| Kuku | |
|---|---|
| Region | South Sudan andUganda |
| Ethnicity | Kuku people |
Native speakers | 200,000 (2014)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | ukv |
| Glottolog | kuku1285 |
TheKuku dialect, also calledKutuk na Kuku (Kuku language), belongs to the Karo language group, of the Southeastern Nilotic branch of the Nilotic language family of Southern Sudan and Northern Uganda. There is no standardized writing system for Kuku; it is sometimes written using the alphabet of a related language such asBari orKakwa, with the addition of characters to represent sounds that are not present in the other language. For example, the Bari alphabet can be adjusted for use in Kuku by adding the digraphsgb andkp to represent the voiced and voiceless labiovelar stops, respectively.
The Kuku alphabet, which has two digraphs not found in theBari alphabet, runs as follows:
A E I O U Ö – B D G J K L – M N P R S T – W Y ’B ’D ’Y Ŋ – NY GB KP
a e i o ö – b d g j k l – m n p r s t – w y ’b ’d ’y ŋ – ny gb kp
Kuku is a tone language. It hasagglutinative verbal morphology, with extensive suppletion. Nouns are divided into two genders. There is a vowel harmony system that primarily involves an ATR distinction. Differences between Kuku andBari include the phoneme inventory, pronouns, tonal phonology, and tense formation. The most striking difference may be in the function of the qualitative morpheme, which is used to indicate a definite/indefinite contrast in Bari, but indicates an aspectual contrast in Kuku.[2] Kuku language have a variety of borrowed words. some words are of Kisawahili, and Arabic language that are altered a little to sound different. Today a number of words seem to be derived from English too by the more educated Kuku people. More educated Kuku people mix the language with some English in it mostly for example if they want to say "you are not serious" they say "Do mb'an sirias".
The traditionalfolk songs of the Kuku people are Bula and Kore. The songs are sung and traditionaldrums and the horn are played asinstruments. The dance include shuffling of feet and stumping for the Bula, and some form of rhythmic jumping for the Kore.
Modern music is also common among the Kuku. Due to the many years of the civil war, theculture is heavily influenced by the countries neighboring South Sudan. Most Kuku fled toKenya andUganda where they interacted with the nationals and learnt their languages andculture. For most of those who remained in the country, or went North toSudan andEgypt, they greatly assimilated Arabicculture.
It is also worth noting that most Kuku kept the core of theirculture even while inexile anddiaspora. Traditional culture is highly upheld and a great focus is given to knowing one's origin anddialect. Although the common languages spoken are Arabi Juba andEnglish, Kuku is the unifying language. Many music artists from Central Equatoria use English,Kiswahili, Arabi Juba, their Kuku or a mix of all.
Popular artists from Kuku are likeReflections BYG, a beautiful fresh voice rocking theZouk floor with her first singleNg'ume which means Smile received high hits in the first few days of its release. She has an amazing strong voice for the popularJazz as well asAfrobeat andHip Hop;De-vine Is a new songstress from the same county ofKajo Keji singingR&B andZouk. Although the women are underrepresented, these two talents are putting the state back on the charts. Emmanuel Lasu is one of the popular male talent that central Equatoria has produced.
