Nyoro-Tooro is a language spoken by the people living in the Bunyoro and Tooro sub-regions of western Uganda. It is often defined as two separate languages: Nyoro and Tooro, though it is defined and standardised as one language by the Ministry of Education in Uganda. It is closely related to Runyankore-Rukiga.
Orthography +Nyoro-Tooro orthography+1947 (modern)1901IPAaa/a/aaa/aː/bb/β/bbb/b/cc/tʃ/dd/d/ee/e/eee/eː/ff/f/gg/g/hh/h/ii/i/iiī/iː/jj/dʒ/kk/k/ll/l/mm/m/nn/n/nyny/ɲ/oo/o/ooo/oː/pp/p/rr/ɾ/rr'r/r/ss/s/tt/t/uu/u/uuu/uː/v/v/wu, w/w/yy/j/z z/z/
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.
+Nyoro-Tooro wordNyoro pronunciationTooro pronunciationProto-Bantu wordPart of speechEnglish (definition)enda/êːnda//éːnda/*ndàNounabdomen/éːndâ/*ndálouseekyenda/ekjênda//ekjénda/*kɪ́á ndà (> *ekya enda)intestine/ekjéndâ/*kɪ̀jèndá(group of) ninetyengo/êːŋgo//éːŋgo/*ngòleopard(s)/éːŋgô/*ngófences
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)ConsonantsenkwahwaenkwahaNounarmpit(s)VowelsenkokoraenkokeraNounelbowFormationngenzerengenzireVerbI have gonenkozerenkozireI have doneMixedssoisoNoun(your) father
Notes
References