Grammar Reference — Acholi Language Manual

Quote of the week: I can’t begin to talk to people until I have learned the grammar of the language. Peace Corps Volunteer. Who cares about the grammar, I just want to communicate. Peace Corps Volunteer.

Introduction

What You Will Find Here

This section contains almost everything you’ve always wanted to know about Acholi. It explains the most important grammar rules and summarizes this information in clear charts. Some Frequently Asked Questions about the language are answered. At the end, there is a glossary of commonly used grammatical terms. Overviews of noun classes and verb tenses are also attached.

What You Won’t Find Here

Not all possible variants are mentioned here. Acholi is not as widely studied as English and therefore much data about variations isn’t available.

Forming Words

In Acholi, putting words together is a similar process to putting together sentences in English. Often a single word is enough to express what in English would have to be a sentence, e.g abikwanno means: I will read it.

Verbs

Each verb is formed by a stem and may combine with several prefixes and possibly a suffix. Here is a list of the most common abbreviations used: Negative NE SP tense marker TM subject prefix verb infinitive VI object suffix OS verb stem VS personal pronoun PP modified verb stem MVS.

Subject prefix preceeds verb stem but it doubles as tense marker as well:

a - Nen - i - I am seeing you (sing.) SP VS OS

a - nen - i - I saw you (far past) SP VS OS

o - neno - wa - He has seen us. SP VS OS

o - neno - wa - He saw us (far past) SP VS OS

Negative precedes subject prefix and tense marker:

en - pe - oneno - wa - He didn’t see us (today). PP NE VI PP

Negative with modified stem an - pe - anen - i I didn’t see you (far past). PP NE VS OS

en - pe - oneno - wa - He didn’t see us (far past). PP NE VS OS

Negative with infinitive marker pe - a - nen - i - I am not seeing you (sing.) NE SP VS OS

Adjectives and Possessive Pronouns The situation with adjectives is much easier. All you have to remember is to add a class prefix at the beginning. The class prefix must agree with the noun. See chart at the end of the reference section for more details on the agreement of noun classes. Possessive adjectives, on the other hand, add the subject prefix of the class of the thing possessed. So while, my book is bukka, my woman is dako na.

Making a Sentence Basic Word Order Sentence typically consists of four parts: subject, verb, tense marker and object. The object is not always necessary. In Acholi, both subject and object can be expressed by prefixes, one word can contain all the components necessary to make a sentence, e.g. Akwanno . (I’m reading it). See above for analysis. A sentence may then consist of subject, verb containing a subject prefix, a tense marker and an object. The object can be expressed by an object suffix. The sentence can be further expanded by adjectives, possessive pronouns, adverbs and prepositions. There are a few simple rules for word order that have few exceptions.

Subject precedes the verb. Subject pronoun is expressed by the subject prefix.
Object follows the subject. Object pronoun is expressed by the object suffix.
Adjective follows the noun and the possessive pronoun if there is one after the noun.
Adverbs typically come at the end or beginning of the sentence.
Even if the subject is a noun, the verb must contain a subject prefix.
Demonstratives (this and that) have a variable position. They can come either before or after the noun.

Subject expressed by prefix, object followed by an adjective: I saw a beautiful woman at school. A-neno dako maleng i Gangkwan SP+TM+VS Object Adjective Preposition Object I saw a woman beautiful at school.

Verb followed by another verb and adverb:

We saw (far past) a child riding a new bicycle very slowly. Waneno latin ma tye ka ngwec ki nyono gari/lele manyen mot

SP+TM+VS Object Verb Object Adjective Adverb We saw a child he is riding a bicycle new slowly slowly.

Object contained in the verb as an prefix: I saw him riding it very slowly. Anene tye kanyono Mot mot SP+TM+OS+VS SP+TM+VS Adverb I saw him/her he is riding it slowly slowly

Negative preceeding SP+TM+VS: I didn’t see a beautiful woman at school. Pe aneno dako maleng i Gang kwan NE+SP+TM+VS Object adjective Prep Object I didn’t see Woman beautiful at school.

Subject expressed by noun and prefix: The man is reading a book. Nyeri tye kakwanno Buk Subject PP+to be+TM+VS Object Man he is reading a book.

Other “Sentence Makers”

Note on the Grammar of Acholi.

The Alphabet A B C D E G I J K L M N NG NY O P R T U W Y a b c d e g i j k l m n ng ny o p r t u w y
The Noun

(i) Proper Nouns In Acholi, most of the male proper nouns start with “O”, female with “A”, eg: MALE FEMALE Opiyo Apiyo (first born of twins) Ocen Acen (the latter of twins) Okello Akello (born after twins)

(ii) Noun Forms A large number of common nouns are derived from verbs in different ways:

a) from transitive verbs by dropping final “o”. eg: nekko (to kill) = nek (killing) wotto (to walk) = wot (walk/walking) dwaro (to hunt) = dwar (hunting)

b) from verbs that end in “-yo” by dropping the “-yo” and adding “c”; e.g: tiyo (to work) = tic (work) pwoyo (to thank) = pwoc (thanks)

c) some transitive verbs have an irregular formation: e.g: kwayo (to herd) = kwat (herding) kwallo (to steal) = kwoo (theft) doyo (to weed) = doo (weeds) deyo (to decorate) = deyo (decoration)

d) some intransitive and qualitative verbs are formed with “o”: e.g:y kok (to weep) = koko (weeping) ger (to be ferocious) = gero (ferocity) twoo (to be sick) = twoo (sickness)

e) some verbal nouns are derived from verbs by the use of prefixes and suffixes:

by prefixing “l” e.g: nywaro(to scorn) = anywar (scornful person) cweyo (to create) = lacwec (creator) kwallo (to steal) = lakwo (thief)
prefixing “o”; e.g: yweyo (to sweep) = oywec (broom)
prefixing “a” and replacing the final “o” with another “a”; e.g.: yello (to trouble) = ayela (trouble)
prefixing “la” before qualitative verbs: e.g.: goro (to be weak) = lagoro (a weak person) ming (to be stupid) = laming (a stupid person) dit (be great) = ladit (elder, superior)
prefixing “l” before nouns: e.g.: goba (a lie) = lagoba (a liar) lonyo (wealth) = lalonyo (a rich person) nywal (birth) = lanywal (parent)

f.) compound nouns are made:

by combining the name of a part of the body with a common noun: e.g: wang bur (ulcer, wound) from wang (eye) + bur (wound) kor ot (wall) from kor (chest) + house (house) dog nam (river bank) from dog (mouth) + nam (river)
by combining a noun with “dye” (middle), “ka” (place), “tung” (direction), “gin” (abbr. “gi” = thing): e.g: dye ot (floor) ka kwan (class) gi deyo (ornament)

By combining an adjective with “cwiny” (heart, feeling), “ic” (belly), “wic” (head), “kom” (body), “wang” (eye). In this case, we form abstract nouns; e.g.: yomcwiny (happiness) tekcwiny (firmness) yomic (happiness) wilwic (forgetfulness) litkom (sickness) bitwang (sharpness of sight)

(iii) Noun Gender a) The distinction of sex can be made on lexical basis:

Masculine Feminine lacoo = male, man dako = female, woman cwar = husband ci = wife wego= father mego = mother wod = son nya = daughter won = owner, master min = owner, mistress

b) Most proper names of male persons begin with “O” and most female names with “A”. Masculine Feminine Owino Lawino Odoc Adoc Onek Anek Okullo Akullo (iv) Noun Number

Plural formation with “-e” is the most regular. The tone pattern of the singular is preserved in the plural.

Singular plural gloss buk buk book daktaa daktari doctor kom kom chair rec rece fish puc puce cat welo wele visitor

Plural formation can also be realized with the addition of “-i”: Singular plural gloss twon twoni bull paco paci home got godi mountain
All derived nouns prefixed by “la” make their plural by changing “a” to “lo”: Singular plural gloss latin lotino child ladit lodito elder lakwena lokwena messenger labal lobal sinner latic lotic worker lakwo lokwo thief
In some nouns, the final “-i”, which replaces the final vowel to form the plural, affects the preceding vowel (i.e. from open it becomes close): Singular plural gloss jago jagi sub county chief romo romi sheep twon twoni male bongo bongi cloth tong t ongi spear
The plural suffix “-i” affects also the preceding consonant, changing a voiceless one to a voiced one, i.e. t > d, k > g:

Singular plural gloss ot odi house got godi mountain jok jogi deity nyok nyogi male

Sometimes there is lexical distinction between singular and plural: Singular plural gloss dano jo person dako mon woman cwar cog husband dyel dyegi goats
Sometimes the final “-o ” is deleted Singular plural gloss gweno gweni chicken aweno aweni guinea fowl

(v) Genitive

a) Possession is expressed by the preposition “pa” (for things, also “me”): e.g.: dek pa dano = people’s food buka pa lapwony = the teacher’s book dyegi me tim = wild goats

b) The complement of purpose is expressed by “me” (“a” for persons) and often without preposition: e.g.: caa me tic = time for work cam me otyeno = evening meal jami cam = eating utensils

c) Syntagms denoting part of a collective whole do not require any preposition between the two words. This form, very common indeed, is used for:

Integral parts of living things: cing latin = child’s hand tung dyang = horn of a cow jang yat = branch of a tree
Products and quality: cak dyang = cow’s milk tong gweno = hen’s egg nyig kal = millet grain
Parts of objects: tyen meca = table leg pur kweri = handle of hoe bol tong = shaft of spear
Ownership and relationship: won ot = head of family won dyang = owner of cow omin dako = wife’s brother
Aim or purpose of something: ot rommi = hut for sheep Awac pii = calabash for water obwo rec = fishing net

The Pronoun

i) Personal pronoun: Nominative case Accusative case Pronoun prefix suffix gloss an a- -a I in i- -i you en e-, (o-) -e he, she, it wan o- -wa we wun u- -wu you gin o- -gi they

an lawoti = I am your friend acamo = I ate (it) in itek = you are strong itek = you are strong

Personal pronouns: indirect object Indirect object suffix to me -a to you -i to him/her -e to us -iwa to you -iwu to them -igi

e.g.: miye pii = give him water

(ii) Possessive pronouns: my, mine = -na, -a (mera, mega) your, yours = -ni, -i (meri, megi) his, hers = -e, -ere (mege, mege) our, ours = -wa (mewa, megwa) your, yours = -wu (mewu, megwu) their, theirs = -gi, -eggi (meggi)

(iii) Emphatic pronouns: They are composed with: “kom-“ (body) “ken-“ (alone) “gir-“ (gin = thing, plus: mer-a, mer-i, mer-e = mine, yours, his).

e .g.: an atimo ki koma (kena, gira kena) = I did it myself in itimo ki komi (keni, gite kene) = you did it yourself en otimo ki kome (kene, gite kene) = he did it himself wan watimo ki komwa (kenwa, giwa kenwa) = we did it ourselves. wun wutimo ki komwu (kenwu, giwu kenwu) = you did it yourselves gin timo ki kom gi (ken-gi, gigi ken-gi) = they did it themselves

(iv) Relative and Interogative pronouns In Acholi, they are not inflected and have no number; they have the following forms:

ma, a, a- = who, whom, which, that nga, anga, ngagi = who, whom anga (pa anga) = whose ngo, ango = what mene = which

e.g.: buk ma imiya = the book which you gave me man buk pa anga? = whose book is this? en otongo yat ki ngo? = with what did he cut the tree?

The Adjective All adjectives have only one form, both for the singular and the plural, except these few: Singular plural gloss ber beco good rac raco bad bor boco long, far cek cego short tidi tino small dit dito big doo dongo large

(ii) Reduplicative form This form has usually a dimunitive meaning: e.g.: ber ber = rather good nok nok = rather few cok cok = fairly near

Note also the partial reduplication: titidi = very small titino = very small (pl.) totwal = very much

Adverbs (i) Adverbs of time awene = when kicel kicel = rarely naka = always jwi jwi = everyday (ii) Adverbs of place kwene = where piny = down kwica = there ite = under

(iii) Adverbs of position karacel = all together anyim = future ngete = sideways aryeba = downwards ataro = upw ards

(iv) Adverbs of manner ni ning, yoo mene = how me akaka = purposely i mung = secretly labongo tam = thoughtlessly oyot oyot = quickly

Prepositions Prepositions express relationships between people, things, actions, etc: Wan wanongo mic mapol ki boti = we received a lot of gifts from you. Acholi uses prepositions more than many other languages, and one preposition often has several different meanings. Acholi has a very small set of true prepositions, which include the following:

i = ‘on, at, in, about, to, from’ bot = ‘to’ bote = ‘to, at, with’ pa = ‘for’ pi = ‘because of’ te = ‘under’ tu = ‘toward’ ka = ‘instead of’ kwede = ‘with’ gini = ‘with’

Each of these prepositions, except “i” and “gini”, has a characteristic set of object pronoun affixes; the plain form is used with noun objects: pi bot 1s pira bota 2s piri boti 3s pire bote 1p piwa botwa 2p piwu botwu 3p pigi botgi

gin ki does not take pronominal objects: Apwoyo gin ki kwac onongo gubedo lurem = hare and leopard were friends.
i takes noun and pronominal objects that refer to non-humans: iye ‘in, about, on, etc. it’ i buk ‘in, about, on, etc. the book’

but cannot take objects that refer directly to humans.

When such nouns or pronouns are the logical object of i, the noun kom (body) is used as the object of i, with the appropriate noun or pronoun as its inseparable possessor: i kom dako = ‘in, about, on, etc. the woman’ i koma = ‘in, about, on, etc. me’

Prepositional phrases normally consist of a preposition followed by its noun phrase object, or a preposition inflected for pronominal object.

NB: There are two sorts of complications both involving the preposition “i”, viz;

First, prepositional phrases may consist of i (rarely some other preposition), followed by a second preposition, followed by the object: Otim oaa woko ki bot Odongo = Otim has left (from) Odongo. dako owok ki ite yat = the woman walked under the tree. Lacoo owoto tung bot dako = the man walked toward the woman

Compound prepositions, i.e. combinations of prepositions plus preposition should be listed in the lexicon because all combinations are not possible, and the meaning resulting from such combinations is not always predictable; e.g.: ki bot = ‘ from.’

Second, “i” combines with body part nouns, and locational nouns to form locative expressions: i wi yat = on top of the tree i dog kulu = on the mouth of the river iyi ot = into, out of the house.
Constructions consisting of “i”, a preposition, and a body part noun are also possible: Me kaka = instead of the woman.

Conjunctions Conjunctions are used to connect together units of language. They can join:

WORDS: En onongo cek ento ger. = he was short but fierce. Apiyo onongo maro wer ki myel. = Apio used to like singing and dancing. In nyo Obala myero otim. = you or Obala should do it.

PHRASES: En bene oniang ni paco dong cok. = he also understood that the home was near

CLAUSES: En tye kwede mon aryo koo gine mo peke = he has two wives and yet he has nothing.

Verbs Verbs refer to an action, or to something happening, or to a state which exists: En ogoyo gwok = She hit the dog. Dano tye kamat = People are drinking. Pe angeyo kit ma itye kwede = I don’t know how you are.

The verb is the most important part of speech in Acholi, not only for the functions natural to it, but for the wealth of metaphor and colour which it imports to the language. From the verb too are derived a number of nouns.
The general rule is for neuter verbs to end in a consonant and most of the time the neuter verb corresponds with the root, e.g. rac (‘badness’, ‘to be bad’). Active verbs invariably end in the vowel –o, which in many cases is dropped to form the passive.
Intransitive verbs for the most part end in a consonant (e.g. bok ‘to redden’; cot ‘to break’; dak ‘to migrate’), but there are also intransitive forms which end in –o (e.g. gedo ‘to build’; lwongo ‘to call’, etc.). Also intransitive verbs may end in vowels other than –o, (e.g. aa ‘to come from’; kangara ‘to be lanky’; cwee ‘to be fat’; numu ‘to be raw’ etc.).
The Acholi verb is inflected for three aspects: perfective, progressive, and habitual. The three aspects are clearly shown below with the verb cammo ‘to eat’.

perfective progressive habitual 1s acamo acammo acamo 2s icamo icammo icamo 3s ocamo ocammo ocamo 1p ocamo ocammo ocamo 2p wucamowunu wucammowunu wucamowunu 3p ocamo ocammo icamo

The singular object suffixes -a, -i, -e are added to the verb stem in place of the final –o, e.g.: aneni = I see you anene = I see him/her inena = you see me anenogi = I see them anenowu = I see you (en) onenowa = He/she sees us

The subject prefix is an integral part of the conjugation, and is still required when there is a noun as subject. lotino onenowa = the children saw us

When the object pronoun it refers to something inanimate, the object suffix is generally not used. imitto cam? Amito do = do you want food? I want it (not amitte).

The verb to be is expressed by: (i) tye = to be (existential and locative): denotes a punctual or generic being; its negative form is pe = not to be, not to exist, etc. (ii) bedo = to exist, to continue to exist, to continue doing a particular action, to remain seated, etc. Its negative form is pe bedo = not to continue.
Before nouns and adjectives use predicatively, “tye” is not required, and, if the subject is a personal pronoun, the noun and the adjective take the pronominal prefix, e.g.: kom man dit = this chair is big en lagoba = he is a liar man pe adonyi = this is not an outsider wan watek = we are strong

The verb to have is rendered by the verb tye (to be) plus a preposition, e.g.: tye kwede = to be with (= to have) tye i... = to be with tye bang = to be with, to be near (= to have, followed by only the name of a person) tye bot = to be with, to be near. Okullo tye ki motoka = Okulo has a motorcar

A number of auxiliary verbs can be used to create definite tense interpretations: (i) the verb ‘bin’ with a high tone is used to show that something came to happen in the past as a result of a previous action: e.g.: Obura obi lare woko= Obura got saved (in the past)

(ii) the verb “obi” (to come) conjugated in the habitual aspect forms a simple future with the semantic main verb in the infinitive: obidok = (she, he, it) will go back.

With the progressive and perfective aspects, a motional sense is added. The progressive retains a future connotation, while bino in the perfective yields a perfect or secondary past: obi dok = it will come to pass obino ka kwan = he/she has come to read

(iii) The verb “mitto” (to want) forms an immediate future with the meaning verb in the infinitive. En mito ngwec = he likes to run In this construction, mitto is always conjugated in the habitual. When mitto is used to express desire, it is conjugated in the progressive: amitto cam = I want to eat 9. Exclamations Exclamations are used especially in informal speech to show strong feelings such as surprise (eyooo); appreciation ; assent (Ee); pain (Aya-do-o), suprise ojon-eee tc. Shocking (ee-e)

Compounds Compounds in Acholi can be constructed from nouns and infinitives in any combination of two or more words; the left most member is the head, the right most member receives primary stress: wang ot = window ot cam = restaurant/hotel del dog = lips

Some words lose their final consonant in compounds when they are not the right most member, e.g. wic ‘head’ and gin ‘thing’: wi ot = roof gi tic = tool

The 'already' tense: The already tense is used for completed action. In this tense, the emphasis is on the fact that at a certain time the action had already been completed. Subject + tyeko+ verb:

Atyeko cam I have already eaten

The 'not yet' tense: The not yet tense is a negative one used to express the idea of an action not yet carried out. Here it is: Pwod pe acamo. i.e Not yet tense = Pwod + NEG+sp+mvs

It should be noted that the use of this tense does not imply any certainty that the action will take place later. There must, however be a possibility of fulfillment.

The 'Ever' tense: Is used to express whether an action has ever been perfomed. This tense is formed by placing manaka dong before the subject prefix and the modified verb stem. e.g.

Ever tense = manaka dong +SP+MVS+ OBJ manaka dong icamo opego? Have you ever eaten pork? Manaka dong Steven onyomo? Has Steven ever married? Manaka dong ineno raa ki i pii? Have you ever seen hippos in water? Dano manaka dong onywal. Any person who has ever given birth.

The ‘Never’ Tense: Same as ‘Not Yet’ tense.

The Negative In Acholi, the general rule for forming the negative of any particular verb is formed adding Pe at the begining or in the middle of a sentence. e.g. Teddo to cook pe atedo I do not cook pe itedo you do not cook (singular) he/she doesn’t cook wan pe watedo we do not cook wun pe gutedo you do not cook (plural) gin pe tedo they do not cook.

The Imperative The present imperative consists of a second person singular only, and is simply the stem of the verb e.g. Kel Bring Bin Come Tii Work Cam Eat Yeto Peel

To form imperatives in the negative, the negative particle pe is placed before the verb stem. E.g: Negative imperative = pe+SP+VS e.g

Pe ikel

don't bring

Pe ibin

don't come

Pe ilwong

don't call (verb stem - eta)

Pe itii

don't work

Pe icam

don't eat

Pe ikwer

don't refuse (verb stem - anga)

Pe ilwok

don't wash (verb stem - ozya).

Verb 'to have' The possessive suffix for the above verb or the stem of that verb is –tye kwede. The present tense of this verb can be conjugated as follows:

Singular English Equivalent Negative Atye kwede I have Ape kwede Itye kwede you have (sing) Ipe kwede Etye kwede he/she has Pe etye kwede Otye kwede we have Ope kwede Itye wunu kwede you have (pl) wupe wunu kwede Gin tye kwede they have Gin pe kwede

Interrogation There is no difference in the order of words between a question and a statement. In writing, a question is clearly shown by the question mark at the end. In speech, the difference in intonation shows which is intended e.g.

Ibuto maber? Did you spend the night well? Irii maber. You spent the night well.

Some of the interrogative adverbs are: Kwene? Where? Pingo? Why? Awene? When?

Nga? Who? (sg) Ngo? What? Nining? How?

Mene? Which?

The question mark is added to the question to make it a question. The above adverbs generally come at the end of the questions (except why?)e.g.

Icito kwene? Where are you going? Man ngo? What is this? Buk mene? Which book? Man buk pa nga? Whose book is this? The 'still’ : It is used to express an action which is still being carried out. This is done by using pwod before the subject prefix and the verb stem i.e: Still tense = pwod+Sp+vs Pwod itye ki rum mokene? Do you still have some rooms? Pwod atye kacammo cam me odiko. I am still eating breakfast. Bac pwod tye i pak. The bus is still at the park. En pwod kome lit. He/She is still ill.

The negative is formed by prefixing Pe before the subject prefix e.g. Dong i pe ki rum? Bac dong pe. You no longer have rooms? The bus is no longer there.

Prepositions

Most prepositions are followed by the genitive particle -i which is the equivalent of the English of. Therefore the literal translation would be in of a box, before of a box. This is similar to the English in front of.

Ii / iiye

iwiye

inyime / anyime

Ingete / kangete

Idyere.

Conjunctions Common Conjunctions: Ka 'and'. Ka is mostly used to join nouns, infinitives and adjectives. Ki 'and'. It is used to join verbs and clauses. Also ki can start a sentence whereas ka cannot. Atye ki dyangi ki gweni angwen. I have 2 cows and 4 chickens Ento 'but', nevertheless Ento kono ‘however’ Ce gwok nyo ‘perhaps’ Pien ‘because’ Onyo gwok ‘maybe’

Use of ‘ki' or 'ka': These two conjunctions (ki, ka) are equivalent to the English 'and'. The only difference is that ka before a vowel joins nouns, infinitives and adjectives; whereas ki joins verbs and clauses. Ki may also begin a sentence whereas ka cannot.

Imito camo ne ki ngo? And what do you like to eat it with? Amito labolo ki miya malaga. I want bananas and give me a fork. En tye ka cammo mucele ki muranga. He is eating rice and beans.

Pronunciation Sounds Consonants There are 16 consonant sounds in Acholi but only 14 letters of the alphabet, therefore some consonants are actually written using a combination of two letter. Same as or Similar to English: b as in bank c Church d as in demo g as in garden j as in jug

k as in skit

l as in language

m as in many

n as in no

ny as in onion

ng bang

p as in spin r as in roll T as in stun W as in way Y as in yes

Combinations of Consonants There are some interesting combinations of consonants in Acholi, that are not found in English. They are usually for pointing out the strength of the pronunciations mostly in verbs but they are also used in nouns, interrogatives. E.g:

Nga? Who? Niang understand Nyanya tomatoes Mokko to confirm Gwokko to protect.

Vowels: There are five vowels in Acholi which can be either long or short. Vowels are always different across languages, even the seemingly similar ones, so the English equivalents should be taken only as approximations. The longated form of vowels comes about as a result of silencing y in a verb when forming a present continous tense from everyday tense. E.g: moyo moo spreading spread

kwoyo kwoo sewing sew

doyo doo weeding wed

Diphthongs (Combinations of Vowels): There are only three common diphthongs in Acholi. They are: ai (as in eye), ia (as in ear), ea (as in urea) and ie (as in diem).

Tones: Like Chinese or Vietnamese, and most Lwo languages, Acholi is a tonal language. This means that two seemingly identical words actually mean different thing depending on the tone of their vowels.

Fortunately, it is possible to speak and understand Acholi without the tones, as well, but being aware of them helps understanding and also makes it easier to make one’s thoughts clear.

Acholi has 2 tones, rising (high) and falling (low) * . Each vowel has its own tone. If two vowels are combined, each keeps its tone. The tone is more a direction of pitch than actual tone known from music and can be therefore mastered even by extremely unmusical people. Here are two good examples of why tones are important. This manual doesn’t deal with tones in more detail. e.g: Kec hunger Kέc bitter (pronunced with a prolonged stop) Kǽc sound of a falling object (pronounced with abrupt stop)

In contrast with Chinese which has four tones and Vietnamese which has seven.

Spelling Rules Acholi spelling is extremely easy. There are only a few rules that are easy to master.

Most of the words in Acholi are pronounced the way they are written except for words like moko, naka, okutu. The k is pronounced as x in english and t pronounced as r in those examples given.
Tones are not written
Two different vowels cannot occur together except when the particle y is being silenced; e.g moyo (moo).

Note on Spelling Not all speakers of Acholi have also been educated in the languages. Therefore there are many variants in spelling. Especially the double vowels are often omitted. When reading printed materials including the newspaper be aware of many possible errors.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the attitude of speakers of Acholi to learners? Speakers of all Lwo languages are very happy to receive visitors who try to communicate with them in their language. Because of the specific language situation in East Africa, it is very common for people to learn a second language.

Where is Acholi spoken and who speaks it? Acholi is spoken in northern Uganda a nd also in the central by minority. But it is spoken mainly in the districts of Amuru,Gulu, Kitgum and Pader. The people speaking Acholi are called the Acholi. The singular form of this word is Acholi.

What is the relationship of Acholi to other languages? Acholi is a Luo language. The most famous language of the Lwo family is Acholi and it is fairly similar to most Lwo languages in principle, speakers of Acholi and other Lwo languages can understand each other. The Lwo languages are very different from Indoeuropean languages (i.e. English, German, French, Russian). Acholi has five sister languages i.e Palwo, Alur, Kumam, Lango and Dhopadhola. It is closest to Lango and Alur but even speakers of Palwo, Dhophadola and Kumam can understand few words in Acholi and vice versa.

This chart shows Acholi in the context of other world languages. Level 1 are languages with a certain degree of mutual inteligibility. Level 2 are languages of the same origin and similar systems. Level 3 are languages that have similarity in how they work but are completely unrelated to Acholi in any way. Level 4 are languages that are unrelated and completely dissimilar to Acholi.

ACHOLI

2 1 3 4 Palwo Lango

Kumam Alur Dhopadhola

English Chinese

Ateso Runyankore Luganda Lusoga

Short Glossary of Grammar Terms Adverb Words which specify time, space and manner. For example, yesterday, elsewhere, quickly. They are answers to When? Where? and How? Most but not all adverbs in English end in -ly. Note! In American English, adverbs are often replaced by adjectives (e.g., I feel good. He came quick.) In most other languages this is never possible. Suffix Typically a syllable or a sound appended to the end of a word to express some grammatical feature. For example, in English, -s is added to nouns to make plural. 1 book -> 2 books Prefix Typically a syllable or a sound appended to the beginning of a word to express some grammatical feature. An example in English, is dis- used to express difference in words like dissimilar, disparate, etc. In Acholi, most grammar is taken care of by prefixes. Infix Typically a syllable or a sound inserted in the middle of a word to express some grammatical feature. In English, there are no regular infixes. An example may be man -> men where e is used to replace a to express plural. Conjunction A word or several words used to connect words, phrases or sentences. e.g. and, because, but, however, or, because of, inspite of, etc. Preposition A word put before a noun phrase to change its meaning. e.g. before, after, in, on, about, with Adjective A word used to modify the meaning of nouns. e.g. beautiful, ugly, big, simple, many.

Pronouns

Words used to refer to nouns to avoid repetition. e.g. he, she, him, her, us, you.

Imperative Form of verbs used to express commands. e.g. Run! Sit down! Speak! Passive Sentences like The woman was hit by a car or I’m being chased by the police are passive versions of A car hit the woman and The police are chasing me. The object of the action becomes the grammatical subject and the erstwhile subject hides behind the preposition by. Possessive Means expressing a relationship of belonging to. For example, possessive pronouns are his, my, your , of is a possessive preposition, and ́s in dad’s car is a possessive suffix. Interrogative Means expressing a question. For example, who? what? which? are interrogative adverbs. Subjunctive A verb form to express wishes, request and indirect commands. In English, the subjunctive has a little different meaning. It describes sentences like It is imperative that he be informed immediately. Syllable Two or more sounds that create one pronunciation unit. Each syllable has at least one vowel. A vowel on its own can also be a syllable. E.g. the word in-te-li-gi-ble has 5 syllables. In Acholi, most syllables end in a vowel.

Noun Class Luo languages don’t have gender like French, German or Spanish. However, each noun can belong to one of up to 14 classes (9 in Acholi). The classes are marked by a prefix. Each class has a different prefix for singular and plural. Just as with gender in French or German, all adjectives, possessive pronouns and some adverbs must agree with the noun they modify, i.e. take its prefix. Modified Stem Tense in Acholi as in other Luo languages, is typically marked by a prefix. Some tenses and their negatives, however, also modify the stem of the verb. Although, there are some rules for how the stem changes, they are so complicated it is better to memorize the modified stem of at least the most common verbs. Idiom Is a set expression whose meaning does not directly derive from its component words. For example, it’s raining cats and dogs really means: it is raining heavily. Idioms typically cannot be translated from one language to the other.

Acholi Functional