Emakhuwa: Mozambique’s Most Spoken Language

Ask people outside Mozambique to name a language spoken there and few will say Emakhuwa. Yet according to census data, the Emakhuwa language is the most widely spoken language in the country.

What the census says

Mozambique’s 2017 census, published by the national statistics institute (INE), shows Emakhuwa (also written Makhuwa or Macua) as the most spoken language in the country. Minority Rights Group’s Mozambique profile, citing INE, lists Emakhuwa at 29.5%, the highest share of any language. Another language we teach, Xichangana/Xitsonga, is listed at 9.7%. You can read how that language crosses borders in Xitsonga and Xichangana: a language that crosses the Limpopo.

Sociolinguist Torun Reite of Stockholm University, working with the same census data in her study Language and spatiality in urban Mozambique, confirms that at national level Emakhuwa is the most spoken language, while noting that the picture in towns and cities is different.

Where the Emakhuwa language is spoken

Emakhuwa is the language of northern Mozambique. Reite notes it is widely spoken mainly in the Cabo Delgado, Niassa and Nampula provinces. Minority Rights Group describes the Macua and the related Lómuè as the foremost group in the northern provinces of Nampula, Zambezia, Cabo Delgado and Niassa.

Bantu Plaza’s course teaches Central Makhuwa as spoken in and around Nampula city, the variety that is the basis of the written standard. Like most big languages, Emakhuwa has regional varieties, so a word you learn in Nampula may be said differently on the coast. Our course gives one example: water is maasi in Central Makhuwa, but on the coast you may hear maazi or maatsi.

Why so few outsiders know it

For decades, Mozambique’s local languages had little place in schools and government. Minority Rights Group notes that after independence the official language of instruction at all levels was not a Mozambican language at all. A language can be spoken by millions and still be missing from classrooms, offices and outside attention. Numbers alone do not make a language famous.

Three things to know before you start

• Every conversation opens with a greeting: Salaama! means hello.
• Asked as a question, Salaama? means “is all well?” and the reply is Aayo, salaama, yes, all is well.
• Thank you is Kinnixukhuru. The x sounds like English “sh”, and a double vowel such as the aa in Salaama is held twice as long.

Words to know

In everyday conversation

A first meeting in our course runs like this:

• Salaama! Hello!
• Salaama. Ihaali? Hello. How are things?
• Miyo kinkhuma oNampula. Kinnilavula Emakhuwa vakhaani. I come from Nampula. I speak a little Makhuwa.

Quick facts

• Mozambique’s 2017 census shows Emakhuwa as the most spoken language in the country.
• Minority Rights Group, citing INE, lists Emakhuwa at 29.5% and Xichangana/Xitsonga at 9.7%.
• It is widely spoken mainly in Nampula, Cabo Delgado and Niassa, and Minority Rights Group names the Macua and related Lómuè as the foremost group in the northern provinces, Zambezia included.
• Bantu Plaza teaches Central Makhuwa, as spoken in and around Nampula city.

Frequently asked questions

What is the most spoken language in Mozambique?

According to Mozambique’s 2017 census, the most spoken language is Emakhuwa. Minority Rights Group, citing INE, lists it at 29.5%, the highest share of any language.

Where is Emakhuwa spoken?

Emakhuwa is the language of northern Mozambique, spoken mainly in the Cabo Delgado, Niassa and Nampula provinces.

How do you say hello in Makhuwa?

Say Salaama! (sah-LAAH-mah). Asked as a question, Salaama? means “is all well?”, and the reply is Aayo, salaama.

A question for you

Had you heard of Emakhuwa before today? And if you are from northern Mozambique, what do you wish people knew about your language?

Makhuwa is one of our lower-resource languages, and our materials are still being refined with native and fluent speakers. Say your first words in the free 5-minute Makhuwa lesson, explore the Makhuwa hub, or go further with the Makhuwa: Starter Pack (A1).