Luchazi

Luchazi (Lucazi, Chiluchazi) is a Bantu language of Angola and Zambia. Luchazi is the principal language of the Ngangela Group.^[3] Ngangela is a term coined by the Vimbundu traders and missionaries in 18th century to describe the tribes occupying the area of eastern-central Angola.^[4]

Phonology

Consonants

The following table displays all the consonants in Luchazi:^[5]

^1 Occur rarely, may only exist in loanwords.

The position of the speech-organs in producing the consonants is different from the positions taken in producing the similar sounds in European languages. T and D, for example, are lower than in English but higher than in Portuguese. L is flatter-tongued than in either English or Portuguese. The language contains many consonantal glides, including the prenasalized plosives and the voiceless alveolar sibilant affricate (the ts sound).^[6]

Vowels^{[7] [8]}

The close front vowel (i), when occurring before another vowel, becomes a semi-consonant and is written y, unless it is immediately preceded by a consonant, when it remains i. Examples: yange, viange.

The vowels have the Continental or Italian values. They are shorter when unstressed and are prolonged when doubled or when stressed at the end of a word.

• The vowel a is Long when accented, as a in tata, nana.

Short when unstressed or before two consonants or y or s and in monosyllabic adverbs, as a in tata, paya, asa, hanga. Prolonged when doubled or stressed at the end of a word or syllable. Example: ku laako.

• The vowel e is Long when accented, as a in heta, seza.

Short when unstressed, as a in hete, seze. Short with the value of e in henga, lenda before two consonants. Exceptions are hembo and membo (due to coalescence of vowels). Many words derived from Portuguese have the short vowel though not followed by two consonants. Examples: pena, papelo, luneta, ngehena, etc. Prolonged when stressed at the end of a word.

• The vowel i is Long when accented, as e in tina, sika.

Short when unstressed or before two consonants, as e in citi, linga. In monosyllabics it is short, as i in it. Examples: ni, ndi. Prolonged when stressed. Examples: ti, fui.

• The vowel o is Long when accented, as o in sota, koka.

Short when unstressed, as o in soko, loto. Short, with value of o in onga, yoya, kosa, luozi, ndo, before two consonants or y or s, and sometimes before z and in some monosyllables. The o is long in zoza and ngozi. Sometimes prolonged when stressed at the end of a word. Example: to.

• The vowel u is Long when accented, as u in tuta, fula.

Short, when unstressed or before two consonants or before s, as u in futuka, mbunga, kusa.

Orthography

Luchazi is written using the Latin alphabet, with most characters representing the same sound as in English, with some exceptions. c is pronounced like ch in church, n followed by k or g is always nasal like ng in ring, the sound of v is bilabial instead of labiodental.^[3]

Alphabet

• A - [a/aː]
• B - [β]
• C/Ch - [t͡ʃ/t͡ʃʰ]
• D - [d/d̪/ð]
• E - [ɛ/e/ɛː]
• F - [f]
• G - [g]
• H - [h/x]
• I - [i/iː]
• J - [d͡ʒ]
• K - [k]
• L - [l/ɭ]
• M - [m]
• N - [n]
• Ny - [ɲ]
• O - [ɔ/ɔː]
• P - [p]
• R - [ɹ]
• S - [s]
• Sh - [ʃ]
• T - [t/t̪/θ], [tʲ~t͡s] before [i]
• U - [u/uː]
• W - [w]
• Y - [j]
• Z - [z]

D, G, J, R, and Sh only exist in loanwords.^[9]

Other letters

• ai - [aɪ̯]
• au - [aʊ̯]
• ei - [eɪ̯]
• ia - [i̯a]
• ie - [i̯e]
• io - [i̯o]
• iu - [i̯u]
• kh - [kʰ]
• mb - [mb]
• mph - [mpʰ]
• nch - [ɲt͡ʃʰ]
• nd - [ⁿd]
• ng - [ŋg/ŋ]
• nj - [ɲd͡ʒ]
• nk - [ŋkʰ]
• nt - [ⁿtʰ]
• ph - [pʰ]
• th - [tʰ]
• ua - [u̯a]
• ue - [u̯e]
• ui - [u̯i]
• uo - [u̯o]

References

This page was last edited on 5 March 2024, at 04:22