Jur language
| Luwo | |
|---|---|
| Jur | |
| Native to | South Sudan |
| Region | Bahr el Ghazal |
| Ethnicity | Luwo people |
Native speakers | 260,000 (2017)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | lwo |
| Glottolog | luwo1239 |
Luwo (Luo, Dheluwo), is a language spoken by the Luo people of Bahr el Ghazal region in South Sudan. The language is predominantly spoken in the western and northern parts of Bahr el Ghazal. The Luwo form a majority in the Jur River County.
The language is part of the Luo languages of East Africa and is especially related to the languages of South Sudan such as Anyuak and Päri with whom it forms a dialect cluster.[2]
Etymology
[edit]The Luwo language is spoken by the Luwo (or Jur Col), an ethnic group in South Sudan. Jur is exonym adopted from the local Dinka language whose speakers are the Luwo's northern and eastern neighbours.[3] Its original Dinka usage, non-cattle-holding non-Dinka, was not particular to the Jur. Jur Col ("black Jur") is today used to disambiguate Luwo from other Jur groups.[citation needed]
Status
[edit]Dhe Luwo is currently a developing language. Meaning that the language is developing its written language, standard dialect and undergoing modernization.[4]
Phonology
[edit]Consonants
[edit]| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n̪ | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t̪ | t | c | k | ʔ |
| voiced | b | d̪ | d | ɟ | g | ||
| Trill | r | ||||||
| Lateral | l | ||||||
| Approximant | w | j | |||||
- /k/ can sometimes be heard as [ɣ] in intervocalic position.
- /ŋ/ can sometimes be heard as [h] in intervocalic position among speakers of the eastern dialects.
- /r/ can be heard as a tap [ɾ] in word-final position.
- All consonant sounds except the voiced stops /b, d̪, d, ɟ, ɡ/ and the two glides /w, j/ can occur as geminated [Cː].
- Labialization [Cʷ] may occur among all consonants except /d̪, ɟ, n̪, n, r, w, j/.
- Palatalization [Cʲ] may occur among consonants /t, c, d̪, ɡ, m, l/.[5]
Vowels
[edit]| +ATR | -ATR | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front | Central | Back | Front | Central | Back | |
| Close | i iː | u uː | ɪ ɪː | ʊ ʊː | ||
| Mid | e eː | ʌ̈ ʌ̈ː | o oː | ɛ ɛː | ɔ ɔː | |
| Open | a aː | |||||
| +ATR | -ATR | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front | Central | Back | Front | Central | Back | |
| Close | i̤ i̤ː | ṳ ṳː | ɪ̤ ɪ̤ː | ʊ̤ ʊ̤ː | ||
| Mid | e̤ e̤ː | ʌ̤̈ ʌ̤̈ː | o̤ o̤ː | ɛ̤ ɛ̤ː | ɔ̤ ɔ̤ː | |
| Open | a̤ a̤ː | |||||
Sample phrases
[edit]| English | Luwo |
|---|---|
| Hello (How are you?) | Mahdhia (Ni dih)? |
| I am fine (nothing bad) | Gihn me raaj tooro. |
| What is your name? | Nyingi nga'a? |
| My name is Dimo. | Nyinga Dimo. |
| Child | Nyithiin |
| Boy | Nyidhohg |
| Girl | Nyakuo |
| God is great. | Juag Duohng. |
| Good | Ber |
| Thank you! | Kori! |
| I am happy. | Ciwnya med. |
References
[edit]- ^ Luwo at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Reh, Mechthild (1996): Anywa Language: Description and Internal Reconstructions. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe. p.5
- ^ Santandrea, Stefano (1968). The Luo of the Bahr el Ghazal (Sudan). Bologna: Editrice Nigrizia.
- ^ "Language Development". Ethnologue. 2012-11-20. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
- ^ Storch, Anne (2014). A Grammar of Luwo: An anthropological approach. Amsterdam/Philadelphia, Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
