducted in a local national language although the
legislating judicial law is in English.
6
Another example is that of police interrogations
which are also usually carried out in the local or regional language. Each language has a
specific regional base, where it is predominantly used. Bemba is the main language of the
Northern, Luapula, Copperbelt, and, to a lesser extent, Central provinces, Nyanja is the
main language of the Eastern province as well as of Lusaka (alongside Bemba and
English), Tonga of the Southern province, and Lozi of the Western province. Lunda,
Luvale and Kaonde are spoken in the North-Western province which does not have one
dominant language (see Map 1). Throughout all provinces, the national languages play a
greater role as languages of wider communication in rural areas, while they are used
together with English in urban areas. Looking back at the language use data presented
4
Notable are Imbila (Bemba), Intanda (Tonga), Liseli (Lozi), Tsopano (Nyanja), Lukanga (Bemba, Lenje)
and Ngoma (Kaonde, Lunda, Luvale).
5
Chanda (1996) reports radio air coverage in hours per week for local languages on the multilingual Radio
1 of ZNBC as; 23 each for Bemba and Tonga, 21 each for Nyanja and Lozi and 15 each for Kaonde, Luvale
and Lunda.
6
The local court is the lowest court of law in a hierarchy dominated by the magistrate, high and supreme
courts.
7
above, we can say that English is an important lingua franca in Zambia as it is not
geographically restricted and is used anywhere in the country (albeit more in urban than
in rural areas), while Bemba and Nyanja are used by more people than English as a
means of communication, even though the majority of them live in the centre, north and
the east of the country (cf. Kashoki 1978: 31).
Map 1: Zambia with provincial boundaries
As we have seen above, there are many more languages in Zambia than English and the
seven national languages. We have already seen as well that many languages of Zambia
in addition to the national languages are spoken both as first and second languages. Often
these languages are only spoken in a limited area and by a smaller number of speakers,
although, as the data presented above show, this is not always the case. Tumbuka, for
example, is used by more speakers than the national languages Lunda, Luvale and
Kaonde. The reason why the latter languages have become national languages has to do
with their relative importance in the North-Western province, whereas in the Eastern
province, where Tumbuka is spoken, Nyanja is the main language of wider
communication, and thus has become a national language. As pointed out above, in many
cases the relation between ethnic grouping and linguistic grouping is complex, and more
detailed work on Zambian languages is necessary to fully understand their distribution
and interaction. However, what can be said is that in many parts in Zambia there exists a
complex situation of language use, multilingualism and code-switching, where speakers
employ a number of different languages in different contexts. For example, speakers may
use Nsenga as the home language and local language of communication, but also use
8
Nyanja and English as languages of wider communication. Furthermore, if a Nsenga
speaker subsequently takes up a job on the Copperbelt she would in most likelihood add
Bemba to her linguistic repertoire, thus choosing between four different languages.
In this section, we have introduced the languages of Zambia, number of speakers
and language use in some detail, to show the complexity and the dynamics of the
situation, and also the problems of describing linguistic reality in Zambia, for example,
the choice between calling a variety a dialect or a language, and the difficulties of
assessing language use and degree of multilingualism in spoken, informal contexts. In
broad outline, though, the language situation in Zambia is well documented and
understood: Following Ohannessian and Kashoki (1978), we can say that just over thirty
languages are spoken in Zambia. English is the official language of the country and is
widely used in the public domain. However, in terms of numbers of speakers, Zambia’s
seven national languages – Bemba, Nyanja, Tonga, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, Kaonde – are
the more important languages of wider communication, and especially the first four
account for a large majority of first and second language speakers. Zambia is a
linguistically complex and dynamic country, with a range of different languages playing
different roles in different contexts, and where language plays an important role for the
construction and negotiation of social and national identities.
17.3 Historical Settings
Many aspects of the present-day language situation in Zambia are the result of historical
developments over a comparatively long time.
7
The basis for today’s distribution of
languages in Zambia was laid during an extended period of slow processes of migrations
and language shift beginning with the earliest introduction of Bantu languages in Zambia
from around 300 BC. Subsequent movement of peoples, language contact, local and
long-distance trade, colonial rule and finally independence in 1964 shaped the language
situation in the following centuries. It is sometimes assumed that the current language
situation is mainly or even exclusively a result of colonial politics. This is certainly true
for the introduction of English and its present position as one of the main linguae francae.
However, we will suggest in this section that several aspects of the language situation of
contemporary Zambia can be traced to pre-colonial times and that there is, despite many
developments and changes, an element of continuity which characterizes the situation
today. It will be suggested that the particular multilingual practices characterizing the
language situation in Zambia today have historical roots pre-dating contact with
Europeans. This provides an important backdrop for the mutually enhancing relation
between multilingualism and national identity which has slowly developed in Zambia
after independence. It is thus useful to place the language situation in Zambia today into a
historical perspective.
17.3.1 The Language Situation Unfolds: Zambia up to the 18
th
Century
Virtually all languages spoken in Zambia today belong to the Bantu family, except, of
course, the more recent European and Indian languages and the small number of Khoisan
7
The main sources of historical information made use of here are Roberts (1976), Rotberg (1966), Ehret
(1998, 2002), and Vansina (1990, 1995).
9
languages. Bantu languages began to spread from the area of the Nigeria-Cameroon
borderland in West Africa through more or less small processes of migration, language
contact and language shift southwards and eastwards and eventually became spoken in
east, central and southern Africa, in an area from just north of the equator all the way to
southern Africa (see e.g. Nurse 2006). Archaeological and linguistic evidence suggests
that Bantu languages reached Zambia, together with knowledge of iron technology,
agriculture and domestic animals, during the last centuries BC and the first few centuries
AD in a gradual process of economic, social, cultural and linguistic innovation. This was
followed by a several periods of subsequent change from around the middle of the first
millennium during which new technologies and farming methods were introduced
together with new Bantu languages which became widespread throughout northern,
eastern and central Zambia. These innovations, among which are distinct pottery designs
and iron smelting techniques, did not extend to the far western parts of Zambia, where
aspects of cultural continuity can be traced back to the fifth century A.D. In broad
outline, the linguistic situation in Zambia today results from this period, and was
established during the first half of the second millennium. The main centres of innovation
during this and subsequent periods often lie to the north, in what is now the south-eastern
DRC, where the Lunda and Luba states exerted strong influence on Zambia during the
16
th
and 17
th
centuries. Although other links existed, the major periods of contact in
particular with southern and western neighbours became relevant only from the 18
th
century onwards. It is regularly said that prior to the arrival of Europeans in central
Africa, communities were organized in small groups with little contact beyond each
village and without much economic, social or linguistic development (e.g. Wilson 1941:
11, Mulford 1967: 2, Posner 2005: 57). However, the evidence available suggests that
such a characterization is likely to be quite incorrect. In most of what is today Zambia the
‘middle ages’, from around the turn of the millennium to the 1700s, was a period of trade,
interchange and innovation. In the north-east, a major innovation was in the expansion of
millet cultivation by the so-called citemene system which involves clearing woodland and
using ash as fertilizer. In the south, which is free of tsetse flies, people started to herd
cattle. Trade involved salt, iron and copper. While iron and iron products were useful for
tools used in agriculture and food production more generally, the softer copper did not
have any specific use and was traded as jewellery in the forms of bangles, crosses,
bracelets etc. Archaeological records show that salt, iron and copper works generally
produced more than could have been usefully employed locally, and their products are
found far from the centres of production, indicating a more or less organized trade-
network. Copper mining in Kansanshi mine near Solwezi, for example, had started by the
fifth century and was part of a trade network which seems to be linked to saltworks in
present-day southern DRC and up to Lwena and Ndembu communities in north-western
Zambia and eastern Angola from the 900s onwards (Vansina 2003). Local and regional
contact not only involved the exchange of goods, but also new concepts and ideas,
linking people across wider regions in which distinct traditions emerge. For pottery
design, for example, archaeologists distinguish three main traditions, called Luangwa,
Lungwebungu, and Tonga Diaspora, in the north-east, centre, and south of present-day
Zambia. Similarly, different regional musical traditions can be distinguished today; along
the north, music of the Cokwe/Lunda/Luba/Bemba belt employs harmony in thirds rather
than fourths, which is used in most of the rest of Zambia (Baird 2004). This musical
10
tradition cross-cuts more modern cultural regions and thus probably reflects pre-colonial
contact. Trade and cultural traditions across these large regions of wider cultural affinity
could not result from isolated and static communities, but presuppose on-going change
and innovation in most people’s lives and active interchange and contact between
different communities and speakers of different languages. In addition to this, probably
the strongest evidence for the interactive nature of central Africa’s societies during the
last two millennia comes from comparative linguistics. When different groups of
speakers of a language live in relative isolation from each other, their linguistic varieties
will, due to the inevitability of language change, become different over time, and
eventually develop into distinct languages. Historical linguists speak of divergence in this
case. On the other hand, convergence effects occur when languages become, in certain
respects, similar over time. Since any language can and will change in an infinite number
of ways, convergence effects can only be explained by contact between the speakers of
the languages. The Bantu languages of Zambia are all related and are thus all similar at
some level. However, if speakers of early Bantu languages when entering Zambia about
2,000 years or so had remained largely in isolation, we would expect a fairly neat
division of a number of different languages as a result of linguistic divergence. However,
the main large-scale study of Bantu comparison (Bastin et al. 1999) concludes that the
Bantu area as a whole is characterized by criss-crossing of local innovation (divergence)
and diffusion of innovations by contact (convergence). This also holds true of the Bantu
languages of Zambia at the heart of the Bantu area, indeed, it is part of the reason why
boundaries between different dialects and languages of Zambia are so hard to draw, as
discussed in section 17.2. So, while pre-colonial Zambia arguably saw the development
of culturally and linguistically fairly homogenous societies, for example the Bemba in the
north or the Luyana in the west, and while some communities may have entertained fairly
little contact with their neighbours, quite generally it seems that many Zambians before
the 19
th
century were engaged in one way or the other – for example through trade,
marriage or migration – in interaction with people outside their immediate cultural and
linguistic sphere. Although it is true that many important aspects of the language situation
in Zambia are a result of much more recent history, which we return to consider in the
next section, the basis of today’s linguistic distribution, as well as practices of language
contact, in itself a form of multilingualism, can be assumed to have been established in a
gradual and extended process throughout the last two millennia.
17.3.2 Recent Modifications and Migrations: From the 18
th
Century to 1964
From the 18
th
century onwards, Zambia’s contact with outsiders increased dramatically,
through migration movements from the south, the beginning of international trade in
ivory, slaves, and guns, colonialism and industrialization. Linguistically, three main
languages became part of the linguistic scene, Kololo, a Sotho language which became
known as Lozi, a group of Nguni languages, and English, while the use of languages
already present changed through new forms of education and labour movement.
With increasing colonial activity away from the coasts, and rising international
demand for gold, ivory and manpower along trade routes and in large scale plantations in
the new world, Zambia became involved in international trade and many Zambians
suffered from slavery, forced labour and the increasing violence and destabilization
brought about by European and local ‘traders’ outside of official traditional or European
11
control. The main lines of trade and contact ran from the East African coast in the north
along old Swahili trade routes, in the south through Mozambique from what was then
Portuguese territory, and in the west to Portuguese traders in Angola. However, despite
the scale of economic and political changes and human suffering brought about during
this period, more lasting effects came later through contact with the south.
In the early part of the 19
th
century Zulu nationalism led to a period of fighting in
southern Africa which spilled over into countries much further north. In the aftermath of
the mfecane, Zulu for ‘crushing, scattering’, groups of speakers of Southern African
Nguni and Sotho languages fled from their original South-African homelands northwards
and settled among the people they found. In Zambia, groups of displaced Nguni fighters
known as Ngoni moved into the Eastern province and into Malawi, while in the west the
Kololo, a Sotho speaking group of people, conquered the Luyi kingdom and changed its
linguistic identity in particular. Different groups of Ngoni arrived in south-eastern
Zambia from the 1840s onwards. They were essentially groups of guerrilla fighters
retreating from Zulu armies set to conquer new lands. Their linguistically and culturally
heterogeneous structure allowed them to absorb conquered peoples comparatively easily
into the elaborate military structures they had developed. After some vicissitudes, they
settled among the peoples of the Eastern Province, the Chewa, Nsenga and Tumbuka and
adopted the language of these groups. Thus while many of their customs and cultural
traditions, including music, poetry and ceremonies, have high visibility in contemporary
Zambia, no Nguni language is spoken in Zambia today. However, Ngoni groups often
maintain their own ethnic identity, and this is frequently mixed up with linguistic
identity. Thus in Table 1 above we have identified Ngoni as dialects of Nyanja, Nsenga
(Chief Mpenzeni) and Tumbuka (Chief Magodi), although it is not clear how much this
grouping reflects strictly linguistic distinctions.
An almost opposite case occurred around the same time in western Zambia when
Sotho-speaking Kololo people, similarly mfecane victims, crossed the Zambezi at
Kazungula at the present-day Botswana-Zambia border point. The Kololo conquered the
Luyi kingdom which by that time had been established with fairly well-defined political
and administrative structures. Although their rule was ended in the 1860s, their language
remained and the Lozi (the Kololo term for Luyi) language of today has close similarities
to Sotho, while Luyi is only used as a ceremonial language (Gowlett 1989).
A third influence from the south brought English into the picture. Following
colonial expansionist interests, and so as to forestall other Europeans from establishing
themselves in the area, Rhode’s British South Africa Company took control of the
territory named Northern Rhodesia in 1890. From 1924 to independence, Northern
Rhodesia was run by the British Government as a colony, and was part of the Federation
of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, comprising Northern and Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)
and Nyasaland (Malawi), from 1953 to 1963. British rule on the whole was a dreary
affair. With the territory of Zambia initially being mainly taken over to secure strategic
interests, the emphasis then turned to exploiting the area as a reservoir of cheap labour
and to making profits from the copper mines which initiated large scale production in the
1930s. For most of the period, it seems to have been a take-the-money-and-run affair and
spending on public welfare, health, education and infrastructure was minute compared to
the dividends made from the extraction and sale of copper. Up to the 1920s and beyond
education was almost exclusively provided by various mission stations and outposts of
12
the eighteen missionary societies active in the territory (Küster 1999). The missions had a
huge impact on the development of African languages and it was partly the activities of
the missions which resulted in the growth of modern Zambia’s linguae francae, through
their use of the African languages as the medium of instruction in the schools they
established – sometimes against the wishes of the pupils who preferred English as this
provided access to better jobs – and through the introduction of written varieties in the
course of Bible translations and early written literature (Carmody 2004). Previously,
Bemba, Nyanja, Lozi and Tonga had been used as languages of wider communication,
but now they also came to be used widely in the new systems of formal education.
Conversely, in the north-west there was no strong mission activity, and no modern
education, and this contributed to the absence of any widely used lingua franca in the area
(Posner 2005). A second impact of the colonial rule was large scale labour movement and
the advent of urbanization. While many Zambians had to move south of the border to
Southern Rhodesia and South Africa for salaried labour, from the 1930s onwards, copper
production on the Copperbelt increased and large numbers of labourers were needed.
Partly as a result of company policies, the majority of mine-workers on the Copperbelt
were Bemba speakers from the Northern Province, and thus Bemba became established
as the lingua franca in the mines, where a distinct variety, sometimes called ‘Town
Bemba’, developed, reflecting the high degree of language contact in the multilingual
situation on the Copperbelt (see Spitulnik 1998). Finally, of course, the introduction of
English as the language of politics, administration and business is a colonial legacy. The
number of white settlers in Zambia was never as high as in South Africa or neighbouring
Zimbabwe, but still there were a number of English speakers both before and after
independence, some of them farmers, but many employed in government, administration,
health and education sectors. Africans learned English in schools, where it was used next
to regional languages, and acquired high prestige as it gave access to better paid jobs,
first mainly as teachers and later in shops and offices when white collar jobs became
available for Africans towards the end of the colonial period. The main growth of English
as a lingua franca, however, came only after independence.
Opposition to British colonial rule grew constantly during the 20
th
century and
was driven by three interrelated aims: full participation of all Zambians in the political
process, use of the country’s resources for its own people, and political autonomy from
both the colonial power and the racist white regime in Southern Rhodesia. Economic
participation was especially demanded on the Copperbelt and the collective action in the
miners’ strikes in 1935 can perhaps be regarded as an early antecedent of Zambian
national identity: the striking miners explicitly rejected negotiation through so-called
tribal elders, who were appointed by the mining companies to discourage inter-ethnic
political consciousness as part of a wider colonial strategy to invent and manipulate tribal
identities. The miners used traditional Mbeni dance groups, thought of as ‘harmless’ by
the white administrators, as effective means of communications and coordination
between different mines, and posted messages detailing their aims in Bemba, the African
language of wider communication on the Copperbelt, which the administration had to
have translated (Matongo 1992). The main and final driving force of the independence
movement, however, was the Federation with the ‘white’ South which lasted from 1953
to 1963. While African stakes in colonial Northern Rhodesia were not valued especially
highly, many Zambians at the time thought that the state of affairs in the north was better
13
than in the south. Miners in the north had better political organization and their salaries in
1960 were about twice as high as that of mine workers in the south. Copper was
booming, and race relations were, as far as race relations go in colonial contexts,
moderately good, and certainly better than under the new Apartheid regime in South
Africa, which was eagerly being copied south of the border. There were no pass-laws in
Northern Rhodesia, and Africans were represented, admittedly through representatives
for African affairs appointed by the colonial office, at the Legislative Council.
Furthermore, it became clear very quickly that the north was paying more into the federal
budget than it got out of it; by 1963 Northern Rhodesia had made a net loss of £97
million and had seen another £260 million of mining profits leave for London, Salisbury
and Johannesburg, with very little of this money coming back into the country. The silver
lining of this situation was that it led to the political alliance between black and white
Zambians (or at least those which identified with the new independent Zambia), the
former outraged in general, the latter outraged by the sell-out of their country, giving rise
to the credible and successful implementation of a policy of non-racialism after
independence.
On the eve of independence, then, Zambia had gone through almost two centuries
of tumultuous events and much of the country had changed. Copper mining had been
industrialized and had become the main source of income, the ‘line-of-rail’, connecting
Livingstone in the south with Lusaka and the Copperbelt in the north, had become a
major socio-geographical feature, and Zambia had become one of the most urbanized
countries in the region. Both inward migration from the south and from Europe, and
labour migration of Zambians to Southern Rhodesia, South Africa, the DRC and
Tanzania had brought Zambians into contact with new people, new ideas and new ways
of life. Education had changed from informal traditional acculturation and training to
formal schooling, Christianity had become a major religion, and English had been
established as the main language for commerce, government and administration. With all
these new developments and changes, it is probably easy to miss the wider continuities.
But a number of things did not change dramatically. Copper had been mined for more
than a thousand years, sometimes at the very same spots where the modern mines had
been built in the 20
th
century, although, of course, on a pre-industrialized scale. More
significantly, probably most people in Zambia had been in the area for centuries. Chiefs
and tribal organization had often been invented and re-interpreted by colonial
administrators and anthropologists, based on their own interests and pre-conceptions. On
the other hand, a number of Zambians had been identified as tribes before European
contact, and groups like the Bembas and Lozis (or Luyis at the time) had multi-layered
structures of allegiance to chiefs and paramount chiefs (the Bemba Chitimukulu) or kings
(the Lozi Litunga) which were often adopted from the political systems of the Luba and
Lunda kingdoms to the north. Truly international trade only began with European contact
and through western market forces, but regional trade had been established for centuries,
often through well-developed trade routes and through established traders. Though
comparatively little is known for sure about language use in pre-colonial Zambia, given
the existence of different forms of social organization and different ethnic groups with
varying forms of identity, contact through trade and other causes, and the existence of
larger regions of cultural affinities, it seems likely that patterns of multilingualism have a
long tradition in Zambia, and that the linguistic changes triggered by European contact,
14
that is, the introduction of English and the development of African languages as linguae
francae were absorbed into an established system making use of different languages in
different contexts.
17.3.3 Zambia Today: 1964 to the Present
The Republic of Zambia was officially founded on 24
th
October 1964. Independence
celebrations were held at the new Independence Stadium in Lusaka, attended by both old
and new political leaders; the Princess Royal and the last Governor Evelyn Hone for the
outgoing colonial power, and the new president and vice-president, Kenneth Kaunda and
Simon Kapwepwe. Proceedings were harmonious; the colonial office had been the lesser
of two evils compared to Company rule at the beginning of the century, and had given, if
somewhat lacklustre, support for Zambia’s fight against the Federation and subsequent
independence. The independence movement was largely conducted as a non-violent civil
disobedience campaign, the so-called Cha-cha-cha campaign, and the main political
party, Kaunda’s United National Independence Party (UNIP), had tried to build a large,
non-racial, non-ethnic platform. The two main causes which had fuelled the
independence movement, the control and distribution of the copper revenues and the fight
against the Federation, also became dominant in the early years of the new republic.
Increasing copper profits and using the money generated to provide jobs, education,
health care, housing and higher standards of living for all Zambians was the main aim of
domestic policies, while foreign policy was determined by the struggle to end colonialism
and white rule in Southern Africa. At independence, Zambia had four unfriendly
neighbours; the Portuguese colonies Angola and Mozambique, South-African occupied
Namibia, and Southern Rhodesia, which after the Unilateral Declaration of Independence
in 1965 became Rhodesia under white minority rule and turned from unfriendly to
positively hostile. Since virtually all trade links with the outside world at the time ran
through Rhodesia, the first few years of independence saw a concerted restructuring
programme to find new ways of importing oil, machinery and most other goods, and of
exporting the vital copper which involved air-links and the improvement of transport
infrastructure to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and the Benguela railway to Lobito in
Angola. Politically, Zambia became, with Tanzania, the most active ‘front-line’ state,
supporting the total liberation of the continent. Many politicians involved in
independence movements in southern Africa passed through Lusaka at some stage or
other, and many spent many years there; many independence organizations had offices in
Zambia, including the South African ANC, and Zambia’s role in supporting the eventual
liberation of Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola, Namibia and South Africa is an important
piece of the history of the region (see e.g. Mbeki 2004).
Zambia’s national identity was thus formed essentially on economic and political,
especially foreign policy, lines. In addition, the early years of the republic were closely
associated with the integrating figure of Kenneth Kaunda and his national philosophy of
‘African Humanism’ which embodied a number of Christian-informed ethical principles,
but was less politically relevant than the Ujamaa policies in neighbouring Tanzania. Yet,
despite these strong points of national identification, ‘tribalism’ and centrifugal
tendencies were seen as a threat to the new country and the establishment of ‘national
identity’ became a paramount task: the national motto adopted after independence was
‘One Zambia, One Nation’. It is against this background that English became the national
15
and official language of Zambia, which was based on the view that English would help
integrate the different Zambian people, while African languages were seen as promoting
factionism and tribalism: ‘One Zambia, One Nation, One Language’ could thus have
been the appropriate continuation of the national motto at the time. English was also seen
as providing the only means for both national and international communication, a view
based on the colonially inherited assumption that African languages (and African
cultures) are essentially static, backward, isolated and linked to tribal identities, and thus
would not be able to serve as languages of wider communication or affinity – a view
which is, as we have shown in the preceding section, clearly contrary to fact (cf. Kashoki
1990). Fear of tribalism also played a part in the establishment of the ‘second republic’ in
1972/73, when multi-party democracy was ended and Zambia became a ‘one-party
participatory democracy’. The move effectively strengthened the ruling UNIP party
under Kaunda and removed it (and him) from voter control, but was triggered by the
establishment and electoral success of two opposition parties which were seen by Kaunda
as tribally based; the African National Congress, associated with Ila and Tonga people of
the Southern Province, and the United Progressive Party under former vice-president
Kapwepwe, which was seen as a Bemba party. Whether the charge of tribalism is in fact
true, or whether the two parties could equally be seen as regionally based, and, indeed,
whether in either case, this warrants the abolishment of political parties, is a different
matter (see e.g. Meyns 1995). In any event, UNIP became the only party, and Kaunda
sought to have more or less ethnically ‘balanced’ governments (Posner 2005). During the
second republic, conditions in Zambia deteriorated. Political decision making was
restricted to UNIP and to the president and often political offices were not seen as
representing the interests of society but as lucrative career options. Meanwhile, the
economy stalled, inflation rose and foreign debts soared, to about 7 billion US $ at the
end of the 1980s, so that unemployment and economic hardship became the reality for
many Zambians. Political and economic dissatisfaction, together with the rapid political
changes in Eastern Europe provided enough motivation for a demand to change the
system, and after a period of some unrest, the first multiparty elections of the third
republic were held on 31
st
October 1991. Kaunda stood as presidential candidate of
UNIP, was defeated, and power came to the Movement for Multiparty Democracy
(MMD), which campaigned with the slogan ‘The Hour has Come’, under Frederick
Chiluba, the former president of the Zambian Congress of Trade Unions. Whatever else
one may think about Kaunda’s achievements, to be a president in power and to lose an
election and step down gracefully is remarkable in African politics, and this has certainly
contributed to Kaunda’s renaissance as elder statesman in the 2000s.
Chiluba’s main agenda was economic reform and he run a course of privatization
and liberalization of the economy, partly under heavy protests, which it seems too early
to judge. He was re-elected in 1996 and was succeeded as president in 2002 by Levy
Mwanawasa, a former vice-president, of the MMD. At the beginning of the millennium
Zambia can look back at forty years of independence in which the nation has developed
largely peacefully in the absence of major violence, war or civil unrest. This is all the
more remarkable in view of the difficult circumstances in the wider region after
independence. Also, today, all of Zambia’s neighbours have ended colonialism and there
is hope for a democratic and peaceful future in southern Africa. Economically, there is
16
hope as well, as Zambia qualified for full debt cancellation under the Wold Bank’s
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative in 2005 which will allow more resources to be
invested in human development. However, many areas of public life have declined in the
last decades, including school enrolment and health, and it will take some time until
levels of the 1970s are reached again. One of the main threats to Zambian well-being at
present is the HIV/AIDS pandemic which affects ‘all aspects of social and economic
growth in the country, weakening the public sector and threatening long-term national
development’ (WHO 2005).
17.4 Contemporary Themes in Language and Identity in Zambia
As we have shown in the previous section, the establishment of national identity in
Zambia occurred first and foremost on the political level, through foreign and domestic
policies, and identification with the new president Kaunda. African languages did play a
role in the political movements leading up to independence, but only a small one, for
example in the miners’ strikes in the 1930s, and possibly also through radio broadcasting
in African languages from the late 1940s onwards (Roberts 1976: 210). However, the
main language of political and official discourse in Zambia became English. Since
African languages did not play a significant role in the establishment of national unity (in
contrast to, for example, Swahili in Tanzania), there soon ensued a national debate about
the role of language in Zambia. As noted earlier, English became the official language
and was seen as the only ‘non-tribal’ alternative available to serve as a vehicle of national
unity, an argument often made in post-colonial African language policies. English also
became the language of prestige and was linked with modernization and access to
international communication. However, this policy was not without its critics. In
particular the Zambian linguist Mubanga Kashoki pointed out a number of problems with
this approach, in essays mainly dating from the 1970s and collectively published in
Kashoki (1990). Kashoki argues that all languages are dynamic systems, and that African
languages can be associated with modernity as well as English can. While it is true that
English is a major international language, Kashoki points out that the main function of
national languages ought to be national communication, and that the demands of
international communication can be met by English as second language as is done in
many European countries. In terms of national communication, Kashoki argues that
African languages – especially Bemba and Nyanja, as established languages of wider
communication – serve this function better as they are understood more widely. Finally,
Kashoki points out that English is neutral only in a certain sense (i.e. not associated with
any ethnic group), but that, especially when used as the only medium in education, it is
not neutral, but favours children who already speak English at home, usually those of
urban, educated and well-to-do parents. Having queried the alleged practical advantages
of English, Kashoki then asks whether language, and in particular one language, ought to
play a role for national identity? Since Zambian national identity has been established
politically, the familiar European ‘one language, one state’ argument applies rather
differently: Whereas in many countries of western Europe (simplifying somewhat) the
use of one language became important for defining the nation state, the Zambian nation
state was defined without any prior unification of language, so that language, and in
particular one language, did not fulfil the integrative role in nation building in Zambia as
17
it often did in Europe. In view of this, it might be argued that the nation can serve as the
political unit in which many languages are spoken, and that national identity is
constituted by patterns of multilingualism. Thus, Kashoki concludes, Zambian African
languages should be developed and be fully employed in the building of the nation and
her national identity. In retrospect, Kashoki’s position can be seen in many ways as fore-
shadowing discussions about the role of languages in Zambia from the 1990s onwards.
17.4.1. Changing Perceptions of Zambian Languages
The perception of language and of Zambian languages in particular, has undergone
change in Zambia since the beginning of the third republic. Academic interest in
language questions is high and attractively packaged grammatical sketches of Zambian
languages can be found in the bookshops of Lusaka’s flashy new malls. Government
officials now address audiences in regional and sometimes local languages as opposed to
English which was the norm some twenty years ago. There is as yet no change in
legislation, but in a recent paper Kashoki (2003) has argued – with reference to South
Africa and Zimbabwe, but probably equally applicable to Zambia – that legislation ought
to acknowledge the country’s linguistic diversity and provide for constitutional coding of
linguistic rights. Public opinion certainly seems to favour more recognition of Zambia’s
linguistic heritage and multiplicity. There are a number of reasons for this trend. It is part
of a more general, regional and international trend and mirrors similar discussions in, for
example, South Africa. It is related to the change from second to third republic and the
MMD’s philosophy of plurality, of ‘multi’ as opposed to ‘single’, and to the end of
centralist forms of societies more widely. It can also be seen as an answer to defining a
new sense of national identity. During the 1990s, the main cornerstones of Zambian
national identity disappeared: Kaunda’s presidency, the front-line status, and economic
advancement through nationalization and industrialization. This now is being replaced by
a new long tradition, exceptionally long in the region, of relative stability, rule of law and
democracy. Democratic language rights fit well into this new mark of identification. A
particular interpretation is given by Posner (2005). He proposes that increasing interest in
linguistic identity in Zambia is linked to the change of political ground-rules from the
second to the third republic, and to voters’ basic assumption that they will profit if
political power is given to someone in their tribal or linguistic group. In the second
republic elections were local, with a choice among different local UNIP candidates and
coalition building proceeded along tribal lines: too often all candidates belonged to the
same, bigger linguistic group. However, with multi-party elections, coalitions have to be
large enough to have a reasonable chance of attaining national majorities, and tribal
identities are too small to achieve this. Hence, in the third republic, voters build alliances
with others of the same language, not tribal group. One has to add to this, though, that
culturally, as opposed to politically, tribal identity remains important, and has probably
become more important over the last decade, reflecting, like the increased awareness of
multilingualism, a trend towards a more pluralistic society. All these different points
show that the change in perspective on languages is embedded in a wider change in
public conceptions of identity.
18
17.4.2. Multilingualism
One of the main points of the current discussion is Zambia’s multilingualism, which is
now seen as an asset, rather than an impediment to national development. However
languages are counted, it is clear that, as we have shown above, Zambia is a multilingual
country. The majority of Zambians have more than one language in their linguistic
repertoire and can choose from among these languages, both for communication and for
ethnic and linguistic identities. Furthermore, there are different languages within the
boundaries of the state which are used by a large number of speakers in most situations,
and different languages are increasingly recognised in public life through legislation and
institutions. Multilingualism plays an important role in the construction of contemporary
Zambian identity. In urban centres, especially in the capital Lusaka, many Zambians
routinely employ three or four languages. English as the language of many official
contexts and also as the predominant written language, Bemba and Nyanja as the city’s
publicly most dominant languages of wider communication which are used in many (and
for some speakers in most) informal and semi-formal contexts, and also often a further,
different home language within the family (Chisanga 2002). Although the various
languages can be associated with different functional domains as outlined above, actual
linguistic reality is frequently characterised by code-switching involving two or more
languages. The choice between different languages available in many Zambian contexts
is an important aspect of speaker’s linguistic repertoire and is employed to construct and
negotiate social and ethnic identities. For example, a study reported by Banda (2005)
shows how code-switching between educated Zambian English, colloquial Zambian
English and Nyanja is used to establish and alter social roles and relationships in the
environment of a Lusaka office. Both the change from and into the different varieties, and
the specific structures made available by the varieties – especially the formal marking of
respect in African languages – are used to negotiate age and gender-based relations
throughout the discourse. Similarly, Siachitema (1991) shows how language choice is
related to the social relations of discourse participants, and in particular that use of
English is more acceptable when speaking to younger people or people of the same age,
while when addressing older people African languages are seen as expressing more
adequately the respect commonly accorded to older people in African society. Examples
of code-switching involving African languages, principally Nyanja and Bemba, are also
found in contemporary Zambian popular music, which has undergone a recent
rejuvenation and is now widely embraced by all generations. Various artists (e.g.
k’millian 2004) use both languages in the lyrics of their songs, expressing the
multilingual reality of contemporary Lusaka.
Even though urban multilingual situations such as in Lusaka are not the norm, the
use of different languages is wide-spread throughout the country. In section 17.3.1 we
have suggested that the present-day language situation in Zambia is not so much a
product of the colonial era, but is instead based on a dynamic system of multilingualism
which has developed over several centuries. A number of the languages which play a part
in the contemporary set-up have been spoken – in older forms – in the area since the
middle of the last millennium. Others, like Lozi, and indeed English, have entered the
system at a later stage. Throughout much of the country’s history, linguistic identity has
been expressed and negotiated with reference to several languages fulfilling different
functions, as languages of the home or as languages of wider communication, as
19
languages of insiders or newcomers. The industrial and political transformations of the
last century have contributed to an expansion of the linguistic system in scale, but not
significantly in kind; even though urban multilingualism in Lusaka or on the Copperbelt
is a new phenomenon, the underlying practices are not. Zambian linguistic identity is
constituted by this specific multilingual system, involving Bemba, Nyanja, Tonga, Lozi,
and English as the main languages of wider communication, all of which are related to a
net of regional, social, and ethnic identities. With respect to language and national
identity, we have argued that Zambia’s national identity after independence was mainly
referenced to political and economical events, and that in contrast to the rise of many
European nation states, language did not play a unifying role in the establishment of
Zambian identity. After initial attempts to put English into the role of official national
language, contemporary Zambia is developing a new model of language and identity,
where nation building and multilingualism are not only compatible, but where the
specific multilingual language practices in Zambia are seen as part of the country’s
national identity, so that now ‘One Zambia, One Nation, Many Languages’ would be a
more appropriate continuation of the national motto.
17.4.3. Some Practical Consequences
The change in perspective on African languages since the 1990s has also led to more
practical consequences, two of which are the use of languages in education, and the effort
to harmonize the standardization of cross-border languages. While African languages
were used in primary education in mission and government schools under colonial rule,
English became the sole language of instruction after independence. Although several
studies even in the 1970s have shown that this practice had adverse effects on learning
and literacy, as pupils were confronted with a language with which they were not
familiar, it was not until 2000 that a nation-wide reform began to be implemented, in the
Basic School Curriculum Framework. The idea presented in the Framework is to use the
seven national languages as medium of instruction from the first grade, and only
gradually introduce English from the second grade on (Carmody 2004, Manchisi 2004).
The implementation of this scheme is on a regional basis and is particularly encouraged
in rural areas where children have little or no contact with English before formal
education.
For cross-border languages, the practical outcome of the increase in positive
status of African languages is a new, integrative perspective on languages shared with
neighbouring countries, reflected in increased work on this issue. Due to Zambia’s
artificial boundaries, many Zambian languages are also spoken in neighbouring countries.
While this has been known for a long time, it is only in the recent climate of promotion of
African languages that this question has been addressed from a linguistic perspective. In
particular, as elsewhere in Africa, projects have begun to assess the situation and to
propose standardized written versions of languages across the Zambian-Malawian border
in the east (papers in Banda 2002), of Lozi across the Namibian-Zambian border in the
west (Kashoki et al. 1998), and of Bemba across the border between Zambia and the
DRC (Kamwangamalu 1997).
20
17.4.4. Small Languages
Looking back at the data on language use in Zambia presented in section 17.2, we can
now highlight certain of the developments there against the background of the discussion
in this section. Of the five main languages in terms of numbers of speakers, Bemba and
Nyanja are being used by a large number of second language speakers as important
languages of wider communication in the east, north and central parts of the country, with
Nyanja showing an increase particularly in urban areas. Use of English has also
dramatically increased probably owing to general higher levels of formal education. Lozi
and Tonga remain widely spoken in the south and the west with a slight dip reflecting
wider use of the smaller languages in both areas. The three national languages of the
North-Western province remain small in terms of numbers of speakers but fare quite well
as a language group with 7.7% and 6.8% of first and second language speakers,
respectively. Although the increase in numbers in the ‘other’ category reflect an
increased use of smaller languages both as first and second language, the census data do
not say very much about the remaining majority of Zambian languages, and more work is
needed in this area. Two trends would seem to be likely; on the one hand, increasing use
of the national languages could lead to language shift and language loss of smaller
languages – Swahili in Tanzania provides a parallel for this. On the other hand, the new
emphasis and more positive attitudes towards Zambian languages may lead to the
improvement of the situation of the smaller languages. The latter seems to be indicated in
some cases. One example of this is provided by Nkoya (van Binsbergen 1994). Nkoya
speakers live in the eastern part of the western province and have historically been
dominated by the Lozi. Although Nkoya music forms part of Lozi culture, the group’s
linguistic and cultural identity is seen to be threatened by Lozi domination. However,
since the 1990s, Nkoya speakers have profited from the new political climate, in which
government officials publicly acknowledge Nkoya, and plans to use Nkoya in some form
of education are more realistic than before. Thus, while official emphasis is being placed
on the national languages, and demographic trends indicate relative growth of Bemba and
Nyanja, Zambia’s new multilingual tradition can work to promote the linguistic identity
of smaller languages and linguistic complexity more widely.
17.5 Conclusions
This chapter has discussed the language situation in Zambia with particular attention to
questions of language and national identity. After providing an outline of the languages
spoken in Zambia and their use, we contextualized the present-day situation historically.
Our aim in this was to show generally that Zambian history does not begin with European
contact, and more specifically, that patterns of language contact and multilingual
practices were most likely established in Zambia long before the 1800s. Indeed we
proposed that contemporary multilingualism in Zambia has its historical roots in pre-
colonial times, and that during the period of British rule an existing system was simply
extended and modified. Another important aspect of introducing a historical context was
to show how modern Zambian national identity was primarily politically and
economically informed, and that language was not an important factor for national
identity at independence. In the wake of nationalism and out of fear of centrifugal
tendencies, English was made the national language of the new republic, under the
21
assumption that a national language was needed to build national identity. It was only
during the 1990s that this perception changed, and more emphasis was placed on the
importance of African languages for the construction of Zambia’s identity. The main
argument we have presented in this chapter is that the particular patterns of
multilingualism in Zambia, involving all languages to varying degrees, with specific
status for the national languages as major regional languages, and Bemba, English and
Nyanja as languages of trans-regional communication, are jointly constitutive of Zambian
contemporary national identity, which is, furthermore, built on a long historical tradition.
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