Editing Lozi language (section)

{{Short description|Bantu language spoken in southern Africa}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2018}}

{{refimprove|date=February 2018}}

{{Infobox language
| name             = Lozi
| nativename       = Silozi
| states           = [[Botswana]] • [[Namibia]] • [[Zambia]]
| region           = [[Barotseland|Western Zambia]] • [[Zambezi Region]]
| speakers         = 725,000
| date             = 1982–2010 [[census]]es
| ref              = e18
| familycolor      = Niger-Congo
| fam2             = [[Atlantic–Congo languages|Atlantic–Congo]]
| fam3             = [[Volta-Congo]]
| fam4             = [[Benue–Congo languages|Benue–Congo]]
| fam5             = [[Bantoid]]
| fam6             = [[Southern Bantoid languages|Southern Bantoid]]
| fam7             = [[Bantu languages|Bantu]]
| fam8             = [[Southern Bantu languages|Southern Bantu]]
| fam9             = [[Sotho–Tswana languages|Sotho–Tswana]]
| minority         = {{NAM}}<br>{{ZAM}}
| script           = [[Latin script|Latin]] (Lozi alphabet)<br/>[[Zambian Braille]]<br>[[Ditema tsa Dinoko]]
| iso2             = loz
| iso3             = loz
| glotto           = lozi1239
| glottorefname    = Lozi
| lingua           = 99-AUT-ef
| guthrie          = K.20 (K.21)
| altname          = Rozi
}}
{{Infobox Bantu name|Mulozi|Balozi|Silozi|Bulozi|root=Lozi}}

[[File:WIKITONGUES- Winnie speaking siLozi.webm|thumb|A Lozi speaker, recorded in [[Namibia]].]]

'''Lozi''', also known as '''Silozi''' and '''Rozi''', is a [[Bantu language]] of the [[Niger–Congo languages|Niger–Congo language family]] within the [[Sotho–Tswana languages|Sotho–Tswana branch]] of [[Guthrie classification of Bantu languages#Zone S|Zone S (S.30)]], that is spoken by the [[Lozi people]], primarily in southwestern [[Zambia]] and in Namibia. The language is most closely related to [[Northern Sotho language|Northern Sotho]] (''Sesotho sa Leboa''), [[Tswana language|Tswana]] (''Setswana''), [[Kgalagadi language|Kgalagari]] (''SheKgalagari'') and [[Sotho language|Sotho]] (''Sesotho''/Southern Sotho). Lozi is sometimes written as ''Rotse''. ''Silozi'' is the [[exonym and endonym|endonym]] (the name of the language used by its native speakers).

The origins of Silozi can be traced back to a mixture of languages, primarily [[Luyana language|Luyana]] and [[Kololo people|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|Zambezi River]] in what is now [[Western Province, Zambia|western Zambia]], where they established a kingdom called [[Barotseland]] or [[Barotseland|Bulozi]].

In the 1830s, the [[Kololo people]], originally from the [[Free State (province)|Free State province]] of [[South Africa]], fled northwards to escape the [[Mfecane]] under [[Shaka|King Shaka Zulu]] (died 1828). They employed tactics learned from the [[Zulu people|Zulu]] armies to conquer the Luyana on the [[Barotse Floodplain|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 <u>hybrid</u> language, Silozi.

Today, Silozi is spoken in [[Namibia]] and [[Zambia]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-07-09 |title=An Introduction To Zambia's Lozi People |url=https://theculturetrip.com/africa/zambia/articles/an-introduction-to-zambias-lozi-people |access-date=2024-08-03 |website=the Culture Trip -Africa |language=}}</ref>