Lopit language

The Lopit language is an Eastern Nilotic language spoken by around 50,000 people in Eastern Equatoria State, South Sudan.[2] Lopit is part of the Lotuko-Teso subfamily and is related to Lotuko, Turkana and Maasai.[3] Lopit is a VSO language and has a complex tonal system.[4]

Lopit
RegionSouthern Sudan
EthnicityLopit people
Native speakers
(50,000 cited 1995)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3lpx
Glottologlopi1242

The Lopit language has six different dialects: Ngabori spoken by Ngaboli sub community, Dorik spoken by Dorik Sub community, Ngotira spoken by Ngotira sub community, Lomiaha spoken by Lomiaha Sub community, Lohutok spoken by Lohutok sub community, and Lolongo spoken by Lolongo sub community. However, some small sub communities or villages for instance Loming, Ahado, Oriaju, Hidonge and may also involved Atarangi who speak Lotuko because of their proximity to the neighboring Lotuko community

Phonology

Vowels

Lopit has 5 vowels: a, e, i, o, u.[5]

Consonants
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Stop voiceless p t k
voiced b d g
Affricate voiceless t͡ʃ
voiced d͡ʒ
Fricative s h
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Approximant w l j
Trill r

Grammar

Lopit has vowel harmony for prepositions. Prepositions have the suffix /o/ with vowels /o, u/, /e/ with /e, i/, and /a/ with /a/.[6]

Example:

ta ranga - the bow

to bok - from stable

te heju - with legs

References
  1. Lopit at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Ethnologue.com entry for Lopit
  3. Ethnologue.com family lineage for Lopit
  4. Vossen, Rainier, The Eastern Nilote: Linguistic + Historic reconstructions, Berlin: Dietrich, Reimer Verlag 1982
  5. "Lopit Consonant & Vowel Book". SIL International. 2014-08-11. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
  6. "Lopit Grammar Book". SIL International. 2014-08-11. Retrieved 2019-01-25.


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