An Outline of Icibemba Grammar

by Michael Mann

First published as a chapter in Language in Zambia: Grammatical Sketches by the Institute of African Studies (now the Institute of Economic and Social Research) in 1977, this is the first in a series of publications on Zambian languages and grammar. The intention of the series is to boost the meagre scholarship and availability of educational materials on Zambian languages, which became particularly in urgent in 1996, following the decision of the Zambian government to revert to the policy of using local languages as a media of instruction. This volume provides a grammatical sketch of Icibemba – known in English as Bemba or Chibemba – the most widely spoken local language in Zambia. Bemba is the principal language of the Northern and Luapula provinces of Zambia, and extending into the Shaba Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is the common language of the Copperbelt region. The study includes sections on sounds, nominals, verbs and tenses, further kinds of words, and sentence patterns.

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