Lucazi language

Luchazi
Chiluchazi
Native to Angola, Zambia
Native speakers
 unknown (undated figure of 900,000[1])[2]
Standard forms
Ngangela
Language codes
ISO 639-3 lch – inclusive code
Individual codes:
lch – Luchazi
nba – Nyemba
mfu – Mbwela
Glottolog luch1239  (Luchazi)[3]
nyem1238  (Nyemba)[4]
mbwe1238  (Mbwela)[5]
K.13, K.12b, K.17[6]

Luchazi (Lucazi, Chiluchazi) is a Bantu language of Angola and Zambia. Ethnically distinct varieties, many of which are subsumed under the generic term Ngangela, are all "fully intelligible".[7] These are Luchazi itself, Nyemba, Mbwela of Angola (Ambuella, Shimbwera, not to be confused with Mbwela of Zambia) and Ngonzela.

Sounds

Luchazi proper has five vowels (/a ɛ i ɔ u/), three tone levels, and the following consonants:[8]

p t tʃ k
f s ʃ h
β z l j w
m n ɲ ŋ

There are also prenasalized stops, /mpʰ ntʰ ŋkʰ/, /mb nd ɲdʒ ŋɡ/.

There are possibly other consonants, such as /ts/(?) and /tʲ/(?). /ʃ/ and /ŋ/ are rare and may be from loans.

References

  1. ↑ The population of Luchazi proper in Angola was changed from 155,000 (cited 2001) to 400,000, with no date or reference, in the 17th edition of Ethnologue.
  2. ↑ Luchazi at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013)
    Luchazi at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013)
    Nyemba at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013)
    Mbwela at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013)
  3. ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Luchazi". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  4. ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Nyemba". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  5. ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Mbwela". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  6. ↑ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  7. ↑ Nyemba at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  8. ↑ Gerhard Kubik, 2006, Tusona: Luchazi Ideographs : a Graphic Tradition of West-Central Africa, pp. 300, 303