Emeritus Professor of Sociology
Entendre is a French language word which is a verb which means “to hear “. For example, “Have you heard that your son has come?” “Kasi mwapulika kuti mwana winu mwanalume wiza?” According to the Oxford English dictionary, Double Entendre means a word or phrase which may have two meanings; one meaning may be the good one and the second is often risky and not intended. This article will discuss double entendres or meanings in Tumbuka language which may also apply to the other 72 Zambian languages and dialects.
First the article will describe why as discussed about Tumbuka, almost all Zambians may experience and practice double entendres either intentionally or often by accident when they want to be funny or to practice milangwe. Second, I will discuss examples of several of Tumbuka double entendres. The readers will be free to identify some of their own. Lastly, I will discuss one of the funniest Tumbuka entendres which Tumbuka speakers may understand if they know and practice the malonje traditional village custom.
The vast majority of 19 million Zambians are either bilingual or multilingual. This means in our normal process of life; we Zambians tend to speak and understand at least two languages if we are bilingual. We may speak or understand several or many languages if we are multilingual. Since English is our official language, most of us learn English at school but we will also learn a Zambian mother tongue or just any other Zambian languages such as Nyanja, Bemba, Tonga, Lozi, Kaonde, Luvale and many others of the 72 indigenous Zambian languages and dialects. Double entendres happen when we Zambian mix with each other.
I will never forget this example. I was 18 years old as a first year or freshman student in 1972 at University of Zambia in Lusaka. I had been exposed up to this point to Tumbuka and Nyanja only. I was beginning to be exposed to other Zambian languages as I began to mix with other students at UNZA from different provinces of the country. One Saturday night I was attending a party where there were several young men and women friends from UNZA who were also freshmen. There was dancing, loud music, and drinks were flowing.
Suddenly this Bemba classmate who was also a psychology major Florence Katongo (not her real name) walked up to me, grabbed my hand in a friendly way while she smiled, and pulled me towards the dance floor.
“Iwe Tembo!” she was saying. “Isa tuchinde!!”
I almost fainted with embarrassment while nervously looking around the room just to make sure no one else had heard her. She was saying “let’s have sex” which I later learned means “to dance” in Bemba but “tichinde” in Nyanja means to have sex. This was a horrific double entendre for me. Katongo had meant no harm because it was clear to me then that she did not know either that “ukuchinda” had a different meaning in Nyanja. She was also playing the chimbuya that Bembas and Easterners have between ourselves.
Tumbuka Double Entendres
Tumbuka has many double entendres. I will discuss a few of my favorites that we used to laugh about when I was growing up.
1.In English: “See my cat” Means looking at your cat or Kubeka kachona. In Tumbuka: “Sima yikati” means “The sima or nshima said something”.
2.In English: “See my hen” means “Look at my chicken or female chicken”. In Tumbuka: “Sima yiheni” means “Bad sima or nshima.”
3.In English: “Can you pass me the tools?” in Tumbuka: “Munipileko matuzi abo?” which is can you pass me the urine? One time I was travelling by minibus in the rural part of Lundazi in deep Tumbuka country. The minibus had broken down and the driver shouted to an older man at the back of the minibus. “A mdala mutipileko matuzi!!” The old replied annoyed; “How can you ask me to pass you urine?”. The tool box was in the back of the minibus.
Tumbuke Malonje
Among the Tumbuka, malonje is a very serious traditional custom. When a guest arrives, he or she is offered a seat. Malonje is a formal social process during which the guest speaks for sometime to describe the purpose of his or her visit. The host takes some time also to describe the state of the home; any illnesses, marriages, school achievements, and if there is a good or poor harvest.
Once both the host and just arrived guest have comfortably sat down:
Host: in Tumbuka: “Mutimaso bii, mwatendela?” Literal translation in English as: “Our hearts are dark with worry, what is the purpose of your visit?”
The double entendres or meanings are first: the host is worried about the purpose of the guest’s visit. The second meaning is a bit of an insult the host implies: “The guest has very dark eyes and makes frequent worthless visits, maybe just looking for a meal”. In Tumbuka: “Muti mumaso biiiii mwatendela?” The double entendre is based on “mtima” and “Mutimaso biii” or how the suffix “-so” is enunciated in “mtimaso”.
Thanks for write up devoid of politics or slander/negativity. It’s a breath of fresh air. One Field Ruwe thinks that your bachelors degeneration from unza is equivalent to a diploma.
It is not Field Ruwe who thinks that way, you moron. It is the British and South Africans. Zambians read, please read. Here is a guy who may have gone to UNZA but fails to read an article and puts the blame on the person who is trying to correct a wrong.
UNZA was might during KK’s tenure BUT went to the dogs during kafupi’s rule and nowadays. When are going to see high flats produced by engineers from UNZA.