The dozen Luo, Lwo or Lwoian languages are spoken by the

Luo peoples The Luo (also spelled Lwo) are several ethnic group, ethnically and language family, linguistically related Nilotic, Nilotic ethnic groups that inhabit an area ranging from Egypt and Sudan to South Sudan and Ethiopia, through Northern Uganda an ...

in an area ranging from southern

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to western Ethiopia to southern

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, with Dholuo extending into northern

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and Alur into the

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. They form one of the two branches of the Western Nilotic family, the other being the Dinka– Nuer. The Southern Luo varieties are mutually intelligible, and apart from ethnic identity they might be considered a single language.

Classification

The time depth of the division of the Luo languages is moderate, perhaps close to two millennia. The division within the Southern Luo language dialect cluster is considerably shallower, perhaps five to eight centuries, reflecting migrations due to the impact of the Islamization of the Sudan region. The Luo languages are classified within the

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database as follows: * Lwoo ** Northern Lwoo *** Anuak *** Belanda Bor *** Luwo–Thuri **** Luwo **** Thuri *** Päri *** Shilluk ** Southern Lwoo *** Acoli *** Adhola–Alur–Luo **** Adhola–Luo ***** Adhola ***** Luo (Kenya and Tanzania) **** Alur *** Lango–Kumam **** Kumam **** Lango (Uganda) According to Mechthild Reh, the Northern Luo languages are classified as follows:Reh, Mechthild (1996): ''Anywa Language: Description and Internal Reconstructions''. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe, p. 5. * Northern ** Shilluk ** Belanda Bor ** *** Bodho *** Col *** Manangeer *** Thuri ** *** Jur *** Anuak *** Päri

Bibliography

* Gilley, Leoma G. 2004. "The Lwoian family." ''Occasional Papers in the Study of Sudanese Languages'', 9, 165–174.

References

{{Eastern Sudanic languages Languages of Ethiopia Languages of South Sudan Languages of Sudan Languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Languages of Uganda Languages of Kenya Languages of Tanzania