| Luyana | |
|---|---|
| Esiluyana | |
| Native to | Zambia; immigrants inNamibia,Angola |
| Region | Okavango 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 639-3 | lyn |
| Glottolog | luya1241 |
K.31[2] | |
Luyana (Luyaana), also known asLuyi (Louyi, Lui, Rouyi), is aBantu language spoken inZambia and perhaps in small numbers in neighboring countries. It appears to be a divergent lineage of Bantu.[3] It is spoken by the Luyana people, a subgroup of theLozi people.
Ethnologue listsKwandi,Mbowe,Mbume, and possiblyKwangwa ("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 areKavango languages.[2]
The writing system of the Luyana language was developed in 2011[4] and uses theLatin script.[4]
The language is taught inprimary schools andsecondary schools.[4]
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u |
| Mid | e | o |
| Open | a |
Luyana has five simple vowels:⟨a⟩,⟨e⟩,⟨i⟩,⟨o⟩, and⟨u⟩.⟨o⟩ is almost always open and is rarely closed. Wherever there may be hesitation between⟨o⟩ and⟨u⟩,⟨u⟩ should be used.[6]
There are no diphthongs. When two vowels meet, they contract, or one is omitted.[6]
The consonant inventory of Luyana is shown below.[5]
| Bilabial | Dental/Alveolar | Post-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t̪ | k | ||
| voiced | b | d̪ | ɡ | |||
| Affricate | dz | dʒ | ||||
| Fricative | s | ʃ | ||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
| Approximant | l | j | w | |||
 | ThisBantu language-related article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |