There are more than fifteen million native speakers of Chichewa, or Chinyanja, in Malawi, and in parts of Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa; thus Chichewa is probably the most widely spoken African language across the regions of Southern and South-Central Africa, used extensively in the private and public spheres: in the family, schools, government, NGOs and media communications. This is the first authoritative, and most comprehensive dictionary of its kind, a notable scholarly endeavour, and with major practical applications. The dictionary grew from an ad-hoc missionary publication of Chichewa/English translations from the 1970s, but far exceeds the scope of any previous efforts to transcribe the Chichewa language, provide accurate English equivalents, and reach a popular audience. It is a "live text", taking in native speakers" collections of Chichewa vocabulary, contemporary usage, as well as contributions from scholars in African languages; and it pays heed to the...