Kuku language
Encyclopedia
This article is about the language for the ethnic group see Kuku people
.
The Kuku language, also called Kutuk na Kuku (Kuku language) belongs to the Bari language group, of the Southeastern Nilotic branch of the Nilotic language family of the Southern Sudan and Northern Uganda. There is no standardized writing system for Kuku; it is sometimes written using the alphabet of a related language such as Bari or Kakwa, with the addition of characters to represent sounds that are not present in the other language. For example, the Bari alphabet can be adjusted for use in Kuku by adding the digraphs gb and kp to represent the voiced and voiceless labiovelar stops, respectively.
Kuku Alphabets
A E I O U Ö – B D G J K L – M N P R S T – W Y ’B ’D Ý Ŋ – NY GB KP
a e i o ö – b d g j k l – m n p r s t – w y ’b ’d ý ŋ – ny gb kp
...which has two digraphs not found in the Bari alphabet.
Kuku is a tone language. It has agglutinative verbal morphology, with extensive suppletion. Nouns are divided into two genders. There is a vowel harmony system that primarily involves an ATR distinction. Differences between Kuku and Bari
include the phoneme inventory, pronouns, tonal phonology, and tense formation. The most striking difference may be in the function of the qualitative morpheme, which is used to indicate a definite/indefinite contrast in Bari, but indicates an aspectual contrast in Kuku. Kuku language have a variety of borrowed words. some words are of Kisawahili, and Arabic language that are altered a little to sound different. Today a number of words seem to be derieved from English too by the more educated Kuku people. More educated Kuku people mix the language with some English in it mostly for example if they want to say "you are not serious" they say "Do mb'an sirias".
飛内悠子, 私の研究とその社会的意義, グローバル・スタディーズ研究科地域研究専攻博士前期課程, available at http://www.st.sophia.ac.jp/T.de.Chardin/pdf/08_hiuchi.pdf (Masters thesis on language use in Sudan with a particular focus on Kuku)
Kuku people
The Kuku are a tribe from South Sudan. They are part of Karo people. The Kuku speak Kutuk na Kuku. They inhabit the agricultural lands of Kajo Keji County in Central Equatoria State.They are chiefly a farming people relying on mixed farming...
.
The Kuku language, also called Kutuk na Kuku (Kuku language) belongs to the Bari language group, of the Southeastern Nilotic branch of the Nilotic language family of the Southern Sudan and Northern Uganda. There is no standardized writing system for Kuku; it is sometimes written using the alphabet of a related language such as Bari or Kakwa, with the addition of characters to represent sounds that are not present in the other language. For example, the Bari alphabet can be adjusted for use in Kuku by adding the digraphs gb and kp to represent the voiced and voiceless labiovelar stops, respectively.
Kuku Alphabets
A E I O U Ö – B D G J K L – M N P R S T – W Y ’B ’D Ý Ŋ – NY GB KP
a e i o ö – b d g j k l – m n p r s t – w y ’b ’d ý ŋ – ny gb kp
...which has two digraphs not found in the Bari alphabet.
Kuku is a tone language. It has agglutinative verbal morphology, with extensive suppletion. Nouns are divided into two genders. There is a vowel harmony system that primarily involves an ATR distinction. Differences between Kuku and Bari
Bari language
Bari is the Nilotic language of the Karo people, spoken over large areas of Central Equatoria state in South Sudan, across the northwest corner of Uganda, and into the Democratic Republic of Congo....
include the phoneme inventory, pronouns, tonal phonology, and tense formation. The most striking difference may be in the function of the qualitative morpheme, which is used to indicate a definite/indefinite contrast in Bari, but indicates an aspectual contrast in Kuku. Kuku language have a variety of borrowed words. some words are of Kisawahili, and Arabic language that are altered a little to sound different. Today a number of words seem to be derieved from English too by the more educated Kuku people. More educated Kuku people mix the language with some English in it mostly for example if they want to say "you are not serious" they say "Do mb'an sirias".
Other Readings
- Voßen, Rainer, The Eastern Nilotes. Linguistics and Historical Reconstructions, Kölner Beiträge zur Afrikanistik n° 9, Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1982. ISBN 3-496-00698-6
飛内悠子, 私の研究とその社会的意義, グローバル・スタディーズ研究科地域研究専攻博士前期課程, available at http://www.st.sophia.ac.jp/T.de.Chardin/pdf/08_hiuchi.pdf (Masters thesis on language use in Sudan with a particular focus on Kuku)