Ateso language
| Teso | |
|---|---|
| Ateso | |
| Native to | Kenya, Uganda |
| Region | Northwest Kenya, west of Lake Turkana |
|
Native speakers
|
1.9 million (2002 & 2009 censuses) |
|
Nilo-Saharan?
|
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | teso1249 |
Ateso (from Teso) is an Eastern Nilotic language spoken by the Iteso people of Uganda and Kenya. It is part of the Teso–Turkana language cluster.
According to the 2002 Uganda population and housing census, over 1.57 million people (6.7% of the total Uganda population) in Uganda spoke Ateso. Also an estimated 279,000 people in Kenya speak it. Its SIL code is TEO.
The Ateso language comes from an area called Teso.
(ⅰ) There are twenty two letters in the Ateso alphabetF,H,Q,V,H,X and Z are not used and ŋ and NY are added. F,H,Q,V,H,X,Z only appear in loan words. The pronunciation guides that follow are for practice only; the correct sounds can only be learned by practice from a teacher or an audio media.
(ⅱ)There are five vowels in Ateso
A, E, I, O, U.
These five letters, however, represent more than five sounds, for the letters E, I, O and U have two values each; a "close" value and an "open" value.
Close vowels are pronounced approximately as follows:
Open vowels are pronounced approximately as follows:
Note that whether the root vowel is "closed" or "open" affects the conjugation of the verb.
(ⅲ) Where the vowels AI or OI stand together, they represent sounds approximating the "i" in bite and "oy" in annoy respectively. In other vowel combinations, both vowels must be given their full values. The "au" in kau -----(behind) is pronounced "kah-oo" not "kow".
(iv) All words ending in a consonant possess a semi-mute or "shadow" vowel after the final consonant, which is not pronounced when the word stands in isolation, but which is pronounced when the word is followed by another word beginning with a consonant:
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