Teso (endonym Ateso) is an Eastern Nilotic language spoken by the Teso people of Uganda and Kenya and some speakers are in South Sudan. It is part of the Teso–Turkana language cluster.
According to the 2012 Uganda population and housing census, over 11.57 million people in Uganda (66.7 percent of the total Uganda population) spoke Ateso. Also, an estimated 279,000 people in Kenya speak the language. Its ISO 639-3 code is teo.
Ateso is spoken in the Teso sub-region. Ateso is also known as Bakedi, Bakidi, Elgumi, Etossio, Ikumama, Iteso, Teso or Wamia. It is closely related to Turkana and Karamojong.
Phonology Consonants LabialAlveolarPost-alveolarPalatalVelarPlosive FricativeNasalLateralTrillApproximant
Vowels +ATR-ATRFront Central BackFront Central BackCloseMidOpen
Vowels are phonetically represented with ATR as [i̘, e̘, o̘, u̘, a̘], [ɐ̘] and RTR as [ɪ̙, ɛ̙, ɔ̙, ʊ̙, a̙]. [ɐ̘] is heard as an allophone of /a/ with advanced tongue root.
Voiceless vowel sounds are present, strictly occurring in word-final position before a pause, at the end of sentences or when standing alone.
+ATR-ATRFront Central BackFront Central BackClosei̥u̥ɪ̥ʊ̥Mide̥[ɐ̥]o̥ɛ̥ɔ̥Openḁḁ
Stress
The correct pronunciation of these letters when formed into words can only be learned by practice. As a general rule, all syllables should be given equal stress, though the stem or root syllable often carries slightly more stress than other syllables. Stress does not, however, affect the length of the vowel stressed or its pitch or tone. It is equally important to note that syllable pitch plays a vital part in correct pronunciation and that many words, which are spelled identically, have a different meanings according to syllable pitch.
For example: __ ↗ __ élípì ----- I am praying ___ ___ ‿ elìpǐ ----- I was praying ___ ___ ↗ elipí ----- he/she was praying
Orthography The spelling used in most of the first published Ateso books is in accordance with the official orthography agreed upon by the Ateso Orthography Committee in 1947.Report of the Ateso Orthography Committee., Uganda, Ateso Orthography Committee, 1947, Printed by the Govt. Printer It was then accepted as a general principle that all words should be written in full even though normally contracted in speech. It should be particularly noted that a short -a or -e at the end of a word is dropped in speech when the word is followed by a word beginning with a vowel.
e.g. ekitabo loka etelepat ----- the book of the boy is pronounced ekitabo lok' etelepat.
Recently, it is evident that the spoken language is continuing to move away from the written language especially in most parts of Uganda. This means that some aspects of orthography may well need revision soon.
While the Iteso of Tororo district in Uganda and Teso district in Kenya retain the letter k in the spoken language, the Iteso in most other areas of Uganda tend to omit it in most of the words. E.g. {| class="wikitable" |- ! Ateso in Teso, Kenya & Tororo, Uganda !! Ateso in Amuria district, Uganda !! English meaning |- | Akilip lok'asuban|| ailip loasuban|| to pray to the creator |- | akinyam emkati/atap || ainyam atap|| to eat bread |- | akimat akile || aimat akile || to drink milk |- | akitabu lokalaunan || eitabo loalaunan || a holy book |- | Akote inyamat/inyamen || aimo ainyamat || to look for food
Alphabet There are 22 letters in the Ateso alphabet.Kitching, Rev. A. L : "A handbook of Ateso language", London, 1915 The letters f, h, q, v, h, x and z are not used, while the alphabet includes additionally the letter ŋ and digraph ny. The above mentioned letters only appear in loanwords. The pronunciation guides that follow are for practice only; the correct sounds can only be learned by practice from a teacher or an audio media.
There are five vowels in Ateso: a, e, i, o, u. These five letters, however, represent more than five sounds. For the letters E, I, O and U have two values each; a "close" value and an "open" value.
Close vowels are pronounced approximately as follows: E [] as in beg (French é): aipet----- to kick I [] as in seat: aidip----- to hit O [] as in Scottish pronunciation of bone (French eau): aimor----- to insult, to abuse U [] as in fool: aikut----- to scratch the earth, to scoop something
Open vowels are pronounced approximately as follows: E [] as in beg (French è): aipet ----- to lay out I [] as in sit: ailid----- to fasten O [] as in gone (or in glory when long): aimor----- to share U [] as in full: aikut -----to blow
A [] is pronounced as in art (never short as in ram) abal 'to say'
Note that whether the root vowel is "closed" or "open" affects the conjugation of the verb.An Introduction to the Ateso Language, 1956, Fr – Hilders, J. H.; Lawrence, J. C. D.
Where the vowels AI or OI stand together, they represent sounds approximating the "i" in bite [] and "oy" [] in annoy respectively. In other vowel combinations, both vowels must be given their full values. The "au" in kau -----(behind) is pronounced [] not [].
All words ending in a consonant possess a semi-mute or "shadow" vowelThe Bantu languages, Derek Nurse, Gérard Philippson, (Routledge Language Family Series, 4), pp 214 after the final consonant, which is not pronounced when the word stands in isolation, but which is pronounced when the word is followed by another word beginning with a consonant:
e.g. The Ateso translation of "the women go to the house" is written: elosete aŋor togo ----- the women are going to the house but is pronounced: elosete aŋoro Togo
If the word following is normally written as one with the preceding word, the "shadow" vowel is not only pronounced but written: e.g. elosete aŋoroke togo ----- his women are going to the house Other examples are given in (vii) below.
There are sixteen consonants and one semi-vowel in Ateso, pronounced approximately as follows:
B [] as in bat: bobo -----again C [] as in chat (never as in cat): elacet ----- key D [] as in dog: edou ----- rain G [] as in get (never as in geology): agasia rubbish/trash J [] as in jam: aijar life K [] as in king: ekek door L [] as in let: alalau width M [] as in mat: mam ----- no N [] as in nut: ainu ------ to hug ŋ** [] as in hanger (never as in finger): iŋai ----- who NY [] as in Spanish Señorita: anya ----- grass (plural) P [] as in put: papa ----- father R [] as in rat (should be well rolled): erute ----- gate S [] as in service : aisab ----- to tell lies T [] as in toss: toto ----- mother y [] as in yellow: yoga ----- hello
Semi vowel: W [] as in win: awasia ----- the end, aiwosa ----- to prosecute
(vi) In words of foreign origin introduced into Teso the missing sound F is replaced by P and the missing sound V by B or P. Z is replaced by S.
Thus mesa -----table (Kiswahili) becomes e-mesa
oku-fuga -----to rule (Luganda) becomes ai-puga
It is an invariable rule that two consonants can never stand together in the same word. Both in speech and in writing. When word construction brings two consonants together, either one of the consonants must be dropped or the "shadow" vowel mentioned in sub-paragraph (iv) above must be inserted between the consonants.
E.g. (Omission of one consonant)
Nen-pe-nen 'just there' is written and pronounced nepenen.
(Insertion of "shadow" vowel) ŋon-tuŋa-nan 'every man' is written and pronounced: ŋonituŋanan
Elacet-kon 'your key' is written and pronounced elacetekon
**Due to the introduction of typesetting & word processing machines, ŋ is now almost entirely written NG. It is only in old literature that ŋ still appears. The fact that in some works the two letters NG are found together in place of ŋ is no exception to the above rules. These two letters are merely an alternative representation of the sound ŋ, in the same way as the letters NY represent one sound. The semi-vowel W, however, can and frequently does follow a consonant:
aswam work ekwam air
The Teso language board's alphabet uses NG in place of ŋ, and also uses ɛ, ɨ, ɔ, and ʉ, as well as the modifier letters .
Gender and noun prefix As with many other languages, Ateso words have grammatical gender. For grammatical purposes all nouns in Ateso are divided into three classes or genders:(a) masculine, (b) feminine and (c) neuter.
Noun prefix
Every noun in Ateso has a prefix which varies according to the gender of the noun or according to whether the noun is singular or plural. Nouns (in the singular) starting with "E" or "O" are usually masculine. Those starting with "A" are feminine while those that start with "I" are neuter. See table below for details.
masculine feminine neuter singular e,o a i plural i,o a i e.g.
The only exception to the above rule are certain nouns denoting relationships and directions. e.g. toto ----- mother; papa ----- father; mamai ----- uncle; inac ----- sister ; ija ----- aunt kide ----- east; too ----- west; ŋalakimak (or agolitomei) ----- south; nyakoi ----- north
It should, however, be noted that the noun prefix is always dropped when the noun comes after the following pronouns or adjectives and their feminine, neuter or plural forms: pronoun or adjective examplesece, ace, ice – other, another; ngol (m) or ngin (f,n) – every
edio (m), adio (f), idio (n) – any, some
ediope (m), adiope (f) – one ecetunganan – another man; aceberu – another woman; icetunganan -another person; icetunga -other people etunganan – a man; ngolitunganan (or nginitunganan) -every man; aberu – a woman; nginiberu – every woman
ediotunganan -any man; adiopese -any girl; idiokoku – any child
adiopeberu – one woman; ediope kiliokit bon -only one man
The following is a general classification of most nouns.
Masculine nouns
The masculine nouns are:
(i) Names of male beings: e.g. ekingok – dog ekoroi ----- he-goat emong ----- bull etelepat/esapat ----- boy Ekue ----—fox Ekokor ----—cock
(ii) Names of most trees and fruit e.g. eloa* – mvule tree (* now generally referred to as emapule ) enimu ----— lemon etaget ----— banana emucuuga ----— an orange
(iii) Names of insects: e.g. esirut – mosquito emukuny ----— black ant ekonyelet ----— beetle ecwarenit ----— bed-bug eidepit ----—flea
(iv) Names of non-indigenous liquids: e.g. ecaai ----— tea akaawa** ----— coffee (** derived from the Arabic word qahwa) ebia ----— beer ebino** ----— wine (** ewain is also accepted )
Feminine nouns
The feminine nouns are:
(i) Names of female beings: e.g. akingok – bitch akinei ----— she-goat apese ----— girl Akokor ----—hen
(ii) Names of languages and countries: e.g. Ateso ----— the Teso language Amusugun ----— the English language Alulatin ----— the Latin Language Amugana ----—The Ganda language (or Ganda women)
(iii) Names of indigenous liquids: e.g. ajon ----—local cereal brew akipi ----— water akile ----— milk acece ----—soup akima ----—porridge (also akuma)
(iv) Abstract nouns:- e.g. ajokus----—goodness (*also ajokis, ajokisu are used depending on the area) amina ----- love aojau ----—height alalau ----—width ajijim ----—tastiness apianis ----—tastelessness anyunyura ----—anger
(v) Verbs used as nouns: e.g. alosit ----- going abunere ----- coming aisiom ----- reading aisom ----- jumping
Neuter nouns
The neuter nouns are:
(i) Names of neuter or generic objects: e.g. ituŋanan ----- person (sex unknown) irotin ----- roads/ways
(ii) Names of diminutive objects: e.g. ikiŋok ----- puppy ipese ----- baby girl Imoru ----- pebble imiot ----- chick imukeru ----- baby
Plural
(i) To form the plural the ending of the noun is changed. This change may consist of the omission of the last syllable, the addition of another syllable or syllables, or the alteration of the last syllable or syllables: {| class="wikitable" ! Plural formation ! colspan="2" | Example |- | omission
| addition
| alteration
(ii) In the case of masculine nouns the noun prefix also changes as shown in the table on noun prefix above.