Nyiha language

Nyiha
Nyiha
Ishinyiha
Native to	Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi
Ethnicity	Nyiha
Native speakers	(670,000 cited 1987–1993)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Bantu Rukwa Mbozi Mbeya South Nyiha; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either:; nih – (Tanzania, Zambia); nyr – (Malawi)
Glottolog	mboz1234
Guthrie code	M.23

Last updated January 22, 2026

Nyiha (Nyixa, Nyika) is a Bantu language primarily spoken in Tanzania and Zambia. The language of the 10,000 speakers in Malawi is different enough to sometimes be considered a distinct language.

References

↑ (Tanzania, Zambia) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
(Malawi) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
↑ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online

External links

University of Malawi Language Mapping Survey (2006) Contains comparative vocabulary and a short text in Malawian Nyika.
Krüger et al. (2009) "A Sociolinguistic Survey of the Nyiha and Nyika language communities in Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi"

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[e18-1] (Tanzania, Zambia) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
(Malawi) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[Guthrie-2] Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online

[1]

[2]

Nyiha
Ishinyiha
Native to	Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi
Ethnicity	Nyiha
Native speakers	(670,000 cited 1987–1993)^[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Bantu Rukwa Mbozi Mbeya South Nyiha
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: `nih` – (Tanzania, Zambia) `nyr` – (Malawi)
Glottolog	`mboz1234`
Guthrie code	`M.23`^[2]