Lozi language

Lozi, also known as Silozi and Rozi, is a Bantu language of the Niger–Congo language family within the Sotho–Tswana branch of Zone S (S.30), that is spoken by the Lozi people, primarily in southwestern Zambia and in surrounding countries. The language is most closely related to Northern Sotho (Sesotho sa Leboa), Tswana (Setswana), Kgalagari (SheKgalagari) and Sotho (Sesotho/Southern Sotho). Lozi, sometimes written as Rotse, and its dialects are spoken and understood by approximately six per cent of the population of Zambia. Silozi is the endonym (the name of the language used by its native speakers) as defined by the United Nations. Lozi is the exonym.

Lozi
Rozi
Silozi
Native to	Angola • Botswana • Namibia • South Africa • Zambia • Zimbabwe
Region	Western Zambia • Zambezi Region
Native speakers	(725,000 cited 1982–2010 censuses)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–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)
Linguasphere	99-AUT-ef

Lozi
Person	Mulozi
People	Balozi
Language	Silozi
Country	Bulozi

A Lozi speaker, recorded in Namibia.

The origins of Silozi can be traced back to a mixture of languages, primarily Luyana and Kololo. The Luyana people 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. They settled on the floodplains of the upper Zambezi River in what is now western Zambia, where they established a kingdom called Barotseland or Bulozi.

In the 1830s, the Kololo people, originally from the Free State province of South Africa, fled northwards to escape the Mfecane under King Shaka Zulu (died 1828). They employed tactics learned from the Zulu armies to conquer the Luyana on the Zambezi floodplains, imposing their rule and language. However, by 1864, the indigenous population revolted and overthrew the Kololo. By then, the original Luyana language had largely been replaced by a new hybrid language, Silozi.

Today, Silozi is spoken in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, reflecting its historical development and cultural significance in the 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.

Orthography

Lozi uses the Latin script, which was introduced by missionaries. In 1977, Zambia standardised the language's orthography.

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 in Silozi

Silozi	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

Counting numbers in Silozi

1 kalikamu

2 totubeli

3 totulalu

4 totune

5 ketalizoho

6 silezi

7 supile

8 ketalizoho ni totulalu

9 ketalizoho ni totune

10 lishumi

20 mashumi a mabeli

30 mashumi a malalu

40 mashumi a mane

50 mashumi a ketalizoho

60 mashumi a silezi

70 mashumi a supile

80 mashumi a supile ni kalikamu

90 mashumi a supile ni totubeli

100 muanda

Silozi text

The following is a sample text in Silozi.

Silozi: Kakuli Mulimu U latile hahulu batu ba lifasi, mane U ba file Mwan'a Hae wa libanda kuli mutu ufi ni ufi ya lumela ku Yena a si ke a shwa, kono a be ni bupilo bo bu sa feli. Joani 3:16

English: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

External links

• Lozi alphabet and pronunciation at Omniglot.com
• A sample paragraph in Lozi at www.language-museum.com
• Silozi-English Dictionary, glossaries, beginner's guide, other info at www.barotseland.com, archived 2006-08-21
• Lozi-English Dictionary from Webster's Online Dictionary, archived 2007-09-30; The Rosetta Edition
• PanAfrican L10n page on Lozi at www.panafril10n.org
• OLAC resources in and about the Lozi language at www.language-archives.org
• Medical phrases in Lozi at www.medguide.org.zm, archived 2009-04-21

Lozi language stories

• Sibetta, O. Kwibisa, Ze Patezwi ba Banca (1967, Zambia Publications Bureau) in Lubuto Library Special Collections, accessed May 3, 2014/archived 2015-06-21
• Silozi language stories, in Lubuto Library Special Collections, accessed May 3, 2014
  • Lubuto Library Project at www.lubuto.org