Lozi language

Lozi
Native to	Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa
Region	Western Zambia, Zambezi
Native speakers	(725,000 cited 1982–2010 census)
Language family	Niger–Congo Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Southern Bantoid Bantu Southern Bantu Sotho–Tswana Lozi
Writing system	Latin (Lozi alphabet) Zambian Braille
Official status
Recognised minority language in	Zambia
Language codes
ISO 639-2	loz
ISO 639-3	loz
Glottolog	lozi1239
Guthrie code	K.20 (K.21)
Linguasphere	99-AUT-ef

Lozi, also called Silozi and Rozi, is a Bantu language of the Niger-Congo language family.

It is spoken by the Lozi people in southwestern Zambia. It is also spoken in Zimbabwe, Botswana, and the Zambezi Region of Namibia.

History

The Lozi language comes from a mix of two languages: Luyana and Kololo.

Example

This is Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Lozi:

Taba ya 1: Batu kaufela ba pepilwe inge ba lukuluhile ni liswanelo ze swana. Ba ba ni swanelo ya ku nahana mi ba swanela ku ba ni likezo za buzwale ku mutu yo mung'wi.

— in Lozi

Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

— in English