Lomwe language

Not to be confused with Ngulu language (Tanzania).

Lomwe
Western Makhuwa
Elomwe
Native to	Malawi, Mozambique
Native speakers	2,520,000 (2017)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu Southern Bantu Makua Lomwe
Dialects	Lomwe Ngulu (Mihavane)
Official status
Recognised minority language in	Malawi
Language codes
ISO 639-3	ngl
Glottolog	lomw1241
Guthrie code	P.32–33

The Lomwe (Lowe) language, Elomwe, also known as Western Makua, is the Bantu language of Mozambique. It belongs with Makua in the group of distinctive Bantu languages in the northern part of the country.

Apart from the regional variations found within the Makhuwa proper, the Lomwe uses ch where tt appears in the Makhuwa orthography: for instance the Makhuwa mirette ("remedy") corresponds to the Lomwe mirecce, the Makhuwa murrutthu ("dead body") to the Lomwe miruchu, the Makhuwa otthapa ("joy") to the Lomwe ochapa.

Unusual among Bantu languages is the infinitive of the verb with o- instead of the typically Bantu ku- prefix: omala (eMakhuwa) is "to finish", omeeela (also an eMakhuwa form) is "to share out".

A mutually unintelligible form containing elements of Malawian Lomwe, is spoken in Malawi. Maho (2009) separates out Ngulu (Mihavane) as a separate language, close to Malawi Lomwe.

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar		Glottal
					plain	lab.
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	p	t	tʃ	k	kʷ
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ	tʃʰ	kʰ	kʷʰ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s	ʃ			h
	voiced	v	z
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Trill			r
Lateral			l	ʎ
Approximant				j		w

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i iː		u uː
Mid	e eː		o oː
Open		a aː

External links

Lomwe Dictionary