See also: Nkore-Kiga language.
| Nkore | |
| Nativename: | Orunyankore |
| States: | Uganda |
| Region: | Ankole |
| Ethnicity: | Banyankore |
| Speakers: | million |
| Date: | 2014 census |
| Ref: | e22 |
| Familycolor: | Niger-Congo |
| Fam2: | Atlantic–Congo |
| Fam3: | Volta-Congo |
| Fam4: | Benue–Congo |
| Fam5: | Bantoid |
| Fam6: | Southern Bantoid |
| Fam7: | Bantu |
| Fam8: | Northeast Bantu |
| Fam9: | Great Lakes Bantu |
| Fam10: | Nyoro–Ganda (E10) |
| Fam11: | West Nyanza |
| Fam12: | Rutara |
| Fam13: | North Rutara |
| Fam14: | Nkore-Kiga |
| Stand1: | Runyakitara |
| Dia1: | Hima |
| Dia2: | Hororo |
| Dia3: | Orutagwenda |
| Script: | Latin |
| Iso2: | nyn |
| Iso3: | nyn |
| Glotto: | nyan1307 |
| Glottorefname: | Nyankole |
| Guthrie: | JE.13 |
| Glottopedia: | Runyankore |
Nkore (also called Nkole, Nyankore, Nyankole, Orunyankore, Orunyankole, Runyankore and Runyankole) is a Bantu language spoken by the Nkore ("Banyankore") of south-western Uganda in the former province of Ankole, as well as in Tanzania, the DR Congo, Rwanda and Burundi.[1]
Runyankole is mainly spoken in the Mbarara, Bushenyi, Ntungamo, Kiruhura, Ibanda, Isingiro, Rukungiri, Buhweju, Mitooma, Sheema, Rubirizi and parts of Kitagwenda districts.
There is a brief description and teaching guide for this language, written by Charles V. Taylor in the 1950s, and an adequate dictionary in print. Whilst this language is spoken by almost all the Ugandans in the region, most also speak English, especially in the towns. (English is one of Uganda's two official languages, and the language taught in schools.)
Nkore is so similar to Kiga (84–94 percent lexical similarity[2]) that some argue they are dialects of the same language, a language called Nkore-Kiga by Taylor.[1]
Runyankore has a five-vowel system:[1]
| Front | Central | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||
| Mid | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||
| Open | pronounced as /ink/ |
| Labial | Alveolar | Post- alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||
| Plosive/ Affricate | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||
| pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||||
| Fricative | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||
| pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||
| Trill | pronounced as /ink/ | |||||||
| Approximant | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||
D and P are only used in the digraphs ND and MP and in loanwords.
G and K are [d͡ʒ] and [t͡ʃ] before I, [k] and [g] elsewhere.
The greeting Agandi, implying, "How are you?" but literally meaning "other news!", can be replied with Ni marungi, which literally means "good news!".
The proper greetings are Oraire ota? or Osiibire ota?, literally translated "How was your night?" and "How was your day?". "Good night" is Oraare gye and "Good day" is Osiibe gye.
Here are a few names one might use in a greeting:
Oraire ota (orei-rota) Replies: I'm fine Ndaire gye (ndei-re-jeh) or Ndyaho (indi-aho)
Oraire gye? (orei-reh-jeh) Reply: Yes, yourself?Yego, shan’iwe
Osiibire ota (o-see-bee-rota) Replies: Nsiibire gye (insi-bi-reje)
Osiibire gye (Osi birejge) Replies: Yes- Yego (yegg-oh) or nsiibire gye
Waasiiba ota (wasib-wota) Reply: Fine, good, I've spent it well – Naasiiba gye (nasi-baje)
a banyankore are bantu speaking group of people from South western Uganda and they speak Runyankore with (ntu) (aba) like akantu, ekintu, omuntu, abantu. Akantu means thing in prural, ekintu means something big, omuntu means a person, abantu means people same as in Zulu language of South Africa