Everything about Lusoga Language totally explained
» This article is about the Lusoga language. For the people, see Basoga, and for the Busoga kingdom and region, see Busoga.
LuSoga (
Soga) is a
tonal Bantu language that's spoken in
Uganda. It is the
native language of people who are indigenous/originally from the
Busoga region. In terms of the number of speakers, is one of the major languages spoken in
Uganda, after English,
Swahili, and
Luganda. However, it's mainly spoken in the
Busoga region of southern
Uganda by + 3 million people (2007 census), which is mainly within the natural boundaries of
Lake Victoria to the south,
Lake Kyoga to the north, the
Nile river to the west and the Mpologoma
(Lion) river to the east of
Iganga district. It is
tonal in the sense that a given word can change its meaning depending on its tone, for example some words are differentiated by pitch. Words that are spelled the same may carry different meanings according to their pitch. Lusoga is rich in metaphors, proverbs and folktales.
History and development
Lusoga, the native language of the people of
Busoga, developed over time as a spoken language. Its written form is only as recent as the arrival of the Arab and European traders and missionaries. It only until after the second half of the nineteenth century, that Lusoga was first written down and appeared in print in its own right.
The Lusoga language is very similar to neighbouring languages, such as
Luganda and
Lugwere. It is believed that the people in southern
Busoga originally came from
Buganda and in the early 14th Century overwhelmed the original inhabitants - the
Luo who came from the north and
Iteso who came from the north-east.
Lusoga is used in some primary schools in Busoga as pupils begin to learn
English, the
official language of
Uganda. It is also taught in secondary schools and is offered as a course subject in tertiary institutions such as
Busoga University and
Makerere University.
Dialects
Linguistically, the Basoga are part of the
Bantu speaking group. Originally, Lusoga language comprised of several dialects formed by the intermingling of people during the early migration period, 17th and 18th century. There were so many dialects of the Lusoga language that it was difficult to reach agreement on the correct way to spell or pronounce certain words. For instance, in the north of
Busoga, there is a distinct 'H' in the vocabulary of the local dialects, but people from southern
Busoga didn't have this distinct 'H' in the vocabulary of the local dialects. Busoga was mainly divided into two dialect zones. Across the northern part of
Busoga, the dialects
Lulamogi and
Lupakoyo was traditionally spoken.
Lupakoyo mostly resembled
Runyoro. It had a close belt of
Runyoro associated dialects running east from
Bunyoro, across the northern region of
Buganda, across northern
Busoga and through
Bugwere, which is east of
Busoga. In the southern part of
Busoga a dialect known as
Lutenga was traditionally spoken which resembled
Luganda. Related dialects were also spoken in the
Ssese Islands,
Buvuma Island and eastern
Buganda.
But with the established of the
Lusoga Language Authority (LULA),
Busoga Kingdom has promoted a standardised Lusoga language. It has done enough research on the Lusoga language and published several literatures in Lusoga. It publications can be found at
Busoga Cultural Centre Offices library located in the
Nile garden in
Jinja town. Others are available in bookshops throughout
Busoga and in major bookstores in
Kampala and other parts of the country. Some of the more accomplished Lusoga publications include a Lusoga
Bible, grammar books, riddles, proverbs, several story books and dictionaries for example
English/Lusoga - Lusoga/English dictionary. A limited online version is available at
Lusoga - English Dictionary
.
Some useful basic grammar and vocabulary
In common with other tonal
Bantu languages, Lusoga has a noun class system in which prefixes on nouns mark membership of one of the noun genders. Pronouns, adjectives, and verbs reflect the noun gender of the nominal they refer to. Some examples of noun classes:
Possessive Prefixes
In the
Bantu languages around the
Lake Victoria region in
Uganda, nouns are reflected mainly by changing prefixes:
human beings are indicated by the prefix
Ba- (plural), and
Mu- (singular), and the name of the country
Bu-.
- mu - person (singular), for example musoga = native of Busoga land
- bu - land, e.g Busoga = land of the Basoga
- lu - language, for example Lusoga = language of the Basoga
- ba - people, for example Basoga = the Basoga people
- ki - customs or traditions, for example kisoga = describes religious tradition or culture common to the Basoga people.
Self Standing pronouns
Nze – me
Iwe/Imwe – you
Always attached to a verb
N – I
O – You (singular)
A – He/She
Tu – We/Us
Mu – You (plural)
Ba – They
Demonstratives
Wano – Here
Kino – This (thing)
Ono – This (person)
Oyo – That (person)
Bino – These (things)
Interrogatives
Ani – Who?
Ki – What?
Lwaki - Why?
Tya – How?
Greetings
Greeting in Lusoga is accomplished just as it's in the western countries. However, it assumes a more personal nature and just as in the West, its form depends on the time of the day and the elapsed time since the last contact with the greeter.
The following dialogue illustrates the basic form to greet a peer or an elder in a respectful manner:
» Person A:
Wasuzotya (osiibyotya) ssebo (nnyabo)? – How did you sleep (How was your day) sir(madam)? » Person B:
Bulungi, wasuzotya (osiibyotya) ssebo (nnyabo)? – Well (Good), How did you sleep (How was your day) sir (madam)? – Well, how did you sleep (How was your day) sir (madam)? » Person A:
Bulungi ssebo (nnyabo) – Well sir (madam)
The personal nature of the greetings ensues when the individual being greeted chooses to answer the question instead of merely responding with good or fine. It is sort of like being asked "How do you do?" and you respond "How do you do?" However, in Lusoga, the individual being greeted is free to actually delve into the fine details.
Additionally, simply drop the sir/madam to achieve the same effect as in English. The above dialog only addresses greeting one person because some words change into multiple others e.g "Wasuzotya" is the combination of a singular prefix (Wa - you), word (sula - sleep), and singular postfix (otya - How did) spoken as one with a plural form that subsequently becomes "Mwasuze mutya" which is composed of two distinct words emerging from two different plural prefixes, a word, and the plural form of the postfix. It is sometimes impossible to not separate the plural form.
Introductions
Ninze Nankwanga – I'm Nankwanga
Some common Verbs
When conjugating the verb, remove ‘oku’ and replace it with the required pronoun for example n, o, a, tu, mu, ba.
Example:
- okukola – to work/to do,
- nkola – I work/do,
- okola – you work/do,
- akola – he/she works/does,
- tukola – we work/do,
- mukola – you work/do (plural),
- bakola – they work/do.
Okukola – to work/to do
Okusoma – to read/to study
Okunhwa – to drink
Okulya – to eat (Be careful, the above example doesn't work all the time with all forms of all words, as some verbs are irregular e.g the singular from here's Ndya. However it's a start)
Okutambula – to walk
Okuvuga – to drive/to ride
Okusobola – to be able to
Okutwala - to carry/to take
Okuseka - to laugh
Numbers
| 1 - 10 |
11 - 19 |
20 - 29 |
30 - 39 |
40 - 49 |
| 1 – Ndala |
11 – Ikumi na ndala |
20 – Abiri |
30 – Asatu |
40 – Ana |
| 2 – Ibiri |
12 – Ikumi na ibiri |
21 – Abiri na ndala |
31 – Asatu na ndala |
41 – Ana mu emu |
| 3 – Isatu |
13 – Ikumi na isatu |
22 – Abiri na ibiri |
|
|
| 4 – Ina |
14 – Ikumi na ina |
|
|
|
| 5 – Itaanu |
15 – Ikumi na itaanu |
|
|
|
| 6 – Mukaga |
16 – Ikumi na mukaga |
|
|
|
| 7 – Musanvu |
|
|
|
|
| 8 – Munana |
|
|
|
|
| 9 – Mwenda |
|
|
|
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| 10 – Ikumi |
|
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As long as you learn to count from 1 to 10 and 20, 30, 40, the rest will be easy. It is just a matter of joining one number to the other.
| 50 - 99 |
100+ |
| 50 – Ataano |
100 – Kikumi |
| 60 – Nkaga |
110 – Kikumi na ikumi |
| 70 – Nsanvu |
|
| 80 – Kinana |
|
| 90 – Kyenda |
|
Telling the Time
Telling the time in Lusoga is different from the way it's told in English because hours of darkness correspond to PM to include early morning hours. You wake up at 6:00 am while a Musoga waking up at the same time refers to the same time as "essawa erii ikumi na ibiri munkyo (the time is 12 in the morning)". Essentially, the number representing the current time is simply skewed behind by six. Time is said using the word ‘essaawa’, for example, essaawa ndala – 7 o’clock.
Food
Food – Emmere
Sugar – Sukaali
Coffee – Kaawa
Milk – Amata
Chicken – Nkoko
Teaspoon – Kajiiko
Plate – Sowaani
Saucepan – Sefuliya
Cup – Kikopo
General phrases & vocabulary
Ssente imeka – How much (price)
(Bed)room – ekisenge
Table – Meeza
House – Enhumba
Kitchen – Eifumbiro
Door – Olwiggi
Chair – Entebe
Wait! – Linda!
Journey/trip – Olugendo
Get out – Fuluma
Tomorrow – Olwaidho
Slow – Mpola
Quick – Mangu
Mr – Mwami
Miss – Mukyala
My friend! – Munange!
My friends! – Banange!
Wansi/Ghansi - Under
Senga - Aunt
Omuntu - Person
Omusaiza/omusaadha - Man
Omukazi - Woman
Omwaana - Child
Omuzungu - White man/white person
Eitaala - Lamp
Omwezi - Moon/MonthFurther Information
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