Luyana
Esiluyana
Native toZambia; immigrants in Namibia, Angola
RegionOkavango River
Native speakers
480 Luyana proper (2010 census)[1]
2,900 all Luyana (Kwandi, Kwangwa, and Luyana proper) (2010 census)[1]
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3lyn
Glottologluya1241
K.31[2]

Luyana (Luyaana), also known as Luyi (Louyi, Lui, Rouyi), is a Bantu language spoken in Zambia and perhaps in small numbers in neighboring countries. It appears to be an divergent lineage of Bantu.[3] It is spoken by the Luyana people, a subgroup of the Lozi people.

Ethnologue lists Kwandi, Mbowe, Mbume, and possibly Kwangwa ("Kwanga") as dialects. Maho (2009) classifies these as distinct languages; it is not clear if any of them are part of the divergent Luyana branch of Bantu, or if they are Kavango languages.[2]

The writing system of the Luyana language was developed in 2011[4] and uses the Latin script.[4]

The language is taught in primary schools and secondary schools.[4]

Phonology

Vowels

Luyana has five simple vowels: a, e, i, o, and u.[5] o is almost always open and is rarely closed.[5] Wherever there may be hesitation between o and u, u should be used.[5]

There are no diphthongs.[5] When two vowels meet, they contract, or one is omitted.[5]

Consonants

The consonant inventory of Luyana is shown below.[6]

Bilabial Dental Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Labialized Velar
Plosive p b k ɡ
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Fricative s ʃ
Approximant j
Affricate dz
Lateral approximant l w

References

  1. 1 2 Luyana at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. 1 2 Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. Bantu Classification Archived 2012-06-24 at the Wayback Machine, Ehret, 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 https://www.ethnologue.com/language/lyn Luyana | Ethnologue
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Jacottet, E. 1896
  6. "Luyana sound inventory (PH)". phoible.org. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. 2014. Retrieved February 26, 2018.

See also


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