Alur
Lur
RegionOrientale Province (Democratic Republic of Congo), Nebbi and Zombo districts of Uganda
EthnicityAlur
Native speakers
1.7 million (2001–2014)[1]
Dialects
  • Jokot
  • Jonam
  • Mambisa
  • Wanyoro
Language codes
ISO 639-3alz
Glottologalur1250

Alur (Dho-Alur [d̟ɔ.a.lur]) is a Western Nilotic language spoken in the southern West Nile region of Uganda and the northeastern Ituri Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The language's subdialects are Jokot, Jonam/Lo-Naam (mainly spoken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo), Mambisa and Wanyoro.

Phonology

Vowels

Alur has 9 vowels.

FrontCentralBack
Closeiu
Near-closeɪʊ
Close-mideo
Open-midɛɔ
Opena

Consonants

Alur has 23 consonants.

Phonetic inventory of consonants in Alur
Labial Labio-dental Dental Alveolar Palato-Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive p b t̟ d̟ t d k ɡ
Fricative f v s z h
Affricate tʃ dʒ
Trill r
Approximant w l j

Grammar

Alur has an SVO word order.

Orthography

The Alur language has no officially accepted orthography. However, informal conventions have been established in written materials and road signs.

First, there is usually no written tonal distinction. Second, the phonemic distinction between /ŋ/ and /ng/ is occasionally reflected in the orthography, with /ŋ/ represented by 'ŋ' and /ng/ represented by 'ng'. However, /ŋ/ is also frequently written as 'ng', confusing it orthographically with /ng/.

References

  1. Alur at Ethnologue (22nd ed., 2019) Closed access icon
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