Nyoro-Tooro language


Nyoro-Tooro is a language spoken by the people living in the Bunyoro and Tooro sub-regions of western Uganda. It is often defined as two separate languages: Nyoro and Tooro, though it is defined and standardised as one language by the Ministry [of Education and Sports (Uganda)|Ministry of Education] in Uganda. It is closely related to Runyankore-Rukiga.

Comparison of Nyoro and Tooro

and Tooro are very similar in many aspects, but differ in several ways as well.

Tone

Both languages are tonal languages where high and low tones are the essential tones. However, Nyoro has both lexical and grammatical tone, whereas Tooro only has grammatical tone. This means that some homophones in Tooro are differentiated in Nyoro.
Nyoro-Tooro wordNyoro pronunciationTooro pronunciationProto-Bantu wordPart of speechEnglish
enda/êːnda//éːnda/*ndàNounabdomen
enda/éːndâ//éːnda/*ndáNounlouse
ekyenda/ekjênda//ekjénda/*kɪ́á ndà Nounintestine
ekyenda/ekjéndâ//ekjénda/*kɪ̀jèndáNoun ninety
engo/êːŋgo//éːŋgo/*ngòNounleopard
engo/éːŋgô//éːŋgo/*ngóNounfences

Word formation

There are many instances where the two languages have slightly different words. These minor variations include different consonants, vowels or vowel lengths.
SummaryNyoroTooroPart of speechEnglish
ConsonantsenkwahwaenkwahaNounarmpit
VowelsenkokoraenkokeraNounelbow
FormationngenzerengenzireVerbI have gone
FormationnkozerenkozireVerbI have done
MixedssoisoNoun father