Luvale language
Appearance
Luvale | |
---|---|
Chiluvale | |
Native to | Angola, Zambia |
Ethnicity | Lovale |
Native speakers | 640,000 (2001–2010)[1] |
Latin (Luvale alphabet) Luvale Braille | |
Official status | |
Recognised minority language in | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | lue |
Glottolog | luva1239 |
K.14 [2] |
Luvale (also spelt Chiluvale, Lovale, Lubale, Luena, Lwena) is a Bantu language spoken by the Lovale people of Angola and Zambia. It is recognized as a regional language for educational and administrative purposes in Zambia, where about 168,000 people speak it as of 2006. Luvale uses a modified form of the latin alphabet in its written form.[3]
Luvale is closely related to Chokwe.
Vocabulary
[edit]It contains many loanwords from Portuguese from colonial contact during 20th century,[4] such as:
Luvale | Portuguese | English |
---|---|---|
xikata | escada | ladder |
xikitelu | mosquitero | mosquito net |
ngatwe | gato | cat |
mbalili | barril | powder keg (lit. barrel) |
kaluwaxa | carro | bicyle |
semana | semana | week |
Phonology
[edit]Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
Plosive/ Affricate |
voiceless | p | t | tʃ | k | |
prenasal | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᶮdʒ | ᵑɡ | ||
Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʃ | h | |
voiced | v | z | ʒ | |||
Approximant | w | l | j |
Vowels
[edit]Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i iː | u uː | |
Close-mid | e eː | o oː | |
Open-mid | ɛ ɛː | ɔ ɔː | |
Open | a aː |
Speakers
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Luvale at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- ^ "Luvale (Chiluvale)". Omniglot. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
- ^ Albaugh, Ericka A.; de Luna, Kathryn M. (2018). Tracing language movement in Africa. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 263, 267, 269, 271. ISBN 9780190657550.
- ^ a b Horton, A. E. (1949). A Grammar of Luvale (2nd ed.). Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press.
Further reading
[edit]- Horton, A. E. (1949). A Grammar of Luvale. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press.
- Horton, Albert E. (1953). A Dictionary of Luvale. El Monte, Calif.: Lithographed by Rahn Bros. Print. & Lithographing.
External links
[edit]- "Luvale Reading Lessons". Lubuto Library Special Collections. Archived from the original on 2015-06-21. Retrieved 2014-05-04.
- Moses C.B. Mulongesa, Vishimo vya Kuuko, Lubuto Library Special Collections, accessed May 3, 2014.
- Luvale language books, Lubuto Library Special Collections
- OLAC resources in and about the Luvale language