Ateso | Ethnologue

A language of Uganda

ISO 639: teo
Alternate Names: Bakedi, Bakidi, Elgumi, Etossio, Ikumama, Iteso, Teso, Wamia
Autonym: Atεsᴐ
Population: 2,360,000 in Uganda (2014 census), increasing. Census based on tribal affiliation. Total users in all countries: 2,778,000.
Location:: Amuria, Bukedea, Butebo, Kaberamaido, Katakwi, Kumi, Ngora, Pallisa, Serere, Soroti, and Tororo districts; Lake Bisina area.
Language Status: 4 (Educational). De facto language of provincial identity in Tororo, 10 other districts.
Classification: Nilo-Saharan, Satellite-Core, Core, Eastern Sudanic, Southern (n languages), Nilotic, Eastern, Lotuxo-Teso, Teso-Turkana, Teso
Dialects: Orom (Rom). Limited intelligibility with other varieties in the Teso-Turkana group. The dialect in Ngora is considered standard. Lexical similarity: 76% with Turkana [tuv], 75% with Ng’aKarimojong [kdj].
Typology: VSO; highly inflectional; grammatical tone; vowel harmony.
Language Use: Vigorous. Home, market, work. Used by all. Positive attitudes. Most also use English [eng]. Some also use Swahili [swh]. Used as L2 by Kenye [lke], Kumam [kdi].
Language Development: Taught in primary schools. Taught in secondary schools, as a subject. Newspapers. Radio. Videos. Dictionary. Texts. Bible: 1961.
Language Resources: OLAC resources in and about Ateso
Writing: Latin script [Latn], used since 1930.
Other Comments: Christian.