# Luchazi

Luchazi (Lucazi, Chiluchazi) is a Bantu language of Angola and Zambia. Luchazi is the principal language of the Ngangela Group. Ngangela is a term coined by the Vimbundu traders and missionaries in 18th century to describe the tribes occupying the area of eastern-central Angola.

## Phonology
### Consonants

The following table displays all the consonants in Luchazi:
| | | Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
| Nasal | Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t tʲ | t͡ʃ | k | |
| Plosive | prenasalized | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᶮd͡ʒ | ᵑɡ | |
| Plosive | prenasalized asp. | ᵐpʰ | ⁿtʰ | | ᵑkʰ | |
| Affricate | Affricate | | t͡s | | | |
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʃ | | h |
| Fricative | voiced | β | z | | | |
| Approximant | Approximant | | l | j | w | |
    ^1 Occur rarely, may only exist in loanwords.
The position of the speech-organs in producing the consonants is different from the positions taken in producing the similar sounds in European languages. T and D, for example, are lower than in English but higher than in Portuguese. L is flatter-tongued than in either English or Portuguese. The language contains many consonantal glides, including the prenasalized plosives and the voiceless alveolar sibilant affricate (the ts sound).

### Vowels

Source:
| | Front | Back |
| Close | ɪ iː | ʊ uː |
| Mid | ɛ ɛː | ɔ ɔː |
| Open | a aː | |
| Diphthongs | eɪ aɪ au ia ie io iu ua ue ui uo | eɪ aɪ au ia ie io iu ua ue ui uo |
The close front vowel (i), when occurring before another vowel, becomes a semi-consonant and is written y, unless it is immediately preceded by a consonant, when it remains i. Examples: yange, viange.
The vowels have the Continental or Italian values. They are shorter when unstressed and are prolonged when doubled or when stressed at the end of a word.
* The vowel a is Long when accented, as a in tata, nana.
Short when unstressed or before two consonants or y or s and in monosyllabic adverbs, as a in tata, paya, asa, hanga. Prolonged when doubled or stressed at the end of a word or syllable. Example: ku laako.
* The vowel e is Long when accented, as a in heta, seza.
Short when unstressed, as a in hete, seze. Short with the value of e in henga, lenda before two consonants. Exceptions are hembo and membo (due to coalescence of vowels). Many words derived from Portuguese have the short vowel though not followed by two consonants. Examples: pena, papelo, luneta, ngehena, etc. Prolonged when stressed at the end of a word.
* The vowel i is Long when accented, as e in tina, sika.
Short when unstressed or before two consonants, as e in citi, linga. In monosyllabics it is short, as i in it. Examples: ni, ndi. Prolonged when stressed. Examples: ti, fui.
* The vowel o is Long when accented, as o in sota, koka.
Short when unstressed, as o in soko, loto. Short, with value of o in onga, yoya, kosa, luozi, ndo, before two consonants or y or s, and sometimes before z and in some monosyllables. The o is long in zoza and ngozi. Sometimes prolonged when stressed at the end of a word. Example: to.
* The vowel u is Long when accented, as u in tuta, fula.
Short, when unstressed or before two consonants or before s, as u in futuka, mbunga, kusa.

## Orthography

Luchazi is written using the Latin alphabet, with most characters representing the same sound as in English, with some exceptions. c is pronounced like ch in church, n followed by k or g is always nasal like ng in ring, the sound of v is bilabial instead of labiodental.

### Alphabet

* A - [a/aː]
* B - [β]
* C/Ch - [t͡ʃ/t͡ʃʰ]
* D - [d/d̪/ð]
* E - [ɛ/e/ɛː]
* F - [f]
* G - [g]
* H - [h/x]
* I - [i/iː]
* J - [d͡ʒ]
* K - [k]
* L - [l/ɭ]
* M - [m]
* N - [n]
* Ny - [ɲ]
* O - [ɔ/ɔː]
* P - [p]
* R - [ɹ]
* S - [s]
* Sh - [ʃ]
* T - [t/t̪/θ], [tʲ~t͡s] before [i]
* U - [u/uː]
* W - [w]
* Y - [j]
* Z - [z]
D, G, J, R, and Sh only exist in loanwords.

### Other letters

* ai - [aɪ̯]
* au - [aʊ̯]
* ei - [eɪ̯]
* ia - [i̯a]
* ie - [i̯e]
* io - [i̯o]
* iu - [i̯u]
* kh - [kʰ]
* mb - [mb]
* mph - [mpʰ]
* nch - [ɲt͡ʃʰ]
* nd - [ⁿd]
* ng - [ŋg/ŋ]
* nj - [ɲd͡ʒ]
* nk - [ŋkʰ]
* nt - [ⁿtʰ]
* ph - [pʰ]
* th - [tʰ]
* ua - [u̯a]
* ue - [u̯e]
* ui - [u̯i]
* uo - [u̯o]