Soo orSo is theKuliak language of theTepes people of northeasternUganda. The language ismoribund, with most of the population of 5,000 having shifted toKaramojong, and only a few dozen elderly individuals are still able to speak Soo. Soo is divided into three major dialects: Tepes, Kadam (Katam), and Napak (Yog Toŋi).
There are between 3,000 and 10,000 ethnic Soo people (Carlin 1993). They were historically hunter-gatherers, but have recently shifted to pastoralism and subsistence farming like their Nilotic and Bantu neighbors.[3] Beer (2009: 2) found that most Soo villages have only one speaker remaining. Thus, the speakers rarely have a chance to actively use the Soo language.
Soo dialects are spoken on the slopes of the following three mountains in east-central Uganda just to the north ofMount Elgon.[4]
Tepes dialect (also calledTepeth), on the slopes ofMount Moroto inMoroto District, Uganda. It is spoken in the Kakingol, Lea, and Tapac valleys on the slopes the Mount Moroto.[5] The dominant language in the area is Karimojong. Most Tepes people have assimilated both linguistically and culturally with theKarimojong people.[6] Villages include Akeme, Nabuin, and Mokora,[7] as well as Naripo Kakole.[5]
Kadam dialect, on the slopes ofMount Kadam inNakapiripirit District, Uganda. Villages include Nakapeliethe and Nakaapiripirit.[8] Kadam data is primarily available in Heine (m.s.).[9] The dominant language in the area isPokot.[6] According to Carlin (1993), Mount Kadam has the highest concentration of ethnic So people.
