Lomwe language

Lomwe
Western Makua
Spoken in	Mozambique  Malawi
Native speakers	1.9 million, incl. Lolo  (2006)
Language family	Niger–Congo Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Bantu Southern Bantu Makua Lomwe
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Variously: ngl – Lomwe llb – Lolo kzn – Kokola

The Lomwe language, Elomwe, also known as Western Makua, Lowe, Ngulu, and Mihavani, is the fourth-largest language in Mozambique. It belongs with Makhua in the group of distinctive Bantu languages in the northern part of the country: The Makhuwa-using area proper (Nampula, etc.) is separated by a large eLomwe-speaking area from the related eChuwabo, although eMakhuwa neighbours eChuwabo in a more costal zone. To the south, the rather more distantly related Sena (ChiSena) should be assigned to a group with Nyanja and Chewa, while the distinct group which includes Yao, Makonde and Mwera is found to the north. ^[1]. Apart from the regional variations found within eMakhuwa proper, eLomwe uses ch where tt apears in eMakhuwa orthography: for instance eMakhuwa mirette ("remedy") corresponds to eLomwe mirecce, eMakhuwa murrutthu ("dead body") to eLomwe miruchu, eMakhuwa otthapa ("joy") to eLomwe 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" ^[2].

A mutually unintelligible form containing elements of [Chewa language|Chewa]], Malawian Lomwe, is spoken in Malawi. Ethnologue notes that Lolo may be a dialect of Lomwe or Makhuwa, and Kokola a dialect of Lolo.

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