Dholuo (also known as Luo) is a Western Nilotic language spoken by the Luo people of Kenya and Tanzania, numbering about 3 million. Dholuo is spoken on the eastern shore of Lake Victoria. It is broadcast on KBC (Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, formerly the Voice of Kenya)and Radio Ramogi. Dholuo is closely related to Lango, Acholi and Dhopadhola of Uganda. Current distribution of Human Language Families Most languages are known to belong to language families. ... Map showing the distribution of the Nilo-Saharan languages. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... The Western Nilotic languages are one of the three primary branches of the Nilotic languages, themselves belonging to the Eastern Sudanic subfamily of Nilo-Saharan. ... The Luo languages comprise about 15 languages spoken in an area ranging from Southern Sudan via Uganda to Southern Kenya, with Dholuo extending into Northern Tanzania and Alur into the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ... ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family. ... ISO 639-2:1998 Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 2: Alpha-3 code Twenty-two of the languages have two three-letter codes: a code for bibliographic use (ISO 639-2/B) a code for terminological use (ISO 639-2/T). ... ISO 639-3 is in process of development as an international standard for language codes. ... The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of phonetic notation devised by linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) used in spoken human language. ... Phonetics (from the Greek word φωνή, phone = sound/voice) is the study of sounds (voice). ... Due to technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ... This is a concise version of the International Phonetic Alphabet for English sounds. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The Western Nilotic languages are one of the three primary branches of the Nilotic languages, themselves belonging to the Eastern Sudanic subfamily of Nilo-Saharan. ... Joluo (commonly known as Luo) are an ethnic group in Kenya and Tanzania. ... Lake Victoria, as seen from space Lake Victoria or Victoria Nyanza (also known as Ukerewe and Nalubaale) is one of the Great Lakes of Africa. ... Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) is the state run media (Radio and Television) organization. ... Acholi (also Acoli, Shuli, Gang, Lwo) is a language primarily spoken by the Acholi people in the districts of Gulu, Kitgum and Pader, a region known as Acholiland in northern Uganda. ... Dhopadhola is the language of the Jopadhola (aka Badama) ethnic group in Uganda. ...

Sounds

Vowels

Dholuo has vowel harmony: all vowels in a word have to belong to a single class. Dholuo has two sets of five vowels, distinguished by the feature [+/-ATR]. Vowel harmony (also metaphony) is a type of long-distance assimilatory phonological process involving vowels. ...

Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... -1... The open-mid vowels make a class of vowel sounds used in some spoken languages. ... An open vowel is a vowel sound of a type used in most spoken languages. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... A close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. ... A close-mid vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... An open vowel is a vowel sound of a type used in most spoken languages. ...

Consonants

In the table below, orthographic symbols are included between brackets if they differ from the IPA symbols. Note especially the use of ‘y’ for IPA [j], common in African orthographies. When symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a voiced consonant. The orthography of a language is the set of symbols (glyphs and diacritics) used to write a language, as well as the set of rules describing how to write these glyphs correctly, including spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. ... The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of phonetic notation devised by linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) used in spoken human language. ...

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of phonetic notation devised by linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) used in spoken human language. ...

Bibliography

• Gregersen, Edgar (1961) Luo: A grammar. Dissertation: Yale University.
• Stafford, Roy L. (1965) An elementary Luo grammar with vocabularies. Nairobi: Oxford University Press.
• Omondi, Lucia Ndong'a (1982) The major syntactic structures of Dholuo. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer.
• Tucker, Archibald N. (ed. by Chet A. Creider) (1994) A grammar of Kenya Luo (Dholuo). Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.
• Okoth Okombo, Duncan (1997) A Functional Grammar of Dholuo. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.
• Odaga, Asenath Bole (1997) English-Dholuo dictionary. / Asenath Bole Odaga. Lake Publishers & Enterprises, Kisumu.
• Odhiambo, Reenish Acieng' and Aagard-Hansen, Jens (1998) Dholuo course book. Nairobi.

External links

• Luo phrases and basics
• Ethnologue on Luo
• Luo/Acholi/Lango Language page
• Luo and the Nilo-Saharan family
• Rice University Owlnet Luo Homepage

I want water, adwaro pii

I am thirsty, riyo nega

Thank you, ero kamano

Child, nyathi

Student, nyathi skul

Sit, bed

Stand,Stop, chung'

Hunger, kech

I am starved, kech kaya

Father, wuoro

Mother, miyo

God, Nyasaye

To help, kony

Man, dichuo

Woman, dhako

Boy, wuowi

Girl, nyako

Book, buk

Youth, rawera

Pen, kalam

Short, siruaru

Trousers, curuach long

Table, mesa

Plate, san

lock, rarind

Leader, jatelo,ruoth

Bring, kel

Go, dhi

Go back, dog

Come back, dwog

Run, ring

Walk, wuoth

Jump, dum

Rain, koth

Sun, chieng'

Moon, duwe

Fish, rech

I want to eat, adwaro chiemo

Grandpa, kwaro

Grandma, dayo

White man, ja rachar

black man, ja rateng'

Car, nyamburko

Cow, dhiang'

sing, wer

marriage, keny

tommorrow, kiny

today, kawuono

child, nyathi

money, omenda, chung', oboke, sendi, pesa

gun, bunde