| Lugbara | |
|---|---|
| Spoken in | Uganda, DR Congo |
| Ethnicity | Lugbara |
| Native speakers | 1.7 million (2001–2004) |
| Language family |
Nilo-Saharan?
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | either: lgg – Lugbara snm – Southern Ma'di |
Lugbara is the language of the Lugbara people. It is spoken in the West Nile region in northwestern Uganda, as well as the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Orientale Province.[1] Lugbara was first written by Christian missionaries in 1918, based on the Ayivu dialect. In 2000, a conference was held in the city of Arua in northwestern Uganda regarding the creation of a standardised international orthography for Lugbara. In 1992, the government of Uganda designated it as one of five "languages of wider communication" to be used as the medium of instruction in primary education; however, unlike the other four such languages, it was never actually used in schools.[2]
The Aringa language, also known as Low Lugbara, is closely related, and sometimes considered a dialect of Lugbara.[3] Some scholars classify the Lugbara language itself as a dialect of the Ma'di language, though this is not generally accepted.[4] An SIL survey report concluded that the Okollo, Ogoko, and Rigbo dialects, called 'Southern Ma'di', should be classified as dialects of Lugbara.
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