Luyana language

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Luyana
Esiluyana
Native to Zambia; immigrants in Namibia, Angola
Region Okavango River
Native speakers
 unknown (undated figure of 410,000, including Mbowe, Kwandi, etc.)[1]
Niger–Congo
  • Atlantic–Congo
    • Benue–Congo
      • Southern Bantoid
Language codes
ISO 639-3 lyn
K.31[2]

Luyana (Luyaana), also known as Luyi (Louyi, Lui, Rouyi), is a Bantu language spoken by almost half a million people in Zambia and in discontinuous areas of Namibia and Angola. It appears to be an divergent lineage of Bantu.[3]

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]

References

  1. ↑ Luyana reference at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. ↑ Bantu Classification, Ehret, 2009.


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