| Lango | |
|---|---|
| Lëblaŋo | |
| Native to | Uganda |
| Region | Lango sub-region |
| Ethnicity | Lango |
Native speakers | 2.1 million (2014 census[failed verification])[1] |
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | laj |
| Glottolog | lang1324 |
| Glottopedia | Lango[2] |
Unlike theLango ofSouth Sudan,Lango ofUganda although ethnically and linguistically related to theLango ofSouth Sudan, currently speak aMixed language due to their proximity withLwo people. Lango language is not aSouthern Luo language ordialect cluster of theWestern Nilotic language branch butAteker, also known as the Nilo-Hamites.[3][4][5]
The word "Lango" orAteker is used to describe both the language spoken by the indigenous and the tribe itself.
Luo language is a distinct language forLuo peoples. Several sources show that theLango language is not originallyLuo butAteker. They learnedLuo dialect after migration to the current areas in Uganda. They currently speak broken dialects of Lwo mixed withhamitic vocabularies of their original language.[6]
It is mainly spoken inLango sub-region, in the North Central Region of Uganda. An orthography for it using theLatin script has been introduced and is taught in primary schools.
The origin ofLango people is strongly linked to theKaramojong andTeso speaking people.[7]
On 27th to 29th November 2024,Lango people reunited back to theAteker peoples.Uganda government hosted this historical event. TheLango people are not ethnically nor linguistically related toLuo peoples.[8]
| 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 agemination [Cː] distinction in the stops, affricates, nasals and lateral.
Voiceless stops and affricates are slightlyaspirated, whereas voiced stops and affricates are fully voiced, sometimes with a characteristic ofbreathy voice. Stops are normallyunreleased at the end of an utterance.
Fricatives and thevoiceless alveolar tap are found incomplementary distribution with ungeminated voiceless stops and affricates:[3]
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]
Kumam has ten vowels, forming an asymmetricvowel harmony system based onadvanced 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 | |||||
| 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⟩.
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