Avokaya (also spelled ''Abukeia'', ''Avukaya'', or, in

Arabic script The Arabic script is the writing system used for Arabic and several other languages of Asia and Africa. It is the second-most widely used writing system in the world by number of countries using it or a script directly derived from it, and the ...

, ) is a Central Sudanic language spoken in southern

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...

and parts of the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

Demographics

Avokaya speakers occupy a contiguous area along both sides of the South Sudan-Congo international boundary, with

Maridi Maridi is a town in South Sudan. Location Maridi is located in Maridi County, Western Equatoria State, near the international border between South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This location lies approximately , by road, west of ...

in South Sudan and

Faradje Faradje is a town in the Haut-Uele province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is the administrative center of Faradje Territory. It lies on the Dungu River. It had a population of about 25,000 in 2009. It has dirt streets, a police sta ...

in Congo as the main centres of the language. In 2002, the number of Avokaya speakers in South Sudan was estimated to be 40,000, replacing the inaccurate 1982 estimate of 15,000. However, the 1989 estimate of 25,000 speakers in the Congo still stands. A 2013 survey reported that ethnic Avukaya reside in the following bomas of

. *Mambe Boma, Mambe Payam,

Maridi County Maridi County is an administrative area in Western Equatoria, South Sudan. It borders Mvolo County to the north-east, Mundri West County to the east and Ibba County to the west. It also borders Lakes State (Wulu County) to the north-west, Centra ...

*Olo Boma, Mambe Payam,

*Avokaya Boma, Tore Payam,

Yei County Yei River County is an administrative area in Central Equatoria, the area is a cradle land of the Kakwa tribe under the Bari ethnic speaking groups. But as time went on and development began it started hosting many people from different parts of ...

Dialects

Avokaya's two main dialects are Ajugu, which is spoken in the border area of the two countries south of Maridi, and Ojila, which is spoken in the region between the Naam (Era) and Olo rivers, and slightly east of there. These two dialects are spoken in both countries, with the smaller dialects of Northern Ogambi and Avokaya Pur spoken only in the

region, Congo. Avokaya is closest to

Logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordma ...

, especially in the Northern Ogambi dialect (whereas the Ogambi dialect is a dialect of Logo rather than Avokaya. A high degree of

code switching In linguistics, code-switching or language alternation occurs when a speaker alternates between two or more languages, or language varieties, in the context of a single conversation or situation. Code-switching is different from plurilingualism ...

exists among Avokaya and Logo speakers in the Faradje region.

Multilingualism

In Maridi, there is much bilingualism and intermarriage with speakers of

Baka Baka, baká or BAKA may refer to: Ethnicities and languages * Baka people (Cameroon and Gabon), an African ethnic group * Baka people (Congo and South Sudan), an African ethnic group * Baka language, a dialect cluster of Cameroon and Gabon * Baka ...

(a West Central Sudanic language) and Mündü (an

Ubangian language The Ubangian languages form a diverse linkage of some seventy languages centered on the Central African Republic. They are the predominant languages of the CAR, spoken by 2–3 million people, and include the national language, Sango. They are ...

Juba Juba () is the capital and largest city of South Sudan. The city is situated on the White Nile and also serves as the capital of the Central Equatoria State. It is the world's newest capital city to be elevated as such, and had a populatio ...

Sudanese Arabic Sudanese Arabic, also referred to as the Sudanese dialect (), Colloquial Sudanese () or locally as Common Sudanese () refers to the various related varieties of Arabic spoken in Sudan as well as parts of Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Chad. Sudane ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

are used for wider communication by speakers in Sudan, while, in the Congo, speakers tend to use Swahili,

Lingala Lingala (Ngala) (Lingala: ''Lingála'') is a Bantu language spoken in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the northern half of the Republic of the Congo, in their capitals, Kinshasa and Brazzaville, and to a lesser degree in ...

and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

References

{{authority control Moru-Madi languages Languages of South Sudan Languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo