1 CLASSIFICATION
AND WHERE SPOKEN
Lozi belongs to the Lozi Group of Bantu Proper (Guthrie K20), closely related
to Sotho. It is spoken in Western Province, Zambia, and around urban Livingstone,
Zambia.
2 NUMBER OF SPEAKERS
Speaker estimates range from 70,000 (Voegelin and Voegelin, 1977) to 450,000 (UBS 1982) and 557,000 (Grimes 1996). Alexandre (1981) gives a combined figure of 150,000 for Lozi (K20) and Luyana (K30).
3 DIALECT SURVEY
No dialect survey has come to our attention as of this writing. There are many varieties of Lingala. Most materials are prepared in one of two styles, either in classical/literary Lingala or in popular Lingala. It is felt by many that the two varieties are not mutually intelligible.
4
USAGE
Lozi is an official language in Zambia and an important lingua franca in western
Zaire. Lozi is broadcast in Zambia and Zaire, as well as from South Africa.
The Zambian Bureau of Information publishes the monthly Liseli in Lozi.
5
ORTHOGRAPHIC STATUS
According to Heine (1970), "Lozi has its own alphabet and literature."
6
SETS OF LEARNING MATERIALS
Given the size and recent development of Lozi, it appears
that one set of materials would be sufficient.
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