Lango (or Langgo) is an

Eastern Nilotic 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 sprea ...

language spoken an estimated 38,000 people in

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 ...

Classification

Lango/Lokwa is listed as a member of the Eastern Nilotic branch of Nilotic, in the Eastern Sudanic sub-grouping of

Nilo-Saharan The Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed family of African languages spoken by some 50–60 million people, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers, including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributaries of the Nile meet. T ...

. Within Eastern Nilotic, Lango/Lokwa is considered part of the Lotuko language group, in the Lotuko-Maa branch of Teso-Lotuko-Maa (also referred to as the non-Bari languages). Other members of the Lotuko language group include Lotuko, Lopit, Dongotono and Lokoya, all spoken in nearby regions of in

. There has been virtually no description of the Lango language, and its relationship to other languages in the Lotuko cluster is unclear, as are the relationships between different dialects of Lango. Lokwa dialects is not listed in the Ethnologue. However, it is also noted that "It is uncertain whether or not the Lokwa dialect is separate language".

Geographic distribution

The Lango language is spoken by the

Lango people The Lango are a Nilo-Hamitic ethnic group of the Ateker peoples. They live in north-central Uganda, in a region that covers the area formerly known as the Lango District until 1974, when it was split into the districts of Apac and Lira, and ...

, who live in mountainous areas of

Ikotos County Ikotos County was an administrative area in the Eastern Equatoria state of South Sudan with headquarters in the town of Ikotos. The people, who live in the former county's area by subsistence agriculture and cattle herding, are poverty-stricken. ...

Eastern Equatoria State Eastern Equatoria is a state in South Sudan. It has an area of 73,472 km². The capital is Torit. On October 1, 1972, the state was divided into Imatong and Namorunyang states and was re-established by a peace agreement signed on 22 Febru ...

. According to the Ethnologue, the Lorwama variety is spoken in Losite payam, Lofos and Lotome; the Logir variety is spoken in Ikotos and Lomohidong payams, Kidepo and Ludwera; the Logire (Imatong) variety is spoken in Ikotos payam between Ikotos and Chukudum; the Lokwaa variety is spoken in Kikire and Ikotos, and the Ketebo variety is spoken in Losite payam, Bira.

Grammar

Limited data is available on the Lango language, but Muratori (1938) notes that Lango lexical items appear to be more similar to Lokoya than Lotuko, but that Lango appears to be phonetically and grammatically more similar to Lotuko. It is likely that Lango shares many traits common to other languages in the Lotuko cluster and in Eastern Nilotic more generally, such as Verb-Subject-Object word order, two morphological verb classes, masculine and feminine grammatical gender for nouns, and a highly irregular number marking system involving a range of morphemes to mark singular, singulative, and plural. In terms of phonology, Lango is likely to have the

Advanced Tongue Root In phonetics, advanced tongue root (ATR) and retracted tongue root (RTR) are contrasting states of the root of the tongue during the pronunciation of vowels in some languages, especially in Western and Eastern Africa, but also in Kazakh and Mong ...

contrast noted for closely related languages, and a consonant inventory including plosives at four or five places of articulation, with a voicing contrast at most of these.

Phonology

Example text

In his 1938 grammar of the Lotuko language, Muratori includes a short fable for many of the languages related to Lotuko, including Lokwa/Lango. No direct translation is provided for the Lokwa/Lango story, but it is about a racing competition between a hyena and a frog.

References

Ethnologue
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lango Language Agglutinative languages Eastern Nilotic languages Languages of South Sudan