Lozi (language)
Lozi | ||
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Spoken in |
Botswana , Zambia , Namibia | |
speaker | 600,000 | |
Linguistic classification |
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Official status | ||
Official language in | - | |
Recognized minority / regional language in |
Botswana , Zambia , Namibia | |
Language codes | ||
ISO 639 -1 |
- |
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ISO 639 -2 |
loz |
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ISO 639-3 |
loz |
Lozi (also siLozi or Rotse language , Rozi , Serotse or Sekololo ) is the language of the Lozi , a tribe on the Zambezi above the Victoria Falls in southern Africa .
Lozi is a Bantu language related to Sotho and has around half a million speakers in Zambia (mainly in the western province with the center Mongu ), 70,000 in Zimbabwe and around 15,000 in Botswana and Namibia , for the latter exclusively in the Caprivi region .
alphabet
Since 1977 there is an official spelling of the Lozi in Latin script:
Lozi | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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a | b | c | d | e | f | G | H | i | j | k | l | m | n | ng | ng ' | ñ | O | p | s | sh | t | u | w | y | z |
IPA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
a | b | t͡ʃ | d | ɛ / e / ɪ | f | x | H | i | d͡ʒ | k | l | m | n | G | ŋ | ɲ | ɔ / o / ʊ | p | s | ʃ | t | u | w | j | z |
Note : The capital letters of ng , i.e. Ng , are pronounced as ŋ .
Language examples
Simple phrases
- Muzuhile - good afternoon / good morning
- Mutozi chwani? - How are you?
- Ni tozi hande. Wena utozi chwani? - I'm fine, how are you?
- Na nami siya - goodbye
- Mutola Hande - I wish you a nice day
- Ni tumezi - thank you
Months
- Sope - January
- Yowa - February
- Liatamanyi - March
- Lungu - April
- Kandao - May
- Mbuwana - June
- Sikulu - July
- Muyana - August
- Muimunene - September
- Yenda - October
- Njimwana - November
- Ñulule - December