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

Vocabulary

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

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

Speakers