Skills on AI

Locale Ny 001

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Use when working with the Chichewa locale (`ny-001`) — its endonym Chichewa, Latin script, left-to-right (LTR) direction, or spoken-population data. Reference data and translation guidance (register, grammar, idiom, typography) for this specific locale; see [[locale]] for general i18n/l10n concepts (BCP 47, plural rules, RTL) that apply across all locales.

Reference data for the Chichewa locale — endonym Chichewa, written in the Latin script, left-to-right (LTR).

Identifiers

  • BCP 47 tag: ny-001
  • ISO 639-1: ny
  • ISO 639-3: nya
  • Script: Latn (Latin)
  • Region: 001 (World)
  • Text direction: ltr — left-to-right (LTR)

Speakers (approximate)

  • L1 (native): 12,000,000
  • L2 (additional): 4,000,000
  • L1+L2 (total): 16,000,000

Pluralization

CLDR plural categories for this locale: one, other (2 forms).

  • one — n = 1 (e.g. 1)
  • other — everything else (e.g. 0, 2~16, 100, 1000, …)

See Unicode Messageformat for writing plural messages using these categories.

Translating into this locale

Chichewa (Chewa, Nyanja) is a Bantu language of Malawi, Zambia, and Mozambique, written in the Latin script. In Malawi it is the national language; in Zambia the related variety is called Nyanja. It has noun classes and tone. This guidance is lower-confidence; have a native reviewer check it.

Translate ideas, not words.

  • Chichewa verbs carry subject, tense, and object markers in a single word. Restructure English sentences; do not translate word for word.
  • Nouns belong to noun classes with concord on adjectives, verbs, and possessives.
  • Use approved Chichewa terminology (from the Centre for Language Studies, University of Malawi, and the Chichewa Board) rather than raw English borrowings where one exists.
  • Re-express idioms and proverbs (miyambi) by meaning.

Register.

  • Iwe is "you" (singular) and inu is the plural and respectful form. Use inu for elders and in public text. Greetings are important (Muli bwanji?, Zikomo).

Orthography and typography.

  • Tones are not written in standard spelling. Follow the Malawian orthography (the 1973 reform) for ch, ng', ph, th, and mw.
  • Currency kwacha (MK in Malawi, ZK in Zambia); dates 17 Okutobala 2026; decimal point.

Common pitfalls

  • Wrong noun-class concords.
  • Using Zambian Nyanja spellings in Malawian content, or the reverse.
  • Dropping the apostrophe in ng'.

Learn more

  • Locale for BCP 47 identifiers, locale-sensitive formatting, pluralization, and text-direction concepts that apply across all locales.
  • Unicode Messageformat for writing plural/selection messages correctly for this locale's grammar.
  • Centre for Language Studies, University of Malawi
  • Unicode CLDR locale data for ny (https://cldr.unicode.org)

View locale-ny-001/SKILL.md on GitHub