Gwere language

Gwere, or Lugwere, is the language spoken by the Gwere people (Bagwere), a Bantu people found in the eastern part of Uganda. It has a close dialectical resemblance to Soga and Ganda, which neighbour the Gwere.

Phonology

Consonants

Gwere has 20 consonant phonemes.

Vowels

Gwere has ten vowel phonemes, 5 short and 5 long.

Orthography and alphabet

The Gwere alphabet has 31 letters.

• a - a - [ɑ]
• aa - aa - [ɑː]
• b - ba - [β]
• bb - bba - [b]
• c - ca - [c]
• d - da - [d]
• e - e - [e]
• ee - ee - [eː]
• f - fa - [f]
• g - ga - [g]
• i - i - [i]
• ii - ii - [iː]
• j - ja - [ɟ]
• k - ka - [k]
• l - la - [l]
• m - ma - [m]
• n - na - [n]
• ny - nya - [ɲ]
• ŋ - ŋa - [ŋ]
• o - o - [o]
• oo - oo - [oː]
• p - pa - [p]
• r - ra - [r]
• s - sa - [s]
• t - ta - [t]
• u - u - [u]
• uu - uu - [uː]
• v - va - [v]
• w - wa - [w]
• y - ya - [j]
• z - za - [z]

Bibliography

• Akinlabi, Akinbiyi (1995). Theoretical approaches to African linguistics. Africa World Press. ISBN 0-86543-463-8.
• Nzogi, Richard Kijjali (2006-06-15). (PDF). Dallas, TX: SIL International. (PDF) from the original on 2024-01-16.
• Nzogi, Richard; Diprose, Martin (2012a). . Lugwere Dictionary. Entebbe, Uganda: Lunyole Language Association.

Further reading

• Kagaya, Ryohei (2005). [A tonal analysis of nouns of the Gwere language]. Journal of Asian and African Studies. 69: 123–176. doi:.
• Kayaga, Ryohei (2006). . Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. ISBN 9784872979282.
• Ndoboli, Titus (1994). The tense system of Lugwere (MA thesis). Kampala: Makerere University.
• Nzogi, Richard (2009). (PDF). SIL electronic working papers (SILEWP). Vol. 2009–003. SIL International. (PDF) from the original on 2020-03-22.
• Nzogi, Richard; Diprose, Martin (2012b). . Entebbe, Uganda: Lunyole Language Association.
• Schoenbrun, David Lee (1997). . Rüdiger Köppe Verlag. ISBN 9783896450951.