Southern Luo languages
| Southern Luo (Lwo) | |
|---|---|
| Southern Lwoo | |
| Region | South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and the DRC |
| Ethnicity | Luo peoples |
Native speakers | (8.8 million cited 2001–2009)[1] |
Early form | Proto-Southern Luo[2]
|
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | luo |
| ISO 639-3 | Variously:adh – Adholakdi – Kumam is not a Lwo language by origin.luo – Dholuoalz – Alurlaj – Lango is not a Lwo language by origin.ach – Acholi |
| Glottolog | sout2831 |
The Southern Luo languages are a subgroup of the Luo languages and form a dialect cluster spoken from Uganda and neighboring countries.
Classification
The Southern Luo dialects are classified within the Glottolog database as follows:[3]
- Southern Lwoo
- Acholi
- Adhola–Alur–Luo
- Adhola–Luo
- Alur
- Lango–Kumam Classification changed to Eastern Sudanic
- Kumam Not under Luo
- Lango (Uganda) Not under Luo
The Southern Luo languages are linguistically distinct from the Kumam and Lango languages, which are associated with the Ateker (also known as Hamitic) peoples.
The modern Kumam language is documented as a hybrid dialect combining elements of Luo and Ateso. Historical evidence indicates that the Kumam people adopted aspects of the Luo language following their migration to their present-day location in Uganda.[4].
Some scholars challenge that the Lango language is not a Southern Luo language. According to one perspective, the Lango people acquired Luo linguistic elements after settling in their current territory in Uganda, due to geographical proximity to Luo-speaking communities. Contemporary Lango is characterised as a mixed dialect that incorporates modified Luo speech patterns while preserving Hamitic vocabulary from their ancestral language.[5]
On 27th to 29th November 2024, Kumam people and Lango people reunited back to the Ateker peoples the Hamites. Uganda government hosted this historical event. The Kumam people and Lango people are not ethnically related to Luo peoples[6].
References
- ^ Adhola at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Kumam is not a Lwo language by origin. at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Dholuo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Alur at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Lango is not a Lwo language by origin. at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Acholi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) - ^ Blount, Ben; Curley, Richard T. (1970). "The Southern Luo Languages: A Glottochronological Reconstruction". Journal of African Languages. 9: 1–18.
- ^ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian (10 July 2023). "Glottolog 4.8 - Southern Lwoo". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7398962. Archived from the original on 21 November 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
- ^ Tribal names and customs in Teso district, Kagolo (1955). B M. Makerere University: The Uganda Journal.
- ^ Uzoigwe, G. N. The beginnings of Lango society : a review of evidence. OCLC 38562622.
- ^ "Museveni to grace first Ateker reunion fete".