Acholi dialect
Acholi is a Southern Luo dialect spoken by the Acholi people in the districts of Gulu, Kitgum, Amuru, Lamwo, Agago, Nwoya, Omoro and Pader in northern Uganda. The Dhopaluo sub-dialect of Acholi is spoken in the Kiryandongo District in the kingdom of Bunyoro. It is also spoken in South Sudan in Magwi County, Eastern Equatoria.
Song of Lawino, well known in African literature, was written in Acholi by Okot p'Bitek, although its sequel, Song of Ocol, was written in English.
Acholi, Alur, and Jo Padola have between 84 and 90 per cent of their vocabulary in common and are mutually intelligible. However, they are often counted as separate languages because their speakers are ethnically distinct. Labwor, once considered a dialect of Acholi, may not be intelligible with it.
Phonology
Acholi has vowel harmony: all vowels in a word have to belong to a single class. There are two sets of five vowels, distinguished by the feature .| Front | Central | Back | |
| Near-close | |||
| Open-mid | |||
| Open |
| Front | Back | |
| Close | ||
| Close-mid | ||
| Open |
/pʷ/ and /bʷ/ sounds may also sound as labial affricates and .
Acholi is a tonal language. It has high, low, downstep high and double downstep high tones, but also two contour tones: one rising and one falling. Thus, some words may be distinguished by tone alone, e.g. bèl 'wrinkled' vs. bél 'corn' and kàl 'place enclosed by a palisade' vs. kál 'millet'. Tone furthermore plays a role in verb conjugation.