The
Tumbuka language is a
Bantu language which is spoken in the Northern Region of
Malawi and also in the
Lundazi district of
Zambia. It is also known as Chitumbuka or Citumbuka — the
chi- prefix in front of
Tumbuka means "the language of", and is understood in this case to mean "the language of (the
Tumbuka people)". Tumbuka belongs to the same language group (
Guthrie Zone N) as
Chewa and
Sena.