Nyoro-Tooro language

Nyoro-Tooro is a language spoken by around 1,200,000 people living in western Uganda. It is often defined as two separate languages: Nyoro and Tooro, though it is defined as one language by the Ministry of Education in Uganda.^{[3]: 143–144} It is closely related to Runyankore-Rukiga.

Nyoro-Tooro
Runyoro-Rutooro
Orunyoro-Orutooro
Native to	Uganda
Region	Bunyoro, Tooro Kingdom
Ethnicity	Banyoro people, Batooro people
Native speakers	1,155,000 (2002/1991 census)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu Northeast Bantu Great Lakes Bantu West Nyanza Rutara North Rutara Nkore-Kiga-Nyoro-Tooro Nyoro-Tooro
Standard forms	Runyakitara
Dialects	Nyoro Tooro
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: nyo – Nyoro ttj – Tooro
Glottolog	nyor1247
Guthrie code	JE.11–12[2]

Orthography

Nyoro-Tooro orthography^[4][5]

1947 (modern)[6]	1901[7]	IPA
a	a[a]	/a/[a]
aa	a[a]	/aː/
b	b	/β/
bb	b	/b/
c	c	/tʃ/
d	d	/d/
e	e[a]	/e/
ee	e[a]	/eː/
f	f	/f/
g	g	/g/
h	h	/h/
i	i[a]	/i/
ii	ī[a]	/iː/
j	j	/dʒ/
k	k	/k/
l	l	/l/
m	m	/m/
n	n	/n/
ny[b][c]	ny[b][c]	/ɲ/
o	o[a]	/o/
oo	o[a]	/oː/
p	p	/p/
r	r	/ɾ/
rr	'r	/r/
s	s	/s/
t	t	/t/
u	u[a]	/u/
uu	u[a]	/uː/
v	—	/v/
w	u, w[d]	/w/
y	y	/j/
z	z	/z/

1. In the 1901 orthography, short and long vowels were not usually distinguished except for /iː/ ⟨ī⟩. If a lack of distinction causes severe ambiguity, short vowels would be marked with a breve and long vowels with a macron.
2. In the modern orthography, /nj/ is written as ⟨ni⟩ in all contexts (e.g. okunia "to defecate"). The 1901 orthography did not distinguish between /nj/ and /ɲ/.
3. In the modern orthography, /ɲː/ (normally pronounced [ɲ], but still lengthens the vowel before it) is written as ⟨nny⟩ (e.g. okunnyaga "to kidnap me"). The 1901 orthograhy did not distinguish between /ɲː/ and /ɲ/.
4. Maddox states that "before vowels either u or w may be written, for no definite rule has yet been formed".

Comparison of Nyoro and Tooro

Nyoro 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 (or H and L) 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.^[8]

Nyoro-Tooro word	Nyoro pronunciation	Tooro pronunciation	Proto-Bantu word[9]	Part of speech	English (definition)
enda	/êːnda/	/éːnda/	*ndà	Noun	abdomen
	/éːndâ/		*ndá		louse
ekyenda	/ekjênda/	/ekjénda/	*kɪ́á ndà (> *ekya enda)		intestine
	/ekjéndâ/		*kɪ̀jèndá		(group of) ninety
engo	/êːŋgo/	/éːŋgo/	*ngò		leopard(s)
	/éːŋgô/		*ngó		fences[a]

Word formation

There are many instances where the two languages have slightly different words. These minor variations include different consonants, vowels or vowel lengths.

Summary	Nyoro	Tooro	Part of speech	English (definition)
Consonants	enkwahwa	enkwaha	Noun	armpit(s)
Vowels	enkokora	enkokera	Noun	elbow
Formation	ngenzere	ngenzire	Verb	I have gone
	nkozere	nkozire		I have done
Mixed	sso	iso	Noun	(his/her) father

Notes

1. The singular for engo (meaning 'fences') is orugo.