Lozi language

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Lozi language" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Lozi
Rozi
Silozi
Native to	Angola • Botswana • Namibia • South Africa • Zambia • Zimbabwe
Region	Western Zambia • Zambezi Region
Native speakers	(725,000 cited 1982–2010 censuses)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu Southern Bantu Sotho–Tswana Lozi
Writing system	Latin (Lozi alphabet) Zambian Braille Ditema tsa Dinoko
Official status
Recognised minority language in	Namibia  Zambia
Language codes
ISO 639-2	loz
ISO 639-3	loz
Glottolog	lozi1239
Guthrie code	K.20 (K.21)[2]
Linguasphere	99-AUT-ef

Lozi, also known as Silozi and Rozi, is a Bantu language of the Niger–Congo language family within the Sotho–Tswana branch of Zone S (S.30), that is spoken by the Lozi people, primarily in southwestern Zambia and in surrounding countries. The language is most closely related to Northern Sotho (Sesotho sa Leboa), Tswana (Setswana), Kgalagari (SheKgalagari) and Sotho (Sesotho/Southern Sotho). Lozi, sometimes written as Rotse, and its dialects are spoken and understood by approximately six per cent of the population of Zambia. Silozi is the endonym (the name of the language used by its native speakers) as defined by the United Nations. Lozi is the exonym.

The origins of Silozi can be traced back to a mixture of languages, primarily Luyana and Kololo. The Luyana people migrated south from the Kingdom of Luba and Kingdom of Lunda in the Katanga area of the Congo River basin, either late in the 17th century or early in the 18th century. They settled on the floodplains of the upper Zambezi River in what is now western Zambia, where they established a kingdom called Barotseland or Bulozi.

In the 1830s, the Kololo people, originally from the Free State province of South Africa, fled northwards to escape the Mfecane under King Shaka Zulu (died 1828). They employed tactics learned from the Zulu armies to conquer the Luyana on the Zambezi floodplains, imposing their rule and language. However, by 1864, the indigenous population revolted and overthrew the Kololo. By then, the original Luyana language had largely been replaced by a new hybrid language, Silozi.

Today, Silozi is spoken in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, reflecting its historical development and cultural significance in the region.^[3]