Lugbara language
| Lugbara | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Uganda, DR Congo |
| Ethnicity | Lugbara |
|
Native speakers
|
1.7 million (2001–2004) |
|
Nilo-Saharan?
|
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either: lgg – Lugbara snm – Southern Ma'di |
| Glottolog |
lugb1240 (Lugbara)sout2828 (S. Ma'di)
|
Lugbara is the language of the Lugbara people. It is spoken in the West Nile region in northwestern Uganda, as well as the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Orientale Province.
The Aringa language, also known as Low Lugbara, is closely related, and sometimes considered a dialect of Lugbara. Some scholars classify the Lugbara language itself as a dialect of the Ma'di language, though this is not generally accepted. An SIL survey report concluded that the Okollo, Ogoko, and Rigbo dialects, called "Southern Ma'di", should be classified as dialects of Lugbara.
Lugbara was first written by Christian missionaries in 1918, based on the Ayivu dialect. In 2000, a conference was held in the city of Arua in northwestern Uganda regarding the creation of a standardised international orthography for Lugbara.
In 1992, the Government of Uganda designated it as one of five "languages of wider communication" to be used as the medium of instruction in primary education; however, unlike the other four such languages, it was never actually used in schools. More recently it was included in the curriculum for some secondary schools in the West Nile region, including St. Joseph's College Ombaci and Muni Girls Secondary School, both in Arua District.
Lugbara phrases are spoken in several dialects (clan-wise) but the Muni (Ayivu) version, from which many of the explanations below are based, is the one approved for teaching in schools. The language has diphthong clusters and other noteworthy phonetics including the following:
aa as in bat, for example embataa
c as in church, for example Candiru (which is also spelt Chandiru)
dj as in jilt, for example odji, the ‘d’ is silent
ee as in emblem, for example Andree
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