Luvale language

Luvale
Luvale
Chiluvale
Native to	Angola, Zambia
Ethnicity	Lovale
Native speakers	(640,000 cited 2001–2010)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu (Zone K) Chokwe–Luchazi (K.10) Luvale; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Writing system	Latin (Luvale alphabet); Luvale Braille
Official status
Recognised minority; language in	Zambia
Language codes
ISO 639-3	lue
Glottolog	luva1239
Guthrie code	K.14

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

Is is the native language of 180 thousand people in Angola (as of 2024), mostly in the Moxico Leste Province, where a third of the population speaks it as a native language. 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.