Lozi language

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Lozi
siLozi / Rozi
Native to	Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa
Region	Western Zambia, Zambezi
Native speakers	(725,000 cited 1982–2010 census)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu Southern Bantu Sotho–Tswana Lozi
Writing system	Latin (Lozi alphabet) Zambian Braille Ditema tsa Dinoko
Official status
Recognised minority language in	Namibia  Zambia
Language codes
ISO 639-2	loz
ISO 639-3	loz
Glottolog	lozi1239
Guthrie code	K.20 (K.21)[2]
Linguasphere	99-AUT-ef

Lozi
Person	Mulozi
People	Balozi
Language	Silozi
Country	Bulozi

Lozi, also known as siLozi and Rozi, is a

.

The Lozi language developed from a mixture of two languages: Luyana and Kololo. The Luyana people originally migrated south from the Kingdom of Luba and Kingdom of Lunda in the Katanga area of the Congo River basin, either late in the 17th century or early in the 18th century. The language they spoke, therefore, was closely related to Luba and Lunda. They settled on the floodplains of the upper Zambezi in what is now western Zambia and developed a kingdom, Barotseland, and also gave their name to the Barotse Floodplain or Bulozi.

The Kololo were a

than to any other neighbouring languages in Zambia.

Lozi is also spoken in Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia (Zambezi Region).

Phonology

Lozi has 5 vowels:

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid	e		o
Low		a

20 consonants are in Lozi:

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal/ Postalveolar	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Plosive	voiceless	p	t	c	k
	voiced	b	d	ɟ	ɡ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s	ʃ		h
	voiced		z
Approximant			l	j	w

Tone is marked as high or low.^[3]

Orthography

Lozi uses the Latin script,^[4][5] which was introduced by missionaries. In 1977, Zambia standardised the language's orthography.^[6]

Letters ( upper case )	A	B	C	CH	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N	Ñ	O	P	S	SH	T	U	W	Y	Z
Letters ( lower case )	a	b	c	ch	d	e	f	g	h	i	j	k	l	m	n	ñ	o	p	s	sh	t	u	w	y	z
IPA	[a]	[b]	[tʃ]		[ d ]	[e], [ɛ], [ɪ]	[f]	[x]	[h]	[i]	[dʒ]	[k]	[ l ]	[m]	[ n ]	[ɲ]	[o], [ʊ], [ɔ]	[p]	[s]	[ʃ]	[ t ]	[u]	[w]	[j]	[z]

Vocabulary

Months of the year

Lozi	English
Sope	January
Yowa	February
Liatamanyi	March
Lungu	April
Kandao	May
Mbuwana	June
Sikulu	July
Muyana	August
Muimunene	September
Yenda	October
Njimwana	November
Ñulule	December

Sample text

The following is a sample text in Lozi of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (by the United Nations):

Taba ya 1: Batu kaufela ba pepilwe inge ba lukuluhile ni liswanelo ze swana. Ba ba ni swanelo ya ku nahana mi ba swanela ku ba ni likezo za buzwale ku mutu yo mung'wi.

— in Lozi^[7]

Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

— in English^[8]

References

External links

• Lozi alphabet and pronunciation at Omniglot
• A sample paragraph in Lozi
• Silozi-English Dictionary, glossaries, beginner's guide, other info
• Lozi English Dictionary from Webster's Online Dictionary -
  The Rosetta Edition
• PanAfrican L10n page on Lozi
• OLAC resources in and about the Lozi language
• Medical phrases in Lozi

Lozi language stories

• Sibetta, O.Kwibisa, Ze Patezwi ba Banca, Lubuto Library Special Collections, accessed May 3, 2014
• Silozi language stories^{[permanent dead link]}, Lubuto Library Special Collections, accessed May 3, 2014