Tumbuka language in the context of Henga people

An interrogative word or question word is a function word used to ask a question, such as what, which, when, where, who, whom, whose, why, whether and how. They are sometimes called wh-words, because in English most of them start with wh- (compare Five Ws). Most may be used in both direct (Where is he going?) and in indirect questions (I wonder where he is going). In English and various other languages the same forms are also used as relative pronouns in certain relative clauses (The country where he was born) and certain adverb clauses (I go where he goes). It can also be used as a modal, since question words are more likely to appear in modal sentences, like (Why was he walking?)

A particular type of interrogative word is the interrogative particle, which serves to convert a statement into a yes–no question, without having any other meaning. Examples include est-ce que in French, ли li in Russian, czy in Polish, чи chy in Ukrainian, ĉu in Esperanto, āyā آیا in Persian, কি ki in Bengali, 嗎/吗 ma in Mandarin Chinese, mı/mi/mu/mü in Turkish, pa in Ladin, か ka in Japanese, 까 kka in Korean, ko/kö in Finnish, Kasi (or "Ka" for short) in Tumbuka, tat in Catalan, (да) ли (da) li in Serbo-Croatian and al and ote in Basque. "Is it true that..." and "... right?" would be a similar construct in English. Such particles contrast with other interrogative words, which form what are called wh-questions rather than yes–no questions.

Chewa ( /ˈtʃeɪwə/; endonym: Chichewacode: nya promoted to code: ny ) is a Bantu language spoken in Malawi and a recognised minority in Eastern Zambia and Tete province of Mozambique. The prefix chi- in front of Chewa means "the language of" (the Chewa people). In Malawi, the name was officially changed from Chinyanja to Chichewa in 1968 at the insistence of President Hastings Kamuzu Banda, and is still the name most commonly used in Malawi today.

Chewa belongs to the same language group (Guthrie Zone N) as Tumbuka, Sena and Nsenga. Throughout the history of Malawi, only Chewa and Tumbuka were official languages of Malawi used by government officials and in school curricula, along with English. However, the Tumbuka language suffered a lot during the rule of President Hastings Kamuzu Banda, as it lost its status as one of Malawi's official languages in 1968 as a result of the president's "one nation, one language" policy. As a result, Tumbuka was removed from the school curriculum, the national radio, and the print media. With the advent of multi-party democracy in 1994, Tumbuka programmes were started again on the radio.

The Northern Region is one of the three administrative regions of Malawi, located in the north of the country. It covers an area of approximately 26,200 square kilometres and had a population of 2,420,440 as per the 2018 census. Its regional capital is the city of Mzuzu, which is also the third largest city in Malawi. The common language (lingua franca) of the region is Chitumbuka language which is understood by everyone and every ethnic group in the region.

Historically, the first major ethnic group to strengthen its cultural and political presence in the Northern Region were the Tumbuka people, who established themselves primarily in present-day districts of Mzimba, Rumphi, Karonga, Chitipa and parts of Nkhata Bay.

The Viphya Mountains, also known as the Viphya Plateau or Viphya Highlands, are a mountain range in located in Chikangawa in Malawi's Northern Region.

The word viphya means "New (things)" in the Tumbuka language.

Mchengautuba (Tumbuka: White sands) is a residential and industrial town in Mzuzu. It is located North of Mzuzu, Northern Region, Malawi. It is a home to Mchengautuba United Team, as well as Mchengautuba FC. Chitumbuka is the predominant language spoken in the area which is also the official regional language of the Northern Region of Malawi. Nearby towns include Luwinga, Chibanja, Zolozolo, and Ching'ambo.

Chimaliro, Mzuzu is a residential town in Mzuzu, Malawi, southeast Africa. It is located West of Mzuzu in the Northern Region. It is a home to Chimaliro FC. Chitumbuka is the predominant language spoken in the area which is also the official regional language of the Northern Region of Malawi. Nearby towns include Katoto.

The Tumbuka (also known as Yombe, Tonga, Kamanga, Senga and Henga) is a group of Bantu people found in Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. The Tumbuka group is made up of over fifteen sub groups of peoples such as the Senga, Nyika, Henga, Yombe, Phoka, Tonga and Tumbuka, who are part of the larger Tumbuka family. Their language is called Chitumbuka and has 12 total known dialects such as Yombe, Senga, and Wenya, among others. Together with these groups united under one ruler, they formed a kingdom known as Nkhamanga Kingdom.

There are also many smaller subsidiary Tumbuka groups by origin found mainly in the north-western corner of their original kingdom between Kalonga and Isoka as well as Tanzania. Many of these belong to the Kalonga wa Nkhonde segment of the Mulonga Mbulalubilo Tumbuka.

The president of the Republic of Malawi (Chichewa: Mtsogoleri wa Dziko la Malawi; Tumbuka: Mlongozgi wa Charu cha Malaŵi) is the head of state and head of government of Malawi. The president leads the executive branch of the Government of Malawi and is the commander-in-chief of the Malawian Defence Force. The current president is Peter Mutharika, who has served since being re-elected in September 2025.

The Tonga people of Zambia and Zimbabwe are a Bantu ethnic group of southern Zambia and northern Zimbabwe. They are related to the Batoka who are part of the Tokaleya people in the same area, but not to the Tonga people of Malawi who belong to a larger Tumbuka people group who speak a dialect of Chitumbuka, called Chitonga. In southern Zambia, they are patrons of the Kafue Twa.