Teso language

Teso (natively 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.

Teso
Ateso
Native to	Uganda, Kenya
Region	Teso sub-region, parts of Pallisa District and Busia County
Ethnicity	Iteso
Native speakers	2,778,000 (2014 & 2019 censuses)
Language family	Nilo-Saharan? Eastern Sudanic? Kir–Abbaian? Nilotic Eastern Nilotic Ateker–Lotuko–Maa Ateker Teso
Language codes
ISO 639-3	teo
Glottolog	teso1249

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.

Alphabet

There are 22 letters in the Ateso alphabet F,H,Q,V,H,X and Z are not used and ŋ and NY are added. F,H,Q,V,H,X,Z only appear in loan words. 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 [e] as in beg (French é): aipet----- to kick

I [i] as in seat: aidip----- to hit

O [o] as in Scottish pronunciation of bone (French eau): aimor----- to insult, to abuse

U [u] as in fool: aikut----- to scratch the earth, to scoop something

Open vowels are pronounced approximately as follows:

E [ɛ] as in beg (French è): aipet ----- to lay out

I [ɪ] as in sit: ailid----- to fasten

O [ɔ] as in gone (or in glory when long): aimor----- to share

U [ʊ] as in full: aikut -----to blow

A [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.

Where the vowels AI or OI stand together, they represent sounds approximating the "i" in bite [ai̯] and "oy" [oi̯] in annoy respectively. In other vowel combinations, both vowels must be given their full values. The "au" in kau -----(behind) is pronounced [ka.u] not [kau̯].

All words ending in a consonant possess a semi-mute or "shadow" vowel 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 [b] as in bat: bobo -----again

C [tʃ] as in chat (never as in cat): elacet ----- key

D [d] as in dog: edou ----- rain

G [ɡ] as in get (never as in geology): agasia rubbish/trash

J [dʒ] as in jam: aijar life

K [k] as in king: ekek door

L [l] as in let: alalau width

M [m] as in mat: mam ----- no

N [n] as in nut: ainu ------ to hug

ŋ^** [ŋ] as in hanger (never as in finger): iŋai ----- who

NY [ɲ] as in Spanish Señorita: anya ----- grass (plural)

P [p] as in put: papa ----- father

R [r] as in rat (should be well rolled): erute ----- gate

S [s] as in service : aisab ----- to tell lies

T [t] as in toss: toto ----- mother

y [j] as in yellow: yoga ----- hello

Semi vowel:

W [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 ⟨ᵃ, ᵉ, ᵋ, ⁱ, ᶤ, ᵒ, ᵓ, ᵘ, ᶶ⟩.

Pronunciation

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

Phonology

Consonants

	Labial	Alveolar	Post- alveolar	Palatal	Velar
Plosive	p   b	t   d		c   ɟ	k   ɡ
Fricative		s	ʃ
Nasal	m	n		ɲ	ŋ
Lateral		l
Trill		r
Approximant	w			j

Vowels

	+ATR			-ATR
	Front	Central	Back	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u	ɪ		ʊ
Mid	e	[ɐ]	o	ɛ		ɔ
Open		a			a

• 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			-ATR
	Front	Central	Back	Front	Central	Back
Close	i̥		u̥	ɪ̥		ʊ̥
Mid	e̥	[ɐ̥]	o̥	ɛ̥		ɔ̥
Open		ḁ			ḁ

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. 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.

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

Basic lexicon

Hello – yoga
How are you? – Ijai biai (singular), Ijaasi biai (plural)
Fine, and you? – Ejokuna, arai ijo?
Fine – ejokuna
What is your name? – Ingai bo ekon'kiror?
My name is ... – Eka'kiror ...
Name --- Ekiror
Nice to see you. --- Eyalama ewanyun (also: Eyalama aanyun)
See you again --- Awanyunos bobo
Book – Eitabo
Because – Naarai

The first sentence in the bible can be translated as Ageunet, abu Edeke Kosub akwap keda akuj ("In the beginning God made the earth and the heavens" lit. "the down and the up").

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.	etelepat boy →   itelepai boys etelepat → itelepai boy {} boys	apese girl →   apesur girls apese → apesur girl {} girls	ikoku child →   idwe children ikoku → idwe child {} children

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	examples
ece, 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:

Plural formation	Example
omission	amukat shoe →   amuk shoes amukat → amuk shoe {} shoes	atipet bead →   atipe beads atipet → atipe bead {} beads
addition	akan hand →   akanin hands akan → akanin hand {} hands	akwap country →   akwapin countries akwap → akwapin country {} countries
alteration	apese girl →   apesur girls apese → apesur girl {} girls	ekek door →   ikekia doors ekek → ikekia door {} doors

(ii) In the case of masculine nouns the noun prefix also changes as shown in the table on noun prefix above.

(iii) These changes in the endings of nouns are so irregular that it is not worth while trying to formulate rules for the formation of plurals.

(iv) Certain nouns, however, which are derived from verbs, form their plurals according to rules;

(a) Nouns denoting an agent of action (a person who does the action of the verb) form a singular ending in -an or -on and a plural ending in -ak or -ok:

ekamejan hunter →   ikamejak hunters ekamejan → ikamejak hunter {} hunters	ekecokon herdsman →   ikecokok herdsmen ekecokon → ikecokok herdsman {} herdsmen
ekadukon a builder →   ikadukok builders ekadukon → ikadukok {a builder} {} builders	ekatubon judge →   ikatubok judges ekatubon → ikatubok judge {} judges

(b) Nouns denoting something which does or, is done, form a singular ending in -et or -etait and a plural ending in -eta:

elacet key →   ilaceta keys (a thing which loosens)   elacet → ilaceta key {} keys

arapetait cover →   arapeta covers arapetait → arapeta cover {} covers

(v) Some nouns have no singular and exist only in the plural:
e.g. akipi—-water; ajony – local brew; asinge – sand; ajo – sleep; ileic – shame

Other nouns have no plural and exist only in the singular;
e.g. ekuron – ashes; akoloŋ—sun; adam – brain; eduan – weeds

(vi) Abstract nouns and names of diseases, as in English, have no plural.
e.g. aiyalama -happiness; amin -love.

(vii) Some nouns form their plural from other roots:

aberu woman →   aŋor women aberu → aŋor woman {} women

ikoku child →   iduwe children ikoku → iduwe child {} children

(viii) Some nouns, in addition to the normal plural, form a generic plural by adding -sinei to the plural form:

etuŋanan man →   ituŋa men →   ituŋasinei mankind etuŋanan → ituŋa → ituŋasinei man {} men {} mankind

akwap country →   akwapin countries →   akwapisinei the world (n dropped for euphony) akwap → akwapin → akwapisinei country {} countries {} {the world (n dropped for euphony)}

Article

There is no definite or indefinite article in Teso. Aberu means "a woman" or "the woman" according to the context.

Adverbs

Adverbs clarify the action of a verb.Interrogative adverbs usually follow the verb they qualify.

e.g. Elosit nesi ai? where did he go?

But if the interrogative adverb is strengthened by the particle BO, the adverb must precede the verb

e.g. aibo ejaas itelepai ? (Where are the boys?) =ejaas itelepai ai? , but all the other adverbs follow the verb.

Adverbs of place

Ai/aibo= where?
nen =there (not far off)

e.g. aibo ejai eka'kalaamu? Where is my pencil?; Ejai nen = it's there.

Ngina = over there (at a distance)

e.g. Aibo ejai toto? Where is mom; Ejai ngina = (she's) over there.

Lailo, laije =this way, that way.

e.g. Kobia lailo, mam ilosi ngina =come this way, don't go there; Kobongo laije, mam ibuni lailo = Go back there, don't come this way.

Juwai/Juwayi = at the back of / that way/that side (usually behind something)

e.g. Elosit papa juwai =Dad has gone to the other side / Dad has gone to the rear

Ajesan = down there.

e.g. Aeka je ajesan =He's gone down there

Nelwana/ne alwanan =far off

e.g. Alot onac ameja nelwana = (my) brother has gone hunting in a far place

Eyapye/eyapiei/eyapie = near

e.g.Eyapie ne elosit ngesi = he/she has gone nearby (to a near place)

Toma =inside

e.g. Ejai amunyu toma ocupa = the salt is inside the bottle;Eroko Yakobo ejai toma agoola ke = James is still inside his room

Kiding =in the middle/between

e.g. Ejai eyapesi ka kiding na eiduka kede ekanisa = my office is between the shop and the church;Ibirokina ekitoi kiding na erot = the tree has fallen in the middle of the road

Kau = behind
Ngaren (na) = in front (of)

e.g. Ngaren na ataker = In front of the boat

Osiep = near/on the side of/beside

e.g. Ikunyu ber ijo osiep ka = Please come near me (move closer)

Diye = very close

e.g. Anu inyo ilosia ijo diye do abongun kede akan? = Why did you go nearby and return empty-handed?

teten = (to the) right

e.g. Ibelokin teten = turn to the right

Kediany = left

e.g. Ejaasi kesi kediany = They're on the left (hand side)

Kide = East
Too = West
Nyakoi = North
Agolitomei / Ongalakimak = South

Numerals

Ateso numerals are from ones place to hundredth place. Numerals upwards from one thousand are borrowed from other languages.

(i) Numbers from one to five are the basis of the whole numerical system in Ateso. Six (6) is literally translated as 5+1 (five and one), 7 as 5+2 (five and two), etc. In the same way 16 is 10+5+1, 17 is 10+5+2, 21 is 20+1, 26 is also 20+5+1, etc.

(ii) Numerals agree in gender with the noun they define:
e.g. itelepai iuni three boys, ikekia iuni three doors, imeesan iuni three tables

apesur auni three girls, aturo auni three flowers, iduwe iuni three children

(iii) Numerals always follow the noun. ediope (one) can however, precede, in which case the noun prefix is dropped.
e.g. edioperot (or erot ediope) one road/way; adiopeberu one woman;

angor auni three women, irotin iuni three roads/ways

^††The word for zero, esupur, is no longer used in the spoken language. Instead enoot, a loanword derived from the English naught is generally used.

Cardinal numbers

Numeral	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
1	Idiope(t)	adiope(t)	yenisodit
2	iyarei	aarei	as in masculine
3	iuni	auni	"
4	ioŋon	aoŋon	"
5	ikany	akany	"
6	ikany-kape	akany-kape	"
7	ikany-kaare	akany-kaare	"
8	ikanykauni	akany-kauni	"
9	Eikanykaoŋon	akanyaaŋon	"
10	itomon	atomon	"
11	itomon-kanu-diope	atomon-kanu-diope	"
12	itomon'aare	atomon'aare	"
13	itomon'auni	atomon'auni	"
14	itomon'aaŋon	atomon'aaŋon	"
15	itomon'akany	atomon'aakany	"
16	itomon akany'kape	atomon akany'kape	"
17	itomon akany'kaare	atomon akany'kaare	"
18	itomon akanyauni	atomon akanyauni	"
19	itomon akany aoŋon	atomon akany aoŋon	"
20	akais aare	as in masculine	"
21	akais aarei kanudiope	"	"
30	akais auni	"	"
40	akais aangon	"	"
50	akais akany	"	"
60	akais akany kapei	"	"
100	akwatat (adiope)	"	"
101	akwatat kanu diope	"	"
200	akwat aarei	"	"
500	akwat akany	"	"
1,000	elukumit ediope	"	"
10,000	ilukumin itomon	"	"
1,000,000	emilionit ediope	"	"
100,000,000	imilionin akwatat	"	"

Ordinal numbers

Ordinal numbers are formed from cardinal numbers by prefixing the relative forms lok- (m), nak- (f), yenik-(n) as appropriate, to the masculine form of the numeral and by adding -et after the numeral.
e.g. akany five, nakikanyet fifth (feminine singular)

iuni three, lokiuniet third (masculine singular)

iyarei two, yenikiyareit second (neuter singular)

No.	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
1st	losodit	nasodit	yenisodit
2nd	lokiareit	nakiyareit	yenikiyareit
3rd	louniet	nauniet	yeniuniet
4th	lowoŋonet	nawoŋonet	yeniwoŋonet
5th	loikanyet	naikanyet	yenikanyet
6th	loikanyet ape	naikanyet ape	yenikanyet ape
7th	loikanyetaare	naikanyetaare	yenikanyetaare
8th	loikanyetauni	naukanyetauni	yenikanyetauni
9th	loikanyetaaŋonet	naikanyetaaŋonet	yenikanyetaaŋonet
10th	loitomonet	naitomonet	yenitomonet
11th	loitomonetadipe	naitomonet adiope	yenitomonetadiope
50th	loakaisakany	nakaisakany	yenakaisakany
100th	loakwatat	naakwatat	yenakwatat
last	lo agolon	nagolon	yenagolon

‡ a majority of Iteso (especially those in the Ugandan districts of Soroti, Kumi, Amuria, Bukedea, Serere_District and Kaberamaido) do not pronounce some ks in speech.

Thus, nakikanyet is pronounced naikanyet, etc.

Loanwords

Ateso has taken a number of loanwords, primarily from English and Swahili languages.

Words marked with an asterisk (*) indicates that the last letter in the Ateso word is silent.

English	Ateso
Car	Emotoka
Television	Etelevision
Radio	Eredio
Fax Machine	Afakis Mashin
E-mail	E-emeilo *
Internet	E-intanet
Computer	Akompiuta
Telephone++	Esimu *
Record Player	Arekod puleya
CD Player	Asidi puleya
DVD player	Adividi puleya
disc	Adisiki *

++The Ateso word for a telephone that most Ateso speakers are familiar with is the word "Esimu" which comes from Luganda.

Further reading

• A guide to the standardised orthography of Atɛsɔ. Kampala, Uganda: Atɛsɔ Local Language Board. 2014.
• Barasa, David. 2022. "Pronouns and Pronominal Alignment in Ateso." Arusha Working Papers in African Linguistics, 4(1): 100-114.
• Loyola, Apuda Ignatius (2007). English-Ateso Pocket Dictionary Strategic Outcomes Inc., 274 pp. ISBN 9970-840-03-7.

External links

• PanAfriL10n page on Teso & Turkana
• Ekitabo Loka Ailip Naka Ituŋa Kere (1957) Ateso Prayer Book digitized by Richard Mammana