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.
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).
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.
According to Heine (1970), "Lozi has its own alphabet and literature."
Given the size and recent development of Lozi, it appears that one set of materials would be sufficient.
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