Email a copy of 'Vernacular phone terminology in Malawi' to a friend
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An association of Leeds University in England for Malawian alumni has been formed to help students wishing to study at...
This would have been the line of thinking. We lack patriotism. Thanks Doc. for the article.
We really need to be proud of our culture and language.
Nice artical Dr Kamkuzi.
izi anthu azingopusa nazobe, aMalawi ambiri akakumana ndi anthu ogwiritsa ntchito English amasowa poyambila, especially those who go to other countries in search of greener pastures. anangozolowera eg “mchere,”, who will understand you then? use English patali patali kuti omwe sanapite kusukulu aphunzilire momwemo, hayi mani.
I met a good looking guy from Malawi at hospital yesterday, couldn’t understand what the doc was saying to him, not a word. ine manyazi. AMalawi tiyeni tiphunzile chonde chonde.
kugwiritsa ntchito kachizungu patali patali is a good start.
I think Mr Kankuzi has a point. The word “please” has been literally translated to “chonde.” I don’t think you need to ‘plead’ with somebody to enter a pin number when all you mean is to advise them to do so. Another example: the statement “can u please take a seat” may not literally be translated as “chonde khalani” when all you mean is “khalani”
I disagree with the last observation on the use of the word “chonde” it can equally mean ‘please’ munthu utha kunena kuti “chonde, chonde ndigaileni tambala” meaning please please I beg for a coin. Osamachita complicated Chichewa. One word can mean a lot more than one thing.
Quite educative and thought provoking! Using vernacular others are making millions with it. Congrats to our phone companies for putting our local languages in perspective with technology. Not everything local is bad. And by the way these are kind of analyses that should be coming from our universities osati ndale daily. Good show Dr!
izi ndiye zija amanena peter kuti kuma college mumataya nthawi ndi za zii. zimene walemba apa zili ndi phindu lanji lili lonse? anzanu ku moi university dzana alenga laptop, made in kenya kuti aliyense adziwe computer at affordable prices. google it now if you think i’m lying.
iwo ali pa nkhondo ndi al shabab koma ali ndi nthawi ya chitukuko. i pity my countrymen
Interesting article.
And, it also looks like phone marketing could be changing our de-facto “national” language. I notice that n has now replaced m in words like mthupi or mtolo or mkazi. New words have also been introduced: pompo-pompo and phwamwamwa; really strange words.
Then, again, I could be naive; but there are circumstances when using English terminology is more economical or culturally “acceptable”.
A Kankuzi pali nkhani yanji apa ?
It is very disheartening indeed . We tend to regard highly anything imported . For example today’s daily times paper on sports page number 38 a story by Lusayo Kanyika titled ” British sports scientist tips flames” the article only portrays how we regard foreign things highly the so called scientist has not even graduated or finished his BA studies at his university but was on holiday here in Malawi but look now he has been quoted in a leading malawi paper and also had audience with Malawi football association technical director and team doctors ….. …..