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 | |
|---|---|
| Region | Southern Sudan |
| Ethnicity | Lopit people |
Native speakers | (50,000 cited 1995)[1] |
Nilo-Saharan?
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | lpx |
| Glottolog | lopi1242 |
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]
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
- Lopit at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
- Ethnologue.com entry for Lopit
- Ethnologue.com family lineage for Lopit
- Vossen, Rainier, The Eastern Nilote: Linguistic + Historic reconstructions, Berlin: Dietrich, Reimer Verlag 1982
- "Lopit Consonant & Vowel Book". SIL International. 2014-08-11. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
- "Lopit Grammar Book". SIL International. 2014-08-11. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
- Billington, Rosey (2017). The phonetics and phonology of the Lopit language (PhD thesis). University of Melbourne. hdl:11343/192353.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Moodie, Jonathan Paul (2019). A grammar of the Lopit language (PhD thesis). University of Melbourne. hdl:11343/227686.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)