Chichewa
Pronunciation Guide
Vowels are pronounced approximately like Spanish vowels, but there is no y. G is always hard. H doesn’t change the sound of a letter but adds a soft aspirated sound after it, which often is not audible to azungu ears. When an N or M starts a word and is followed by a consonant, the N or M sound is nearly swallowed. If you think about how you say the name of the letter N, get rid of the first ¾ of the name, and that’s the sound you use. When people are saying words that end with i, they often will drop the i, so that for instance, Ujeni becomes Ujen.
Also, ‘R’ and ‘L’ are pretty much interchangeable–there are rules as to which follows which vowels, but those rules are used only loosely, which is why my homestay village was named “Mterera,” “Mtelera,” or “Mtelela.”
A
-aang’ono: Small
achimwali/amwali: Sister; Used similarly to achimwene.
achimwene/amwene: Brother; the -chi- infix means big, either in age or in importance. When you’re trying to get someone’s attention in a polite way, you can call them achimwene.
Achinyamata: Youth
Agogo: Grandmother, grandfather, or grandparents
Amayi: Mother. But it also means ma’am and is a general term of respect for adult women.
-amkulu: Big
Asisi: Chichingrish for sister.
Azimayi: Ladies, but it can also mean a group of amayi.
Azungu/Mzungu: Literally means foreigner, but has come to mean rich, White, foreigner.
B
Bafa: Can refer to bucket bathing or to the out building you bucket bathe in.
Basi: Enough, only, “that’s it”
Bo: A short greeting; the correct response is to say “bo” back
Bodza: false, lie or liar
Bolopointi: Ballpoint pen; an example of Chichingrish.
Boma: the center of a province or an area. For instance, the Dedza boma, about 20 minutes by car from the College of Forestry, has the big hospital, the big market, and is the big commercial center for that area.
Bonongwe: “Poor Man’s Spinach” A green very high in iron.
Bwana: Boss, either literally or it can just mean somebody with money.
Bwino: Good, or well. Often shortened to bo.
C
Chi-: a prefix that can mean, “language of”
Chimbudzi: toilet. Usually refers to a long drop or outhouse type toilet and the outbuilding it’s dug into.
Chitenje/Zitenje: a length of fabric about 2 meters long and wide enough to reach from high on my waist to my ankles. It’s used for carrying things (including babies), clothing, for sleeping on or under, and nearly anything else you can think of—maybe even for making peanut butter sandwiches. Zitenje is the plural form.
Choka!: “Go away!” in a disrespectful command form. Doesn’t work on overly pushy men in the clubs, but it should.
DEF
Dzulo: Yesterday
Edzi: AIDS
GHI
Guafa: Guava
Iwe: You, informally. In Chichewa, like in Spanish and French, there are two forms of “you,” both informal and formal (unlike Spanish and French, in Chichewa all of the plural conjugations of verbs are also the formal conjugations. So, you conjugate for “they” the same way you conjugate for a respectful he/she. I imagine, however, that only people really full of themselves would use the we form to show greater respect when talking about themselves singularly.) Iwe is the informal word for you. Used almost exclusively for animals and small children. Well, and I use it for Derek and David.
JK
Jumbo: pronounced joom-boe. bag, usually like a plastic grocery bag, but can mean other types as well.
Katundu: Luggage, or stuff. The stuff definition means I like it almost as much as I like ujeni (the word, not the dog).
Kutsegula m’mimba: diarrhea
kwacha, or MK: Malawian Kwacha; the money here. MK140=$1ish.
L
Lero/Lelo:Today
Linya: what you get after you drive on a tire until it’s completely bald, cut the tire to make a flat piece of rubber, and then tear strands of rubber off the long side of the piece. We use it for fences, to fasten the dog chains to each other or to the porch poles, for pretty much anything that needs to be tied together and then stay tied.
M
M’mawa: Morning, or in the morning
Masamba: Greens. Of an eating type. Most typically mnkhwahne, mustard, bok choy (they call it chinese), or rape (my least favorite).
Masuko: Custard Apple
Matemba: small dried fish
Matimati: Tomatoes
Mawa: Tomorrow
Mbale: plate
Mbaula: charcoal burner for cooking on.
Mbolo : penis
Mfumu: Chief or village headman
Misala: crazy
Mkhwani: Pumpkin leaves. You strip off the stringy bits and then cook them like you do other greens, often with groundnut (peanut) flour.
Mowa: Beer. It can refer either to the type of beer you buy in a bottle (Carlsberg), or home-brewed beer of varying quality, tastiness, and alcohol content.
Muli bwanji: “How are you?” Used most often for people you don’t know or with whom you have a formal relationship. You must greet pretty much everybody you meet, and you have to do it every day.
Mwachena: “You look sharp[ly dressed]”
Mwadzuka bwanji: “How did you wake up?” The most common morning greeting.
N
Ndadzuka bwino, kaya inu?”: “I woke up well, how about you?” The proper reply to “Mwadzuka bwanji”
Ndiwo: anything at a meal that isn’t nsima. Can include matemba, chicken, masamba, matimati, etc.
Ngaiwa: maize flour that is milled once or twice. Has a very small amount of nutritional value.
Nkaka:Milk
Nkhaka: Cucumber
Nsapato: Shoes
Nsima: The staple food of Malawi. Ngaiwa or ufa made into a sort of very thick porridge, scooped out into patties. To eat, you break off small pieces, roll them between your thumb and your first 2 fingers and then use the nsima to pick up the side dishes, or ndiwo, which include everything that isn’t nsima.
Ntchito yabwino: Good job!
Nyumba: House or home
OP
Onyezi: onions
Pang’ono: Little, small, less, quietly, slowly. When used as “pang’ono pang’ono,” it means little by little or slowly, slowly.
Pepani: Sorry, “that’s too bad.”
STU
Shap: from “sharp,” used the same way as “bo.”
Sibola: Hot peppers
Siku: Day
Thobwa: A thickish, traditional African drink. In Malawi it is made from fermented maize or millet. I think Millet tastes better and less rancid.
Ufa: made by milling the maize, soaking it, drying it in the sun, then re-milling it. This has the effect of removing almost all the nutritional value from the ufa.
Ujeni: Thingamajig, whatchamacallit, or whosits whatsits. Used often to indicate something you can’t exactly remember the name of—sort of like how we would say, “um.”
Usipa: Small, dried fish
W-Z
Wanuwon: The new one
Wokuba: Thief
Zana: Day before yesterday
Zikomo: a word that means almost everything. It means “excuse me,” “thank you,” “you’re welcome.” I’m pretty sure it means other things too, but I don’t really remember at the moment.
Zikuyenda: Another quick greeting. It means “Things are going?” The response is usually zikuyenda in an affirmative tone of voice.
Zimachitika: “These things happen” –ma- is the infix that means always; -chita comes from kuchita, which means to do or make; zi- references the chi-zi noun class and specifically references zinthu, which means “things.” Not sure what -ika means. When I asked, neither were my Malawian friends.
Zovala: clothes
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