SOCIOLOLINGUISTIC SURVEYS - Centre for Language Studies

Bay
Table 38 shows that Chichewa is the most preferred language for the constitution in
Karonga and Nkhata Bay. In Karonga, however, the position of Chichewa is shared with
Chitumbuka. In Rumphi and Mzimba, Chitumbuka is preferred followed by Chichewa
and English respectively. The strong showing of English and Chichewa reflects, just like
parliament, the official nature of this domain.
Guardians were also requested to indicate the language they would like to use in church.
The results are as in Table 39.
Table 39:
Language To Be Used In Church
% Respondents
Districts
English Chewa Tumbuka Nkhonde Tonga Lambia Yao Ngon Swahili
i
Karonga 9.2 53.1 34.7
Rumphi 14.7 82.7 1.3
Mzimba 3.0 7.5 85.8 0.7
Nkhata
Bay
3.2 36.5 27.8 31.0 0.8
According to Table 39, Chitumbuka is the most preferred language to be used in Church
in three districts namekly, Karonga, Rumphi and Mzimba followed by Chichewa.
However, in Nkhata Bay the preferred language is Chichewa; followed by Chitonga and
Chitumbuka resopectively. This perhaps reflects the fact that Nkhata Bay is not a
Chitumbuka speaking district. However, it should be noted that there is generally a wider
preference of the use of indigenous languages in domain.
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