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.[1]
Acholi, Alur, and Jo Padola have between 84 and 90 per cent of their vocabulary in common[2] and are mutually intelligible.[dubious – discuss] However, they are often counted as separate languages because their speakers are ethnically distinct. Labwor (Thur), once considered a dialect of Acholi, may not be intelligible with it.[2]
Phonology
Acholi has vowel harmony: all vowels in a word have to belong to a single class (e.g. [kojo]the cold vs. [kɔjɔ]to separate). There are two sets of five vowels, distinguished by the feature [+/-ATR].
/pʷ/ and /bʷ/ sounds may also sound as labial affricates [pf] and [bv].[3]
Acholi is a tonal language. Thus, some words may be distinguished by tone alone, e.g. bèl (low) 'wrinkled' vs. bél (high) 'corn' and kàl (low) 'place enclosed by a palisade' vs. kál (high) 'millet'. Tone furthermore plays a role in verb conjugation.
The above were the old work of the missionaries Alfred Malandra and Crazzolara published in 1955. However, a more up-to-date Acholi orthography by Janet Lakareber shows that a vowel in Acholi language has more than two pronunciations.[4] A monosyllabic word in Acholi has 14 different pronunciations. This is explained in the nine books of Acoli Accented Orthography.[5]
Notes and references
Notes
^ Heron, G.A., 1972, Introduction p. 8 in p'Bitek, Okot, 1984.
Crazzolara, J.P. (1938) A study of the Acooli language. Grammar and Vocabulary. International Institute of African Languages and Cultures. London/New York/Toronto: Oxford University Press.
Kitching, Arthur Leonard (1932) An outline grammar of the Acholi language (first published 1907). London: Sheldon Press / Kampala: The Uganda Bookshop.
Ladefoged, Peter; Ruth Glick; Clive Criper; Clifford H. Prator; Livingstone Walusimbi (1972) Language in Uganda (Ford Foundation language surveys vol. 1). London/New York etc. Oxford University Press. ISBN0-19-436101-2
Malandra, Alfred (1955) A new Acholi grammar. Kampala: Eagle Press. Hathitrust record
