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. 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 Glottolog database as follows:Lwoo
According to Mechthild Reh, the Northern Luo languages are classified as follows:Northern
Luo or Southern Luo languages belong to Luo peoples, this is distinct from Kumam language and Lango language who are Ateker peoples also known as Hamites, by origin.
Sources show that the current kumam is a mixed dialect of broken Luo with Ateso. They learned Lwo after migration to their present location in Uganda.
Lango people's language is not a Southern Luo, they also learned luo when they reached their present location in Uganda due to proximity with Luo peoples. The Lango currently speak a mixed dialect of broken Lwo speech and retain their Hamitic vocabularies of their original language.
On 27th to 29th November 2024, Kumam people and Lango people reunited back to the Ateker peoples the Hamites. Uganda government hosted this historical event. The Kumam people and Lango people are not ethnically related to Luo peoples.