Lugbara, or Lugbarati, is the language of the Lugbara people. It is spoken in the West Nile region in northwestern

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, as well as the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

Orientale Province Orientale Province () is one of the former provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its predecessors the Congo Free State and the Belgian Congo. It went through a series of boundary changes between 1898 and 2015, when it was divided ...

with a little extension to the South Sudan as the Zande or Azande people.

Classification and dialects

The Aringa language, also known as Low Lugbara, is closely related, and sometimes considered a dialect of Lugbara. In fact, among the Lugbara of Uganda, it is one of the five clans (Ayivu clan, Vurra clan, Terego clan, Maracha clan, and Aringa clan). Some scholars classify the Lugbara language itself as a dialect of the Maʼdi language, though this is not generally accepted. An SIL survey report concluded that the Okollo, Ogoko, and Rigbo dialects, called "Southern Maʼdi", should be classified as dialects of Lugbara.

Phonology

Vowels

* /ɛ, ɔ/ can also be heard as , oas a result of vowel harmony. * /a/ can have an allophone of �when after sounds /k, ɡ/.

Consonants

* /l/ can be heard as a lateral flap within dialectal variation. * /t͡s, d͡z/ are heard as ͡ʃ, d͡ʒwithin dialectal variation. * /tʳ, dʳ/ can also be heard as retroflex �ɽ, ɖɽwithin free variation. * /ʔj/ can also be heard as an implosive and /ⁿz/ can be heard as ��d͡z within free variation. * A labial affricate may occur within dialectal variation, only rarely occurs among different dialects.

Orthography

Lugbara was first written by

Christian missionaries A Christian mission is an organized effort to carry on evangelism, in the name of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries. Sometimes individuals are sent and ...

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 An orthography is a set of convention (norm), conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, punctuation, Word#Word boundaries, word boundaries, capitalization, hyphenation, and Emphasis (typography), emphasis. Most national ...

for Lugbara. The Simplified Lugbara alphabet has 28 letters. there is no ''q'' or ''x'', and there are four letters for glottalized consonants, namely: ''ʼb'' as in ʼbua, ''ʼd'' as in ʼdia, ''ʼw'' as in ʼwara, and ''ʼy'' as in ʼyeta.

In education

In 1992, the

Government of Uganda The politics of Uganda occurs in an Authoritarianism, authoritarian context. Since assuming office in 1986 at the end of the Ugandan Bush War, Ugandan civil war, Yoweri Museveni has ruled Uganda as an Autocracy, autocrat. Political party, Politi ...

designated it as one of five "languages of wider communication" to be used as the

medium of instruction A medium of instruction (plural: media of instruction, or mediums of instruction) is a language used in teaching. It may or may not be the official language of the country or territory. If the first language of students is different from the offic ...

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.

Vocabulary

Numbers

Greetings and other phrases

Relationships

Grandfather (aʼbi, aʼbipi) Grandmother (dede, edapi, e'di) Grandson (mvia) Granddaughter (zia) Father (ati, ata) Mother (andri, andre, ayia) Husband (agupi) Wife (oku) Son (agupiamva, mvi) Daughter (zamva, zi) Brother (adri) Sister (amvi) Uncles (paternal: atapuru ingular atapuruka lural maternal: ingular lural Aunts (paternal: ingular lural and in some cases maternal maternal: ingular lural Cousin () Cousin brother(s) (); also Cousin sister(s) (); also NB: Strictly speaking, the word cousin is alien in Lugbara culture. Cousins are brothers and sisters. Nephews (adro anzi) - maternal nephews Nieces (adro ezoanzi, ezapi) - maternal nieces Father-in-law (anya) Mother-in-law (edra) Brother-in-law (oti, otuo) Sister-in-law (onyere)

Days of the week

1 week (Sabatu alu, sabiti alu, yinga alu, yumula alu) A day is called Oʼdu in Lugbara. Sunday () Monday (Oʼdu alu) Tuesday (Oʼdu iri) Wednesday (Oʼdu na) Thursday (Oʼdu su) Friday (Oʼdu towi) Saturday (Oʼdu azia, Sabato)

Calendar

The simplest way to refer to months (Mba in Lugbara) is to use numbers, for example January is Mba Alu, February is Mba Iri, May is Mba Towi and so on. But below is the other Latinized (and seasonal) way of mentioning them. Januari/ Oco ʼdupa sere (January) Feburili/ Kuluni (February) Marici/ Zengulu (March) Aprili/ Ayi - Wet season (April) Mayi/ Ayi Eti (May) Juni/ Emveki (June) Julayi/ Eri (July) Agoslo/ Iripaku (August) Sebitemba/ Lokopere (September) Okitoba/ Abibi (October) Novemba/ Waa (November) Desemba/ Anyu fi kuma (December)

Common signs

Colours

Eka, Ika by Terego (red) Foro foro (gray) Foroto (grayish) (white) (very pure white) Imvesi-enisi (black and white) Ini (black) Inibiricici, inicici, inikukuru (very dark)

Food

Lugbara AI

Lugbara AI refers to

Artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

technology or machines that use Lugbara. The Sunbird Translate system can automatically take text from Lugbara. It includes locally relevant topics such as healthcare, agriculture and society. With its partners including Makerere University AI Lab, Sunbird AI (a Ugandan startup) has built open Lugbara datasets, translation and speech systems. It is also used by banks. Furthermore, other developers are also working on projects.''IndabaX Uganda''. "Deep Learning IndabaX Hackathon".
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