The Western Nilotic languages are one of the three primary branches of the

Nilotic languages The Nilotic languages are a group of related languages spoken across a wide area between South Sudan and Tanzania by the Nilotic peoples. Etymology The word Nilotic means of or relating to the Nile river, Nile River or to the Nile region of A ...

, along with the

Eastern Nilotic languages The Eastern Nilotic languages are one of the three primary branches of the Nilotic languages, themselves belonging to the Eastern Sudanic subfamily of Nilo-Saharan; they are believed to have begun to diverge about 3,000 years ago, and have spre ...

and Southern Nilotic languages; Themselves belonging to the Eastern Sudanic subfamily of

Nilo-Saharan The Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed family of around 210 African languages spoken by somewhere around 70 million speakers, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers, including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributari ...

. The about 22 ( SIL estimate) Western Nilotic languages are spoken in an area ranging from southwestern

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

and

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

via northeastern

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 ...

and northern

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

to southwestern

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

(with one of the

Luo languages The dozen Luo, Lwo or Lwoian languages are spoken by the Luo peoples in an area ranging from southern Sudan to western Ethiopia to southern Kenya, with Dholuo extending into northern Tanzania and Alur into the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ...

extending into northern

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

Families

The Western Nilotic languages are

, which themselves are part of the Kir–Abbaian and Eastern Sudan subfamilies of the much larger Nilo-Saharan language family.

Subdivisions

Western Nilotic is divided into three main clusters: Dinka–Nuer, Luo and Burun. The Luo Languages are languages 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 ...

. They include but are not fully limited to, Shilluk, Luwo, Thuri, Belanda Bor, Burun, Päri, Anuak, and

Southern Luo The Southern Luo languages are a subgroup of the Luo languages and form a dialect cluster spoken from Uganda and neighboring countries. Classification The Southern Luo dialects are classified within the Glottolog database as follows: * Southe ...

. The Luo languages are the most spoken of the three groupings. *Dinka–Nuer ( Nuer–

Reel A reel is a tool used to store elongated and flexible objects (e.g. yarns/ cords, ribbons, cables, hoses, etc.) by wrapping the material around a cylindrical core known as a '' spool''. Many reels also have flanges (known as the ''rims'') arou ...

(Atuot), Dinka or Thuongjang) * Luo ( Shilluk, Luwo (Jur), Thuri, Belanda Bor, Päri, Anuak,

) * Burun (Northern and Southern Burun)

References

{{Authority control Nilotic languages Nilo-Saharan languages

Families

Subdivisions

See also

References