TerraverbaAn atlas of the world’s languages 简体中文 Open the atlas

Lambya

Lambya is an Atlantic-Congo language spoken in Tanzania, Malawi, and Zambia.

See it on the globeOpen in the family tree

Lambya · 9.5°S 33.2°E

Lambya (Rambia) is a Bantu language of Tanzania and Malawi. In Northern Malawi it is spoken particularly in the Chitipa District.

Sukwa, once thought to be a dialect of Nyakyusa, is now considered to be a dialect of Lambya. The University of Malawi Language Mapping Survey for Northern Malawi (2006), agreeing with this, found that the three languages Cilambya, Cindali, and Cisukwa form a single dialect group, although there are differences between them, especially between Cilambya and the other two. The examples below come in the order Lambya, Ndali, Sukwa:

Person = umunthu, umundu, umundu

From Wikipedia · Lambya language · CC BY-SA 4.0

Words in Lambya

MeaningWordRomanization
personnthu*
namezina*
eyeiso*
earkutu*
nosephuno*
toothino*
tonguelimi*
handyobe*
bloodbanda*
bonefupa*
skinbili*
kneeThimphewu*
breastbele*
liversoko*
wateramizi
firemoto*
sunzuba*
startondwa*
stonebwe*
mountainpiri*
treekwi*
leaflyani*
nightsiku*
dogbwa*
fishswi*
lousephanyi*
oneThoka*
twobili*
drinkngwela*
seeenya*

* in the simplified ASJP transcription

Most similar languages

Vocabulary

Grammar

Vocabulary compares 40 basic words (ASJP); grammar compares 195 features (Grambank). Similar is not always related.

Nearby languages

Elsewhere

Something wrong here? Tell us

Glottolog · lamb1272 · Wikipedia (English) · Ethnologue · lai