Lozi, also known as Silozi and Rozi, is a

Bantu language The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu language, Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀), or Ntu languages are a language family of about 600 languages of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern, East Africa, Eastern and Southeast Africa, South ...

of the Niger–Congo language family within the Sotho–Tswana branch of Zone S (S.30), that is spoken by the

Lozi people The Lozi people, also known as Balozi, are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group native to Southern Africa. They have significant populations in Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The Lozi language, Silozi, is used as the formal language in e ...

, primarily in southwestern

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

and in Namibia. The language is most closely related to

Northern Sotho Sepedi, also known as Northern Sotho, is one of South Africa’s twelve official languages and belongs to the Bantu language family, specifically the Sotho-Tswana group. The language is spoken mainly in Limpopo Province, and to a lesser exten ...

(''Sesotho sa Leboa''), Tswana (''Setswana''), Kgalagari (''SheKgalagari'') and Sotho (''Sesotho''/Southern Sotho). Lozi is sometimes written as ''Rotse''. ''Silozi'' is the

endonym An endonym (also known as autonym ) is a common, name for a group of people, individual person, geographical place, language, or dialect, meaning that it is used inside a particular group or linguistic community to identify or designate them ...

(the name of the language used by its native speakers). 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 The Luba Empire or Kingdom of Luba was a pre-colonial Central African state that arose in the marshy grasslands of the Upemba Depression in what is now southern Democratic Republic of Congo. Origins and foundation Archaeological research shows ...

and

Kingdom of Lunda The Lunda Empire or Kingdom of Lunda was a confederation of states in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, north-eastern Angola, and north-western Zambia. Its central state was in Katanga Province, Katanga. Origin Initially, the core of ...

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 The Zambezi (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than half of t ...

in what is now western Zambia, where they established a kingdom called

Barotseland Barotseland (Lozi language, Lozi: ''Mubuso Bulozi'') is a region between Namibia, Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe including half of north-western province, southern province, and parts of Lusaka Province, Lusaka, Central Province, Zambia, Central, ...

or Bulozi. In the 1830s, the

Kololo people The Kololo or Makololo are a subgroup of the Sotho-Tswana peoples, Sotho-Tswana people native to Southern Africa. In the early 19th century, they were displaced by the Zulu people, Zulu, migrating north to Barotseland, Zambia. They conquered the ...

, originally from the Free State province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, 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

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

and

Phonology

Lozi has 5 vowels: 20 consonants are in Lozi: Tone is marked as high or low.

Orthography

Lozi uses the

Latin script The Latin script, also known as the Roman script, is a writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae in Magna Graecia. The Gree ...

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

Vocabulary

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 In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

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

References

External links

Lozi alphabet and pronunciation
at ''Omniglot.com''

at ''www.language-museum.com''

at ''www.barotseland.com'', archived 2006-08-21
Lozi-English Dictionary
fro
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''

at ''www.medguide.org.zm,'' archived 2009-04-21

Lozi language stories

*Sibetta, O. Kwibisa, ' (1967, Zambia Publications Bureau) in , 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'' {{Authority control Sotho-Tswana languages Languages of Botswana Languages of Namibia Languages of South Africa Languages of Zambia Languages of Zimbabwe Library of Congress Africa Collection related Lozi people