Chewa, also known as
Nyanja, is a
language of the
Bantu language family. The
noun class prefix
chi- is used for languages, so the language is also called
Chichewa and
Chinyanja (spelled 'Cinyanja' in Zambia, and 'Cinianja' in Mozambique). In Malawi, the name was officially changed from Chinyanja to Chichewa in 1968 at the insistence of President
Hastings Kamuzu Banda (himself of the
Chewa tribe), and this is still the name most commonly used in Malawi today. In Zambia, Chewa is spoken by other people like the
Ngoni and the
Kunda, so a more neutral name, Chinyanja '(language) of the lake' (referring to
Lake Malawi), is used instead of Chichewa.