Dholuo ... the language of the Luo people.

Kawuono wouk tich, ochiko mar due aboro.    Today is Monday, ninth day of the eighth month !  (At least, I think that is what that says !) 


Dholuo (pronounced something like 'Dtho-loo-o') is a Nilotic language, very unlike Kiswahili which is the lingua franca, together with English, used  throughout Kenya.  Swahili is also used in Tanzania, Uganda, parts of central Africa, parts of Zambia ...   Kiswahili is a Bantu language, with a large number of words derived from Arabic, but Dholuo has its origins among the peoples of the southern Nile. 

Other Nilotic languages which are similar to Dholuo are Acholi and Lango, spoken in parts of Uganda, and also Alur, which is used in north western Uganda and parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo.   So a Dholuo speaker from Kisumu or Maseno travelling to parts of western Uganda would most likely be able to speak with the local people.   And it is also probable that a certain amount of Dholuo would be understood by other Nilotic peoples going north along the Nile, for example, the Dinka in Sudan.

The Dholuo language also contains a large number of words 'borrowed' from Kiswahili, which has a larger vocabulary, and even some 'Luo-ised' English words have crept in !  This is one problem I'm having with trying to relearn a language I never spoke particularly well ... I keep 'cross languaging' with Swahili !

( I think I need to try and find a Dholuo-English dictionary ... the basic word list I down-loaded from the web isn't really adequate ...)


(Later ... I found a secondhand one on the 'net ... £89.99 ... from the USA ... I don't think so !)