JCE Chichewa cheat sheet

Chichewa is a tonal language: pitch distinguishes otherwise identical words (e.g. nsómba 'fish' vs nsombá 'millet'), so listening must track melody, not only segments.

Chichewa has five vowel sounds (a, e, i, o, u); vowel length is phonemic, e.g. -tá 'put' vs -táa, so duration carries meaning in heard speech.

Pre-nasalised consonants (mb, nd, ng, nj, nz) are homorganic: the nasal takes the place of the following consonant; mishearing them changes stems.

Aspiration contrasts are phonemic for stops: p/t/k vs ph/th/kh (e.g. -pá 'get' vs -phá 'kill'); oral comprehension depends on detecting the breathy release.

The high tone of a verb can shift with tense and object marking; a falling tone on a final vowel often signals a question or emphasis.

Common oral discourse markers to listen for: 'ndiye' (so/then), 'koma' (but), 'chifukwa' (because), 'motero' (therefore), which mark logical relations in speech.

Greeting routines are sequential, not simultaneous: 'Muli bwanji?' → 'Ndili bwino, kaya inu?' → 'Ndili bwino, zikomo'; recognising the expected reply is a listening skill.

Reduplication signals repetition, intensity or plurality in spoken Chichewa (e.g. 'pang'ono pang'ono' = little by little); it is a cue to meaning, not hesitation.

Chichewa orthography uses the Latin alphabet without c, q, x; 'c' represents a palatal affricate as in 'chaka' (year).

Noun class prefixes drive agreement across the sentence; to read accurately, identify the subject prefix on the verb and match it to the noun class of the subject.

The verb carries subject concord, tense/aspect marker, object concord, and final vowel in that order; parsing this template resolves ambiguous sentences.

Reading for gist: locate the subject concord and the tense marker first, then the object; Chichewa is verb-initial in neutral order (VSO is common), so the verb often precedes the subject.

'Ndi' is ambiguous: it can be the copula 'is/are', the conjunction 'and', or a class-9/10 object concord; context and agreement decide.

Relative constructions use '-mene' or class agreement plus '-o' (e.g. 'amene', 'omwe'); spotting these marks clause boundaries in long sentences.

Passive is formed with the suffix '-idw-'/'edw-' plus the final vowel -a; recognising it prevents misassigning the object as subject.

Text cohesion markers to scan for: 'koma', 'ndipo', 'choncho', 'komabe', 'mwachitsanzo' - they signal contrast, addition, consequence, concession, and example.

Kinship terms are precise: ' bambo' father, 'mayi' mother, 'mkulu' elder sibling, 'mng'ono' younger sibling; 'chimwemwe' is a personal name meaning joy, not a kinship term.

Body-part idioms: 'mtima' (heart) carries emotion - 'mtima woyera' = kind-hearted; 'mutu' (head) carries sense - 'mutu wabwino' = clever.

Common idiom: 'kugwira ntchito' = to work; 'kugwira manja' = to shake hands; 'kugwira mwendo' is not idiomatic - check collocation, not literal translation.

'Kutaya' = to throw away/lose; 'kutaya nthawi' = to waste time; 'kutaya mtima' = to lose heart. Verb plus noun pairs must be learned as units.

Proverbs (miyambi) are core vocabulary: 'Mwana wa mnzako ndi wako yemwe' teaches shared responsibility for children; know 5–10 common ones.

Numbers: -modzi (1), -wiri (2), -tatu (3), -nayi (4), -san u (5), -sanu (5), -isanu (5); class agreement changes the prefix (e.g. 'anthu awiri', 'zinthu ziwiri').

Time words: 'lero' today, 'mawa' tomorrow, 'dzulo' yesterday; 'mawa' can also mean morning - context disambiguates.

Loanword adaptation is regular: English 'school' → 'sukulu', 'book' → 'buku', 'bread' → 'buledi'; recognising the adaptation rule helps decode unfamiliar words.

Noun classes pair singular and plural: 1/2 (m-/a- for persons), 3/4 (m-/mi-), 5/6 (li-/ma-), 7/8 (chi-/zi-), 9/10 (n-/n-), 11/10 (u-/n-), 12/13 (ka-/ti-), 14 (u- abstract), 15 (ku- infinitives).

Subject concord prefixes: class 1 'a-', class 2 'a-…-a' (wa-), class 7 'chi-', class 8 'zi-', class 9 'i-', class 10 'zi-', class 1sg 'ndi-', 2sg 'u-', 1pl 'ti-', 2pl 'mu-'.

Verb template: subject concord + tense/aspect + object concord + root + extensions + final vowel. Example: 'ndi-ku-ku-thandiza' = I am helping you.

Tense markers: present progressive '-ku-', past '-na-', perfect '-a-' with final -a, future '-dza-', immediate future '-ti-', habitual '-ma-', subjunctive final '-e'.

Negation: present '-sa-' (e.g. 'sindikugwira' = I am not working); past '-sana-' ; the negative of 'ndi' copula is 'si-'.

The copula: 'ndi' for identity ('Ine ndi mphunzitsi'), 'ali' for location ('Ali kunyumba'), 'ndi wa' for possession ('Ndi wa mfumu' = he belongs to the chief).

Adjectives agree with the noun: 'munthu wabwino' (good person, class 1 'wa-'), 'anthu abwino' (class 2 'a-'), 'chinthu chabwino' (class 7 'cha-').

Questions: yes/no questions use rising final tone or 'kodi'; wh-words include 'ndani' (who), 'chiyani' (what), 'bwanji' (how), 'liti' (when), 'kuti' (where).

Formal letters in Chichewa follow: address, date, salutation ('Wokondedwa …'), body, closing ('Wanu mwachikondi'), signature; 'Wokondedwa' agrees with the addressee's noun class.

Narrative tense: past narrative uses '-na-' throughout; switching to '-ku-' signals a shift to scene or ongoing action, not a tense error.

Paragraph cohesion in Chichewa essays relies on concord chains: keep the subject concord consistent with the topic noun class across sentences.

Dialogue punctuation follows English conventions, but reported speech commonly uses 'kuti' ('He said that…') rather than quotation marks.

Proverbs (miyambi) are expected in Chichewa composition to support an argument; place one at the start or end of a paragraph, then explain it.

Descriptive writing uses ideophones and reduplication ('bwibwibwi' = very dark, 'pang'ono pang'ono' = gradually) to convey manner and intensity.

Formal register avoids contractions and slang; use 'inu' honorific plural for elders and 'iwe' only for peers or juniors.

Essay structure: 'Mawu oyamba' (introduction), 'thupi' (body), 'mapeto' (conclusion); the conclusion should restate the thesis, not introduce new evidence.

Chichewa is spoken mainly in Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe; it is Malawi's national language and one of its two official languages (with English).

Major dialects: Chichewa (Kasungu/Dowa), Chinyanja (Zambia, also called Nyanja), Chimang'anja (southern Malawi, Mozambique), and Chikunda; mutual intelligibility is high.

The name 'Chichewa' literally means 'the language of the Chewa'; the Chewa are organised around the 'mbumba' (matrilineal lineage) and the 'mfumu' (chief).

The 'Gule Wamkulu' (Great Dance) is a masked Nyau society performance central to Chewa ritual life; it is on UNESCO's Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Oral literature genres: 'nthano' (folktale), 'miyambi' (proverbs), 'nyimbo' (songs), 'mwambi' (riddle), 'ndakatulo' (poetry); each has distinct performance conventions.

The trickster hare 'Kalulu' is the central figure of Chewa nthano; the hyena 'Fisi' is his slow-witted foil, and 'Kamba' the tortoise often outwits both.

Written Chichewa literature began with mission orthography in the late 19th century; the first Chichewa Bible (Buku Lopatulika) was published in 1912 and standardised the orthography.

Cultural courtesy: kneeling or clapping when greeting elders, and using both hands to give or receive objects, are expected behaviours described in cultural texts.

Tone is lexical in Chichewa; minimal pairs such as 'nsómba' (fish) and 'nsombá' (millet) differ only in tone placement.

Vowel length is contrastive: 'kutá' (to put) versus 'kutáa' (to be enough) show that duration changes meaning.

High tone on a verb often marks focus or tense; a final falling tone commonly signals a question.

Pre-nasalised consonants (mb, nd, ng, nj, nz) assimilate to the following stop's place of articulation.

Aspirated stops (ph, th, kh) contrast with unaspirated (p, t, k); 'phá' means 'kill' while 'pá' means 'get'.

Chichewa verbs follow: subject concord + tense/aspect + object concord + root + extension + final vowel.

The final vowel is '-a' for indicative, '-e' for subjunctive and negative, and '-i' in some imperatives.

Passive is marked by '-idw-' or '-edw-' before the final '-a'.

Causative uses '-ets-' or '-its-'; applicative uses '-el-' or '-il-'.

Relative clauses are introduced by '-mene' or a concord plus '-o' (amene, omwe).

'Bambo' = father; 'mayi' = mother; 'mkulu' = elder sibling; 'mng'ono' = younger sibling.

'Kutaya nthawi' = to waste time; 'kutaya mtima' = to lose heart.

'Kugwira ntchito' = to work; 'kugwira manja' = to shake hands.

'Mtima woyera' = kind-hearted; 'mutu wabwino' = clever.

Loanwords adapt regularly: sukulu (school), buku (book), buledi (bread).

Class 1/2 (persons): m-/a-, subject concord a-/a-…-a.

Class 7/8: chi-/zi-, subject concord chi-/zi-.

Class 5/6: li-/ma-, subject concord li-/a-.

Class 9/10: n-/n-, subject concord i-/zi-.

Class 15: ku- infinitives; subject concord ku-.

Adjectives agree: munthu wabwino, anthu abwino, chinthu chabwino.

Use 'koma' for contrast, 'ndipo' for addition, 'choncho' for consequence, 'komabe' for concession.

Keep the subject concord constant with the topic noun across sentences.

Reported speech uses 'kuti' rather than quotation marks.

Ideophones and reduplication convey manner: 'pang'ono pang'ono', 'bwibwibwi'.

Structure: mawu oyamba, thupi, mapeto.

'Nthano' = folktale, performed with audience response.

'Miyambi' = proverb; used to close an argument.

'Mwambi' = riddle, often posed in the evening.

'Nyimbo' = song; call-and-response structure is common.

'Ndakatulo' = poetry, often recited at funerals and weddings.

Kalulu the hare is the central trickster of nthano; Fisi the hyena is his foil.