Luyana language

Luyana
Esiluyana
Native to	Zambia; immigrants in Namibia, Angola
Region	Okavango River
Native speakers	480 Luyana proper in Zambia (2010 census)[1] perhaps 7,500 in Botswana (no date; not clear if Luyana proper)[2]
Language family	Niger–Congo Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Southern Bantoid Bantu (Zone K) Luyana
Language codes
ISO 639-3	lyn
Glottolog	luya1241[3]
Guthrie code	K.31[4]

Luyana (Luyaana), also known as Luyi (Louyi, Lui, Rouyi), is a Bantu language spoken in Zambia and perhaps in small numbers in neighboring countries. It appears to be an divergent lineage of Bantu.^[5]

Ethnologue lists Kwandi, Mbowe, Mbume, and possibly Kwangwa ("Kwanga") as dialects. Maho (2009) classifies these as distinct languages; it is not clear if any of them are part of the divergent Luyana branch of Bantu, or if they are Kavango languages.^[4]

References

1. Luyana at Ethnologue (16th ed., 2009)
2. Botswana at Ethnologue
3. Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Luyana". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
4. Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
5. Bantu Classification, Ehret, 2009.

See also

• Mbowe language