Lango (also called Leb-Lango) is a Southern Luo language or dialect cluster of the Western Nilotic language branch.[3] The word "Lango" is used to describe both the language spoken by the indigenous and the tribe itself.
| Lango | |
|---|---|
| Lëblaŋo | |
| Native to | Uganda |
| Region | Lango sub-region |
| Ethnicity | Lango |
Native speakers | 2.1 million (2014 census)[1] |
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | laj |
| Glottolog | lang1324 |
| Glottopedia | Lango[2] |
It is mainly spoken in Lango sub-region, in the North Central Region of Uganda. An orthography for it using the Latin script has been introduced and is taught in primary schools.
The origin of Lango people is strongly linked to the Karamojong and Teso speaking people.[4]
Phonology
Consonants
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | voiceless | p | t | k | (ʔ) | |
| voiced | b | d | g | |||
| Affricate | voiceless | tɕ | ||||
| voiced | dʑ | |||||
| Fricative | (ɸ) | (s) | (ɕ) | (x) | ||
| Lateral | l | |||||
| Tap | voiceless | (ɾ̥) | ||||
| voiced | ɾ | |||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
| Semivowel | w | j | ||||
In addition to these consonants, the Lango language maintains a gemination [Cː] distinction in the stops, affricates, nasals and lateral.
Voiceless stops and affricates are slightly aspirated, whereas voiced stops and affricates are fully voiced, sometimes with a characteristic of breathy voice. Stops are normally unreleased at the end of an utterance.
Fricatives and the voiceless alveolar tap are found in complementary distribution with ungeminated voiceless stops and affricates:[3]
- [p] alternates with [ɸ]
- [t] alternates with [ɾ̥]
- [tɕ] alternates with [s] and [ɕ]
- [k] alternates with [x]
A glottal stop [ʔ] can also be heard in word-initial position, or in other intervocalic positions. In slow speech, it may also be heard as a murmured fricative [ɦ].[3]
Vowels
Kumam has ten vowels, forming an asymmetric vowel harmony system based on advanced and retracted tongue root, wherein the presence of advanced tongue root vowels [+ATR] may change retracted tongue root vowels [-ATR], but the reverse does not hold. Vowels can be lengthened but in a predictable manner.[3]
| [+ATR] | [-ATR] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front | Central | Back | Front | Central | Back | |
| Close | i | u | ɪ | ʊ | ||
| Mid | e | ə | o | ɛ | ɔ | |
| Open | a | |||||
Writing system
| a | b | c | d | e | ë | g | i | ï | j | k | l | m | n | ŋ | ny | o | ö | p | r | t | u | ü | w | y |
Long vowels are indicated by doubling the vowel: ⟨aa, ee, ëë, ii, ïï, oo, öö, uu, üü⟩.
References
- Okoth Okombo, Duncan (1997). A Functional Grammar of Dholuo. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag. ISBN 978-3-89645-130-9.