Luvale language

Luvale
Luvale
Chiluvale
Native to	Angola, Zambia
Ethnicity	Lovale
Native speakers	640,000 (2001–2010)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu (Zone K) Chokwe–Luchazi (K.10) Luvale; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Writing system	Latin (Luvale alphabet); Luvale Braille
Official status
Recognised minority; language in	Zambia
Language codes
ISO 639-3	lue
Glottolog	luva1239
Guthrie code	K.14

Luvale (also spelt Chiluvale, Lovale, Lubale, Luena, Lwena) is a Bantu language spoken by the Lovale people of Angola and Zambia.

Is is the native language of 180 thousand people in Angola (as of 2024), mostly in the Moxico Leste Province, where a third of the population speaks it as a native language.^[3] It is recognized as a regional language for educational and administrative purposes in Zambia, where about 168,000 people speak it (as of 2006). Luvale uses a modified form of the Latin alphabet in its written form.^[4]

Luvale is closely related to Chokwe.

Vocabulary

It contains many loanwords from Portuguese from colonial contact during 20th century,^[5] such as:

Luvale	Portuguese	English
xikata	escada	ladder
xikitelu	mosquitero	mosquito net
ngatwe	gato	cat
mbalili	barril	powder keg (lit. barrel)
kaluwaxa	carro	bicycle
semana	semana	week

Most verbs begin with "ku" in the infinitive form. In a modern dictionary, verbs are listed without the "ku" prefix, unlike in older dictionaries.

Verb	Without Prefix	English infinitive
kutonga	tonga	to sew
kwimba	imba	to sing
kwehuka	ehuka	to step aside

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants of Luvale^[6]
		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	p	t	tʃ	k
Plosive/ Affricate	prenasal	ᵐb	ⁿd	ᶮdʒ	ᵑɡ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s	ʃ		h
Fricative	voiced	v	z	ʒ
Approximant		w	l	j

Consonants may also occur as labialized [ʷ] or palatalized [ʲ].

Vowels

Vowels of Luvale^[6]
	Front	Central	Back
Close	i iː		u uː
Close-mid	e eː		o oː
Open-mid	ɛ ɛː		ɔ ɔː
Open		a aː

Speakers

References

^ Luvale at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
^ "Resultados Definitivos do Recenseamento Geral da População e Habitação - 2024" (PDF) (in Portuguese). 2025-11-20.
^ "Luvale (Chiluvale)". Omniglot. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
^ Albaugh, Ericka A.; de Luna, Kathryn M. (2018). Tracing language movement in Africa. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 263, 267, 269, 271. ISBN 9780190657550.
^ ^a ^b Horton, A. E. (1949). A Grammar of Luvale (2nd ed.). Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)

External links

"Luvale Reading Lessons". Lubuto Library Special Collections. Archived from the original on 2015-06-21. Retrieved 2014-05-04.
Moses C.B. Mulongesa, Vishimo vya Kuuko, Lubuto Library Special Collections, accessed May 3, 2014.
Luvale language books, Lubuto Library Special Collections
OLAC resources in and about the Luvale language

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[e18-1] Luvale at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[Guthrie-2] Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online

[censoAO-3] "Resultados Definitivos do Recenseamento Geral da População e Habitação - 2024" (PDF) (in Portuguese). 2025-11-20.

[4] "Luvale (Chiluvale)". Omniglot. Retrieved 23 May 2022.

[Tracing-5] Albaugh, Ericka A.; de Luna, Kathryn M. (2018). Tracing language movement in Africa. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 263, 267, 269, 271. ISBN 9780190657550.

[:0-6] Horton, A. E. (1949). A Grammar of Luvale (2nd ed.). Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)

[1]