Lunda language

Lunda
Chilunda
Native to	Zambia, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ethnicity	Lunda people
Native speakers	(600,000 in Zambia and Angola 800.000 cited 2001–2023) 1.1 million in Congo
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu (Zone L) Lunda languages (L.50) Lunda
Writing system	Latin (Lunda alphabet) Lunda Braille
Official status
Recognised minority language in	Zambia
Language codes
ISO 639-2	lun
ISO 639-3	lun
Glottolog	lund1266
Guthrie code	L.52
ELP

Lunda, also known as Chilunda, is a Bantu language spoken in Zambia, Angola, and, to a lesser extent, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Lunda and its dialects are spoken and understood by perhaps 8.6% of Zambians (1986 estimate), and the language is used mainly in the Northwestern province of Zambia. The majority of the Lunda can be found in DRC, especially Katanga Province, as well as in Angola. A small number of Lunda dialects are represented in Namibia.

Phonology

Vowels

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

Vowel length is contrastive.

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	p	t	tʃ	k
	voiced	b	d	dʒ	ɡ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s	ʃ		h
	voiced	v	z	ʒ
Approximant		w	l	j

/w/ may also be heard as a bilabial glide [β̞].

External links

• Lunda language stories, Lubuto Library Special Collections
• OLAC resources in and about the Lunda language