NEWS 

By Chifundo Zingunde

Chichewa slang has been in almost every Malawian’s lips for ages. All things being equal, at one point in our stages of life, we have ever used such words as SHAP, NDAVAYA, MASTEN etcetera. Ofcourse, previously, this was only associated with adolescenthood and literary, had no room to be incorporated in official fora.

However, the recent past has seen the growing number of usages of such terms in official fora.

Mobile phone companies have been the most notable pioneers of adopting such languages in their formal business enterprises. Airtel Malawi coined PASAVUTE,and Night CHILLAZ services, MTL had Ndi DHEAL as its slogan, whilst TNM had Pompopompo service.

And if that was not enough, the political spectrum was never spared. It too was caught on the band wagon. United Democratic Front’s torch bearer in the 2015 tri-partite elections, Atupele Muluzi, Democratic Progressive Party’s the then running mate and the current Vice President,  Saulos Chilima, and the then People’s Party runningmate, Sosten Gwengwe both used the then famous slang of Ung’onoung’ono so as to attract the majority youthful voters. The former head of state as well, Joyce Banda, joined the bandwagon; she used the term, MASTENI (mother) to garner support from her potential faithfuls.

Such has been the influence of the Chichewa slang on almost all spheres of life in the country.

It was such an influence that motivated a Lilongwe-based youthful professional web designer, Isaac Msiska to create a Chichewa slang online dictionary.

According to him, the idea came upon realizing the swelling numbers of both the youths and adults that were into this Chichewa slanging. He flet there was a need to translate these words so as to assist those who may be lost.

Blantyre base professional designer and website developer, Isaac Msiska, has created a Chichewa slang online Dictionary, to ease the communication in Malawi  which has been dominated by Chichewa slang due to the high population of youths in the warm heart of Africa,

According to Msiska slang is taking over and there was a need of translation   to help those who do not understand the slang language.

 “There was no platform where people who don’t understand the slang could go and find meaning ,so I come up with that site to assist those people who don’t understand the language” Said Msiska

The journey of compiling the translations started way back in mid 2000s when Msiska was pursuing his Bachelor of Arts studies in Journalism at the Malawi Polytechnic.

“It all started as a joke for me. I got inspired mainly upon bumping urbandictionary.com website. I got the zeal that I too could also make it. Now, here I am, “ he recalls.

The creativity of Msiska’s brainchild is not going unnoticed. Both the beneficiaries of the website, and the academia have hailed his artworks.

Lecturer in Linugistics at Mzuzu University, Misheck Banda applauds the innovation and says is a reflection of activism of the current generation.

“It’s a very good initiative.  Africa needs such creative and innovative minds. It bridges the communication hiccups that may exist between the two generations (the old, and the young),” said Mzumara.

On his part, one of the adolescents who is greatly enjoying browsing this web-page, Nickson Liwewe is at a loss of words for the benefits he is repeating upon visiting it.

“This website is just out of this world! It makes me keep on revisiting it again and again! It is an eye opener and of very handy to anybody who may not be at par with the current Chichewa slang. As you know, Chichewa Slang differs sometimes, depending on where one was brought. So this is an eye opener. Even foreign tourists would definitely find it so useful,” He exclaimed.

As the applauds keep on pouring in, the Mzuzu-based academician has a word of advice to this energetic web designer.

Furthermore Banda also stressed that the work qualifies to be protected by the law.

“The compilation may qualify as an original work that can be protected and promoted by intellectual property laws,” stressed Banda.

The site, www.Chichewaslang.com, was launched in October 2016, is a first of its kind in Malawi. Currently is enjoying more visits than the year it was incepted.

Ma memba ovaya, akumaloga pa Chichewaslang.com ndi kawawa!!!