Sections

Introduction

Luo, or Dholuo, as its speakers call it, is the language of more than three million people. Dholuo speakers are centered in Nyanza Province, located in southwestern Kenya. Languages in Kenya are often divided into Bantu, Nilotic, and Cushitic; Luo is Nilotic.

According to Owen Ozier, "The three most closely related languages to Kenyan Luo are the languages of the Acholi and Lango in Uganda, and the Alur language in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Both Lango and Acholi languages are sometimes referred to as "Lwo" by native speakers. Because Luo speakers are centered in southwest Kenya, there are significant populations of Luo speakers across the borders in both Tanzania and Uganda.

"Luo occasionally borrows from Kiswahili, as Kiswahili has a larger vocabulary, and is one of the official national languages of Kenya. There are also cases of words shared between Luhya and Luo, despite their disparate (Bantu vs. Nilotic) origins. Examples include words for yes and no."

As a disclaimer, the author of this brief text is neither a linguist nor a person at all fluent with Dholuo, but merely someone who likes languages, and thought that there was not nearly enough information about Dholuo available on line. This is a work in progress and not a definitive text.

Pronunciation

Dholuo is a tonal language, but this will not be treated in this brief introduction to grammar (more information about the tonality can be found in the external links).

The distinction between ng' and ng is like the difference between the ng sounds in the English words "hanger" and "anger". The word nanga, meaning "cloth", uses the same ng sound as in "anger", where the g can be heard distinctly; the word ang'wen, meaning "four", uses the ng' sound similar to that used in the English word "hanger", where the g is not distinct.

The two English sounds for "th" as in "thin" and "either" are denoted in Dholuo, respectively, by th and dh. Also note that a trailing y after a consonant, as in the word meaning "tomorrow", kiny, is barely pronounced, so in this example, the word comes out sounding much like the English word "keen".

In many instances w and u are used interchangeably to express a sound similar to that in the French tu or the name Sue. Spelling is not very consistent—if you can't find the word in a dictionary, try changing all the w's to u's and vice versa. For example, the verb "to need" can be written dwaro or duaro. (Source)

Pronouns

Six personal pronouns are used in Dholuo. These are often but not always used, much like in Spanish.

English Dholuo
I an
you in
he, she en
we wan
you (plural) un
they gin

Demonstrative pronouns are used to stand for an object (but not a person): this, that, those, these. The following table shows the demonstrative pronouns that can stand alone; you will learn later about attaching these to nouns:

Number Dholuo English Example Translation
Singular ma (or mani) this (near the speaker) Ma ang'o? What is this?
mano that (near the person spoken to) Mano ofis. That's an office.
macha that (far from both people) Macha ang'o? What is that (over there)?
Plural magi these Magi ang'o? What are these?
mago those (near) Mago kombe. Those are chairs.
maka those (far) Maka udi. Those are houses.

These pronouns are affixed to ka ("where") and kor ("side") to form adverbs of place:

  • Kacha, kucha. There (within sight).
  • Koni. This side.
  • Koni gi koni. Both sides.
  • Kocha. That side.

Verbs

Verbs have many different tenses, of which only a few are described here. More information can be found in the external links.

Verb infinitive

In Dholuo, verbs usually end in -o, like chiemo, "to eat". An exception is the verb dhi, "to go", which actually is shortened from dhiyo. Some examples:

  • ndiko, to write
  • uso, to sell
  • somo, to study
  • biro, to come
  • hero, to like

Present tense

The present tense gives not only the English "he writes" meaning, but also the "he is writing" meaning. In other words, there is no separate present progressive form.

To conjugate a verb in the present tense, a prefix is added to the beginning of the infinitive. To form the prefix, simply remove the final -n from the pronoun. The only exception to this rule is for he/she/it: the en pronoun changes to have an o- prefix. The present tense conjugation of the verb chiemo:

Pronoun Prefix Dholuo English
an a- achiemo I eat
in i- ichiemo you eat
en o- ochiemo he/she eats
wan wa- wachiemo we eat
un u- uchiemo you pl. eat
gin gi- gichiemo they eat

In sentences that have overt subjects (like "the dog" or "the police man" or "Paul", but not "I" or "you" or "we" or "he"), the prefix is omitted in the present tense:

  • Overt subject is "Achieng'" (a name): Achieng' uso. Achieng' sells.
  • Subject is "she" which is not overt: Ouso. She sells.

Direct and indirect objects with verbs

A direct or indirect object may be indicated by removing the final -o from the verb and adding a suffix. For direct objects, the suffix is formed by removing the final n from the pronoun. You will later see that this suffix is the same as that used to indicate possessives.

Pronoun Suffix Dholuo English
None None akonyo I help
an -a ikonya you help me
in -i akonyi I help you
en -e akonye I help him/her
wan -wa gikonywa they help us
un -u akonyu I help you pl.
gin -gi akonygi I help them

For indirect objects, the suffix is the same as for direct objects, except that you add -n- at the beginning of the suffix (and ni- for the "them" form):

Suffix Dholuo English
-na Kelna! Bring to me!
-ni Akelni. I bring to you.
-ne Kelne! Bring to him!
-nwa Gikelnwa. They bring to us.
-nu Akelnu. I bring to you (plural)
-nigi Akelnigi. I bring to them.

Use of pronouns with verbs

Usually the conjugated verb (prefix + infinitive) can stand alone without an additional pronoun:

  • Achiew maber. I'm fine. (lit: "I wake up well")

The pronoun is sometimes used for emphasis:

  • An bende achiew maber. I'm fine too. (lit: "I/me also I wake up well")
  • An athi chiro, to in ithi dala. Me, I'm going to the market, and you are going home.

To be & to have

There is no Dholuo equivalent to the English verb "to be" in the present tense. Thus to translate "The food is tasty," you would say chiemo mamit!, "food tasty!" without any verb.

There is, however, a verb tie, "to be located or present", which has a somewhat unusual conjugation. Basically, the full pronoun (an, in, en, wan, un, gin) is used before tie, instead of the derived prefixes normally used (a-, i-, o-, wa-, u-, gi-). Thus to say "he is present" you use entie rather than the expected otie. Also, nitie is used when there is an overt subject (like "the dog" or "what" or "Paul", but not "I" or "you" or "we" or "he"). The opposite of tie is onge, "to be lacking, missing, not present":

  • Chiemo onge. There is no food.
  • Oonge. He/she/it is not present.
  • Chiemo nitie? Is there any food?
  • Ee, chiemo nitie. Entie. Yes, there is food. It's present.
  • Antie. I'm here.
  • Entie. He or she is here.

To express the verb "to have", use a pronoun followed by either gi or kod, both of which have the meaning "with":

  • An gi chiemo. I have food. (Lit. I with food.)
  • En gi guok. He has a dog.
  • Gin gi nyithindo. They have children.
  • An kod sufuria. I have a cooking pot.

When the subject is overt (like "the dog" or "the police man" or "Paul", but not "I" or "you" or "we" or "he"), the copula ni is added before gi:

  • Nyieka nigi nyithindo. My co-wife has children.

Habitual tense

The suffix -ga is used to indicate habitual action:

  • Paul chiemoga gokinyi. Paul usually eats in the morning.
  • Aheroga sikuma. I usually like kale.

Future tenses

The immediate future is formed by placing the verb infinitive after the helping verb biro, "to come". Biro is conjugated, but the verb infinitive is not. Biro can be contracted to bo. Following is the future tense of the verb chiemo, to eat:

English Dholuo Contracted
I will eat abiro chiemo abochiemo
you will eat ibiro chiemo ibochiemo
he/she will eat obiro chiemo obochiemo
we will eat wabiro chiemo wabochiemo
you pl. will eat ubiro chiemo ubochiemo
they will eat gibiro chiemo gibochiemo

To express "to be" in the future, the verb bedo is used. See the following examples:

  • An gi nyathi achiel. Due mar achiel, abiro bedo gi nyithindo ariyo.
  • I have one child. In January, I will have two children.
  • Literally: I with child one. Month of one, I come to be with children two.

There are also other forms of the future tense. The part in bold is the part conjugated (so "Later today you will return" would be Ang'nidogi):

Dholuo English Dholuo derivation Literal translation
Abiro dok. I'm about to return. Abiro dok. I come to return.
Ang'nadogi. Later today I will return. Wang' ni adogi. Today that I return.
Kiny nadogi. Tomorrow I'll return. Kiny ni adogi. Tomorrow that I return.
Chieng' nadogi. Sometime in the future I'll return. Chieng' ni adogi. Sometime indefinite that I return.

Notice that all future tenses, except the immediate future, use the subjunctive form of the verb, which will be treated later.

Past tenses

A present tense verb (like achiemo, "I eat") is transformed into the plain past ("I ate") by adding the word ne (derived from nende, "formerly") to the beginning: Ne achiemo. The ne is often contracted with the verb to form one word: Nachiemo. Following is the conjugation of the verb ndiko, to write:

English Dholuo Contracted
I wrote ne andiko nandiko
you wrote ne indiko nindiko
he/she wrote ne ondiko nondiko
we wrote ne wandiko newandiko
you pl. wrote ne undiko nundiko
they wrote ne gindiko negindiko

Ne is the most commonly used past tense, but there are many others. For example, nyo- (short for nyoro, "yesterday") can be prefixed to indicate the past of yesterday:

  • Nyoro nyo atuo or Nyo atuo or Nyatuo. I was sick yesterday.
  • Nyo watuo. We were sick yesterday.

Similarly, a can be prefixed to indicate the very immediate past:

  • A apuro. I have just been digging (but have now stopped).
  • A ipuro. You have just been digging.

Other words can also be used similarly to form different past tenses, as the following table summarizes:

Past tense marker Meaning Dholuo example Translation
ne or nende formerly ne atuo / natuo I was sick (today)
nyo or nyoro yesterday (nyoro) nyo atuo / nyatuo yesterday I was sick
nyocha two days ago nyocha atuo I was sick two days ago
yande recently yande atuo recently I was sick
a come from a atuo I was just sick (but no longer am)

Finally, one type of past tense is formed differently. To indicate an action that has just been completed, -se- is interjected between the prefix and the verb infinitive. Achiemo, "I eat" or "I am eating", becomes asechiemo, "I have eaten".

English Dholuo
I have eaten asechiemo
you have eaten isechiemo
she/he has eaten osechiemo
we have eaten wasechiemo
you pl. have eaten usechiemo
they have eaten gisechiemo

Subjunctive mood

The subjunctive form is used very frequently. In many words it is made by removing the final -o (if there is one) from the verb:

  • agomb, that I desire
  • ochiem, that he may eat

In some verbs an –i is added at the end as well, sometimes (the details are beyond the scope of this work, but just for recognition purposes it is mentioned here):

  • aluoki, that I may wash
  • inindi, that you may sleep
  • athiethi, that I may be treated
  • gipuonji, that they may teach
  • watedi, that we may cook
  • amodhi, that I may drink

There are two common exceptions: for the verb biro ("to come"), the subjunctive form is simply bi, and for neno ("to see"), the subjunctive form is ne. Also, for words ending in [vowel]yo, the subjunctive form drops the y as well (unless a pronoun suffix is added, as in the last example below):

  • ati, that I may work
  • ami, that I may give
  • amiyi, that I may give you

For all verbs that end in nyo, the subjunctive form ends in ny as expected. However, the final y is dropped when followed by a plural pronoun suffix (like gi, wa, or u):

  • akony, that I help
  • akonyi, that I help you
  • akonu, that I help you all

The subjunctive construction is used in many situations:

  • Potential situation:
    • Miya pi amodhi. Give me water that I may drink. (Lit: Give me water I drink.)
    • Owinjore ikonya. It's necessary that you help me.
  • Questions:
    • Ere poudho apur? Where is the garden that I may dig?
    • Waduog kode chieng' machielo? We are returning with him on which day?
  • Commands:
    • Donj ot, mos minu. Come in the house, greet your mother.
    • Kik ibi. Don't come.
    • Konya, ka aeto kongi. Help me, then help them.
    • Wachiem! Let's eat!
  • Compound instructions (note that the command form uses the subjunctive as well but is not bold here):
    • Imos minu kendo inyise ni obi. Greet your mother and tell her that he is coming.
    • Dhi imosna jaodi. Go that you may greet for me your wife.
    • Wachne mondo ong'iewna buk. Tell him that he buys for me a book.
  • With the article of potentiality, "d":
    • Dakonyi puro koso? Could I possibly help you dig something?
  • After owinjore:
    • Owinjore ikonya. You ought to help me.
  • Negative future and negative present:
    • Ok abi chiemo kiny. I will not eat tomorrow.
    • Ok adwar chiemo. I don't want food.
  • Future tense (except the immediate future):
    • Kiny nadogi. Tomorrow I will return.
    • Ang' nadogi. I will return sometime today.

Reflexive Verbs

To indicate reflexiveness, add -re to the end of a verb infinitive. This can change the meaning of the verb in different ways:

Verb Meaning Reflexive verb Meaning
tedo to cook (a person cooking food) tedore to cook (the food cooking itself)
neno to see nenore to see each other or oneself
puonjo to teach puonjore to learn (teach oneself)
kano to keep kanore to be kept

Conjugate according to the following table:

Dholuo English
apuonjora I learn
ipuonjori you learn
opuonjore he/she learns
wapuonjore we learn
upuonjoru you (pl.) learn
gipuonjore they learn

A reflexive verb can be used as a noun with the suffix -ruok. Notice when to use the reflexive verb infinitive (with -re) and when to use the noun (with -ruok):

  • Luokruok ber. Washing oneself is good.
  • Ok odwar luokore. He doesn't want to wash himself.
  • Goruok rach. Fighting one another is bad.
  • Ok gidwar gore. They don't want to fight each other.

Other tenses

There are many other tenses for which I don't know the correct categorization, but here are some examples and translations. Note that some employ the subjunctive and have lost the final o in the verb andiko:

  • Should
    English Dholuo Contracted
    I should write Onego andik Onegandik
    We should write Onego wandik Onegowandik

  • May
    English Dholuo Contracted
    I may write Dipop andiko Dipopandiko
    We may write Dipop wandiko Dipopwandiko

  • Would
    English Dholuo Contracted
    I would write De andiko Dandiko
    We would write De wandiko Dewandiko

  • Let me!
    English Dholuo
    Let me write! Andik!
    Let us write! Wandik!

  • Should have
    English Dholuo Contracted
    I should have written Ne onego andik Nonegandik
    We should have written Ne onego wandik Nogenowandik

  • Had done
    English Dholuo Contracted
    I had written Ne asendiko Nasendiko
    We had written Ne wasendiko Newasendiko

  • To make
    English Dholuo
    I make him write Ami ondiko
    We make him write Wami ondiko
    I don't make him write Ok ami ondik
    We don't make him write Ok wami ondik
    We make you write Wami indik

Nouns

The good news about nouns in Dholuo: there is no gender (like la mesa and el dia in Spanish), and there are no articles (like "the", "a", "an"); the noun stands alone. But nouns are tricky for two reasons: the formation of the plural is very irregular, and a special noun construct form must be used in some cases.

Plurals

Plurals are formed by changing the ending of the noun according to a complex set of rules, which unfortunately has many exceptions. For example, san (meaning "dish") changes to sende in the plural. The following tables show some of the nouns that follow rules, followed by some that appear irregular. Notice that often the vowel -a- changes to -e- when a word is pluralized:

Singular ending Plural ending Singular noun Plural noun Translation
-n or -n[vowel] -nde san sende dishes
gueno guende chickens
rabuon rabuonde potatoes
-l or -l[vowel] -nde tielo tiende legs
del dende bodies, skins
-dh[vowel] -the puodho puothe gardens
-y[vowel] -che apuoyo apuoche rabbits
-r or -r[vowel] -che ndara ndeche roads
bur buche (dug) holes
-ch -ye wich wiye heads
ich iye stomachs
-ach -ech mach mech fires
kwach kwech leopards
-ny -nje lweny lwenje wars
-ng' -nge chong' chonge knees
wang' wenge eyes
-d[vowel] -te luedo luete hands
kede kete sticks, twigs
kidi kite stones
-w or -w[vowel] -pe lowo lope lands
-m or -m[vowel] -mbe chiemo chiembe foods
kom kombe chairs
-t -de bat bede arms
got gode hills, mountains
-th -dhe ruoth ruodhe chiefs, kings
luth ludhe sticks

Some exceptions (you'll find numerous others as you learn more words):

Singular Plural Translation
diel diek goats
dala mier homesteads
nyako nyiri girls
dichuo chuo men

Noun Construct

The noun construct is a form of the noun used in special circumstances. Like the regular form of the noun, it has a singular and a plural form. To make the singular noun construct, take the plural noun and remove the final vowel:

English Singular noun Plural noun Singular noun construct
garden puodho puothe puoth-
food chiemo chiembe chiemb-

Of course there are exceptions aplenty:

English Singular noun Plural noun Singular noun construct
house ot udi od-
woman dhako mon chi-

The construct of a plural noun is usually identical to the plural noun:

English Singular noun Plural noun Singular noun construct Plural noun construct
garden puodho puothe puoth- puothe-
food chiemo chiembe chiemb- chiembe-

And some of the exceptions:

English Singular noun Plural noun Singular noun construct Plural noun construct
house ot udi od- ute-
woman dhako mon chi- mond-

The noun construct has several important uses. It can be used to form a possessive, by adding a suffix to the end of the noun construct. This will be treated later, in the section on possessives. The noun construct can also be used to describe a noun with a demonstrative pronoun (like "this food", "that cat", "those people", "these cars"). A suffix, derived from the demonstrative pronouns that stand alone, is added to the end of the noun construct. Note that yor- is the singular noun construct of yoo, "path", and yore- is the plural construct:

Noun construct Suffix Translation Complete word Translation
yor- -ni this yorni this path
yor- -no that (near) yorno that path (near)
yor- -cha that (far) yorcha that path (far)
yore- -gi these yoregi these paths
yore- -go those (near) yorego these paths (near)
yore- -ka those (far) yoreka those paths (far)

Adjectives and adverbs

Adjectives are words that describe nouns: beautiful or good (ber), tall (bor), sweet or tasty (mit), sad (sin). Adverbs are words that describe verbs: quickly (piyo), slowly (mos). In Dholuo, adjectives and adverbs can often be used interchangeably. Thus ber means both "good" and "well" and piyo means both "fast" and "quickly".

Adjectives and adverbs can either stand alone (ber, "good" or "well") or they are used following ma- ("which is" or "that is") as in maber ("[which is] good or well"). The longer form (maber) is used when following a noun or a verb; the shorter form (ber) is used when the adjective stands alone in a sentence. Thus when describing what you are eating you could say any of the following:

  • Mit ahinya! Very tasty! (lit: Sweet very)
  • Chiemo mamit ahinya! Very tasty food! (lit: Food which is sweet very)
  • Itedo maber! You cook well!
  • Otedo nadi? Ber! How does he cook? Well!

Adjectives can also function as verbs. To do so, just add the prefix normally used to conjugate verbs (a-, i-, o-, wa-, u-, gi-) to the short form of the adjective. For example:

  • Aber. I'm good/well.
  • Ibor ahinya. You're very tall.

Finally, the short version of the adjective (ber) often functions as a noun as well: ber means both "good" and "goodness"; bor means both "tall" and "height".

Plural Adjectives

Adjectives have two forms: plural and singular. To describe a plural noun you use the plural form. For example: nyathi maber ("good child") becomes nyithindo mabeyo ("good children"). The following table lists several of the adjectives in singular and plural:

Singular Plural Translation
maber mabeyo beautiful, good
marach maricho bad
madoung' madongo big
matin matindo small, few
(none) mang'eny many
mabor maboyo tall, long
machiek machieko short
marateng' maratenge black
marachar marachere white

Forming Adjectives from Verbs

Adjectives can also be formed from verbs like wer ("to sing") and tho ("to die"), using ma ("which is" or "that is"). "A singing child" can be expressed by nyathi ma wer or nyathi mawer (sometimes you will see the words separated, and at other times the words are contracted together). Similarly matho means "which is dying". To indicate "dead" or "which has died", the past tense of the verb must be used: ma otho, which contracts to motho.

Verb Meaning Adjective Meaning
loso to fix, make molosi which is made
loso to fix, make malosi which is being made
tho to die motho which is dead
tho to die matho which is dying

Negatives

To form a negative, ok ("not") is placed before the verb, and can be contracted with ne, if it is present:

  • Ne ok achiemo. I did not eat.
  • Nokachiemo. I did not eat.

In the present and future tenses, the verb is in the subjunctive form; the final –o is omitted. Sometimes in the negative future bi changes to be:

  • Ok achiem. I am not eating.
  • Ok abi chiemo. I will not eat.
  • Okabechiemo. I will not eat.

In the past perfect tense, ok changes to pok (a contraction of pod, "still, not yet", and ok):

  • Pok asechiemo. I have not yet eaten.

In the command form, ok changes to kik:

  • Kik bi! Don't come!

Imperatives

Imperatives or commands use the subjunctive form of the verb. Thus the singular imperative is formed by removing the final -o from a verb, and sometimes adding a final -i. To form a plural imperative, add uru to the end of the verb. The equivalent of "Let's…" is created by adding wa- to the beginning.

Command form Dholuo English
You singular Chiem! Eat!
You plural Chiemuru! Eat (y'all)!
We Wachiem! or Wachiem uru! Let's eat!
We (reflexive) Wanere! Let's see each other!

Questions

Remember that questions (often) employ the subjunctive tense. The following vocabulary will help you:

how, nadi
how many, adi
how, why, nang'o
what, ang'o
when, kar ang'o
where, kanye
where are, eke
where is, ere
which (singular), mane
which (plural), mage
who (singular), ng'a, ng'ano, ng'awa
who (plural), ng'a gini
why, mar ang'o

Here are some examples of questions:

  • Macha ang'o? What is that?
  • Ng'a ma nitie e kilas? Who is in class?
  • Ma ng'a? Who is this? (persons)
  • Ma ang'o? What is this? (things)
  • Nyingi ng'a? What is your name?
  • Diher chiemo mane? Which food would you like? (Lit: You would like food which?)
  • Chiemo mane madiher? Which food would you like? (Lit: Food which that you would like?)
  • Ihero kombe mage? Which chairs do you like?
  • Buge ni kanye? Where are the books?
  • Kalam ni kanye? Where is the pen?

Notice the use of the copula ni in the last two examples. In the response to these last two questions, ni is retained with an overt subjuct, but is dropped when the subjuct is a pronoun like en:

  • Buge ni kucha. The books are over there.
  • Kalam ni kucha. The pen is over there.
  • En kucha. It's over there.

Prepositions

Prepositions are words that describe location or relationship of nouns: with, in, on, under, through. Here is a list of some prepositions in Dholuo.

Dholuo English Example Translation
e at, to Wan gi nyithindo ariyo e odwa We have two children at our house
ewi on top of Paka nitie ewi ot The cat is on top of the house
ei inside Pake nitie ei ot The cat is inside the house
ebuo under Entie ebuo mesa He's under the table
etie under Paka nitie etie mesa The cat is under the table
mar of Ere chak mar nithindo? Where is the childrens' milk?
chien back, behind En chien It's behind
malo top, above A malo! Stand up!
piny down, on the ground Bed piny! Sit down!
mag for Atiyo mag UCRC I work for UCRC
ni for Atiyo ni pesa I work for money
kuom for Erokamano kuom chiemo Thank you for the food
gi with Abiro gi Achieng' I come with Achieng'
kod with Abiro kod Achieng' I come with Achieng'

You may find it interesting to know the derivation of some of these. Ewi comes from e wiy, "at the head of"; ei comes from e iy, "at the stomach of"; etie comes from e tiende, "at the foot of".

Note in the above table the subtle differences between mag, ni, and kuom. Also, you will find more uses of mar as a general possessive further on.

Gi and kod are both used to express "with". There is a difference, however. Kod can be used with pronoun suffixes (kode "with him/her/it", koda "with me", etc). Gi cannot be used with pronoun suffixes, except for when go is used, meaning "with it".

  • Abiro kode e ot. I come with him/it to the house.
  • Abiro gi sufuria e ot. I come with a pot to the house.
  • Abirogo e ot. I come with it [not him] to the house.

Other grammatical points

Doubling

As in Kiswahili, Dholuo frequently doubles words to change the meaning.

To be just doing something, double the verb, and change both the beginning prefix and the final vowel of the second verb to a:

  • Abet abeta. I'm just sitting.
  • Ibet abeta. You're just sitting.
  • Gisomo asoma. They're just reading.
  • Ling' aling'a. Just keep calm, be quiet, don't worry (command form).

An adjective or adverb can be doubled to imply emphasis (both adjectives are pluralized, and the second has no ma):

  • Kom madongo dongo. A very big chair.
  • Matin tin. Little by little.
  • Matindo tindo. Small enough.
  • Awuotho piyo piyo. I walk very quickly.
  • Mos mos. Take it easy, I'm so sorry, Get better soon.

Some other uses of doubling:

  • Moro amora. Any.
  • Ng'ato ang'ata. Anyone.
  • Moro ka moro. Each thing.
  • Ng'ato ka ng'ato. Each person.

Moro and Moko

Moro means "other one, another". Moko is the plural, and means "others, other ones". The words can be used in the following ways:

  • Kamoro. Somewhere.
  • Samoro. Sometime.
  • Mamoko. The other ones.
  • Gimoro. Something.
  • Gikmoko. Somethings.

If/When

If/When ... is expressed with Ka ... to:

  • Ka ibiro, to wabiro dhi. If/when you come, then we will go.
  • Ka ichiemo, to wabiro chiemo. If/when you eat, then we will eat.
  • Ka atedo chiemo, wanacham. If I cook the food, we shall eat it.
  • Ka gisetedo chiemo, giniluong' nyithindo. When they have cooked the food, they will call the children.
  • Ka Akech tedo chiemo, to Anyango keto dise ewi mesa. While Akech is cooking the food, Anyango puts the plates on the table.

Comparisons

Use moloyo to indicate a comparison (from the verb loyo, to overcome):

  • Ahero sikuma moloyo rabolo. I like kale more than bananas.
  • Ahero chai moloyo sikuma. I like tea more than kale.
  • Ahero njugu moloyo te. I like groundnuts the best (more than all).

Numbers

Numbers are fairly straightforward:

  • achiel, one
  • ariyo, two
  • adek, three
  • ang'wen, four
  • abich, five
  • auchiel, six
  • abiriyo, seven
  • aboro, eight
  • ochiko, nine
  • apar, ten
  • apar gachiel, eleven
  • apar gariyo, twelve
  • piero ariyo, twenty
  • piero ariyo gachiel, twenty-one
  • piero adek, thirty
  • piero ang'wen, forty
  • mia achiel, one hundred
  • mia ariyo, two hundred
  • alufu, thousand

To indicate a certain number of times, use di- followed by the number, contracting when possible:

  • dachiel, once
  • dariyo, twice
  • dadek, three times
  • dauchiel, six times

Idioms

Dholuo is rich in idioms, just as English is. This can be fun but also make it difficult to follow a conversation. Here are some examples of idioms using the verb goyo, "to beat":

  • goyo thum, to play music
  • goyo rangi, to paint
  • goyo oriti, to say good-bye
  • goyo erokamano, to say thank you
  • goyo mpira, to play soccer/football
  • goyo koko, to make noise

Many constructions use parts of the body to express an emotion or feeling; all of these change their pronouns according to person except for mako ich.

Dholuo Literal Meaning
iya owang' my stomach burns I'm angry
owang'o iya it burns my stomach it annoys me
iya lit my stomach is painful I'm jealous
chunye pek his heart is heavy he is sad
chunye oduogo his heart has returned he is encouraged
wiye owil his head turned he has forgotten
wiye tek his head is hard he is stubborn
wiye pek his head is heavy he is not intelligent
mako ich to hold stomach to conceive
iya kaya my stomach bites me my stomach aches
tienda rama my foot pains me my foot hurts
wiya bara my head splits me my head aches

Possessives

A possessive can be formed in two ways. The first way is by adding a suffix to the end of the noun construct. The suffix is the same one formed for affixing objects to verbs. Following are the possessives of a singlular noun, chiemo, for which the singular noun construct is chiemb-:

Singular Construct Suffix Dholuo English
chiemb- -a chiemba my food
chiemb--i chiembi your food
chiemb--e chiembe his/her food
chiemb--wa chiembwa our food
chiemb--u chiembu your (pl) food
chiemb--gi chiembgi their food

Following are the possessives of a plural noun, chiembe. For the most part, the process is the same as for a singular noun: a suffix is added to the end of the plural noun construct. However, because most plural noun constructs end in -e, the -a suffix changes to -na to separate the two vowels. This happens with -i, -e, and -u as well:

Plural Construct Suffix Dholuo English
chiembe--na chiembena my foods
chiembe--ni chiembeni your foods
chiembe--ne chiembene his/her foods
chiembe--wa chiembewa our foods
chiembe--nu chiembenu your (pl) foods
chiembe--gi chiembegi their foods

The second way to form a possessive uses the word mar, meaning "of". For singular nouns, the suffix (-a, -i, -e, -wa, -u, -gi) is added to mar, which comes after the noun it modifies:

Singular Possessive Dholuo English
mara chiemo mara my food
mari chiemo mari your food
mare chiemo mare his/her food
marwa chiemo marwa our food
maru chiemo maru your pl. food
margi chiemo margi their food

To indicate the possessive of a plural noun, things get tricky, and there are different ways to say the same thing. Use the following table to help you form plural possessives:

Plural Dholuo English
mago, meka nyimine meka my sisters
magi, meki nyimine magi your sisters
mage, meke nyimine meke his/her sisters
magwa, mekwa, or mawa nyimine mawa our sisters
magu, meku, or mau nyimine mau your pl. sisters
maggi, mekgi nyimine mekgi their sisters

Potentiality

The conditional (would-ness) can be indicated by the prefix d-, known as the article of potentiality. Alternatively, dipo ni ("perhaps") can be used before a verb:

  • Dagomb. I would like.
  • Dakonyi? Could I help you?
  • Dipo nadhi. Perhaps I will go.
  • Dipo nichiemo. Perhaps you are eating.
  • Dipo nibo (or nibiro) chiemo. Perhaps you will eat.

Time

Use the following vocabulary table to help you understand time and dates in Dholuo:

English Dholuo Plural
date tarik tarik
day odiechieng' ndalo
week juma juma
month due dueche
year higa higni
minute dakika dakika
hour, time saa seche
half (hour) nus -
morning okinyi -
afternoon odhiambo -
night otieno -
  • Dates
    • Kawuono en tarik mane? What is today's date?
    • In Dholuo, the months are numbered. January is due mar achiel, February is due mar ariyo, and December is due mar apar gariyo.
    • March 24, 2004 would be written as tarik 24 due mar adek higni 2004.
  • Days
    • Kawuono en tich mane? What day is it today?
    • The word for Monday literally means "coming out to work", and Tuesday through Friday are numbered: "work two", "work three", etc:
      Dholuo English
      wuok tich Monday
      tich ariyo Tuesday
      tich adek Wednesday
      tich ang'wen Thursday
      tich abich Friday
      chieng' ngeso Saturday
      jumapil Sunday
  • Tomorrow
    • The following words describe the date relative to today:
      Dholuo English
      nyocha the day before yesterday
      nyoro yesterday
      kawuono today
      kiny tomorrow
      orucha the day after tomorrow
  • Time
    • Saa adi? What time is it?
    • To denote afternoon use godhiambo (formed from gi + odhiambo), gotieno for evening, and gokinyi for morning.
    • Time is measured differently: saa achiel, "first hour" is 7:00am. To convert from Luo to English time, add or subtract six:
      Luo time English time
      saa achiel 7:00am
      saa ariyo 8:00am
      saa adek 9:00am
      saa auchiel 12:00pm
      saa abiriyo gi nus 1:30pm
      saa apar gariyo gokinyi 6:00am
      saa apar gariyo godhiambo 6:00pm

Greetings and dialogues

Dialogues are given first in Dholuo, followed by a translation of meaning into English. To clarify some words that do not translate literally, the literal translation is given in brackets. Vocabulary can be found in the vocabulary lists below.

List of dialogues
Greetings

Greetings are quite formulaic and very important. Most of these simple greetings that ask for information of the other person can be lengthened as is done for the "Any time" table. For brevity, this lengthening is not shown here for subsequent greetings, but it frequently occurs in speech where there is time for it.

  • Any time
    • Dholuo English
    Amosi!
    Ber ahinya.    		 Greetings! (lit. I greet you)
    Very well.
    Ithi nadi?
    Athi maber. To in?
    An bende athi maber.    		 How are you doing?
    I'm doing well. And you?
    I also am doing well.
    Uthi nadi?
    Wathi maber. To un?
    Wan bende wathi maber.    		 How are all of you doing?
    We're doing well. And you all?
    We also are doing well.
    Misawa!
    Misawa ahinya. or Ber ahinya.    		 Peace!
    Peace to you.
    Intie?
    Antie.    		 How are you? (lit. You are present?)
    I'm find. (lit. I'm present)
    Ingima?
    Angima maber.    		 You're well?
    I'm very well.

  • Morning
    • Dholuo English
    Oyawore!
    Oyawore ahinya!    		 Good morning! (Lit. It [the sky] has opened itself)
    Good morning! (Lit. It has opened itself indeed!)
    Ichiew nadi?
    Achiew maber.    		 How's your morning? (Lit. How did you wake up?)
    Great! (Lit. I woke up well)
    Uchiew nadi?
    Wachiew maber.    		 How're you all this morning? (Lit. How did you pl. wake up?)
    We're fine! (Lit. We woke up well).

  • Midday
    • Dholuo English
    Osawore!
    Osawore ahinya!    		 Good day!
    Good day!

  • Towards the end of the day
    • Dholuo English
    Iriyo nadi?
    Ariyo maber.    		 How did your day go? (Lit. How did you pass your day?)
    It went well.
    Uriyo nadi?
    Wariyo maber.    		 How did your day go for all of you?
    Our day was fine.

  • At night
    • Dholuo English
    Oimore!
    Oimore ahinya!    		 Good evening! (Lit. It [the sky] has closed itself)
    Good evening!
Relationships within the family

Anna: Achieng', ji ng'eny dalani. Ok awinjo maber kaka gin wede. Jerusha en ng'a?

Achieng': Jerusha en mikach Nyakwaka.

Anna: To Yohana?

Achieng': Yohana en wuod Nyakwaka maduong'.

Anna: To macha en od ng'a?

Achieng': Macha od dhako matin.

Anna: Adier. To Maria to ng'a?

Achieng': En dayo.

Anna: Erokamano.

Translation:

Achieng', there are many people at your compound. I don't know how they are relatives. Jerusha is who?

Jerusha is the first wife of Nyakwaka.

And Yohana?

Yohana is the eldest [big] son of Nyakwaka.

And that is the house of who?

That is the house of the last wife [small woman].

Truly. And Maria is who?

She is the grandmother.

Thank you.

Meeting other relatives in the market

Aluoch and mother: Misawa uru.

Adhiambo and others: Misawa uru ahinya.

Mother: Ubiro chiro?

Adhiambo: Ee wabiro chiro. To ma e kachi?

Mother: Ee.

Aluoch: Mama magi ng'a gini?

Mother: Ma wayi baba. En nyamin wuon baba. En e chogo to ma to nyamin jaode. Ma kayo, machielo no to yuore.

Translation:

Greetings to all of you.

Greetings to you.

You are all coming to the market?

Yes we are coming to the market. And that is your first born?

Yes.

Mama, those were who?

That was the aunt of your father. She is the sister of the father of your father. He is the last born and that is the sister of his wife. That is the first-born, the other is his brother-in-law.

Comments on the food

Wenzel: Chiemo mit ahinya e otendni.

Anna: Adier, chunyni ochiel mamit. Dagomb ng'eyo kaka gitede.

Achieng': Tede yot. Abiro puonji kaka watede. Itede ateda kaka itedo ring'o.

Anna: Abiro ng'eyo mos.

Waiter: Uwinjo chiembwagi nade?

Wenzel: Chiembu mit ahinya. Wabiroga chiemo kae pile.

Waiter: Waruakou. Chudo maru ee.

Anna: Pesa ee. Erokamano.

All: Oriti.

Waiter: Oritu, uduog kendo.

Translation:

The food is very delicious at this hotel.

Truly, this liver/heart is fried deliciously. I would like to know how they cook it.

Cooking it is easy. I will teach you how we cook it. You just cook it like you cook meat.

I will know slowly.

You feel our food is how?

Your food is very delicious. We will be eating it every day.

We welcome you. Here's your bill.

Here's the money. Thank you.

Bye.

Bye, come back again.

A visit to a family

Jerusha: Oyawore!

Anna: Oyawore ahinya!

Jerusha: Machiegni, bed piny.

Anna: Ere wach?

Jerusha: Onge wach.

Anna: Aduogo limou kendo mondo wang'ere maber.

Jerusha: Mano ber ahinya; kawuono wantie waduto. Wuon parua kende ema onge.

Anna: An aa Sweden. Wan gi nyithindo ariyo e odwa.

Jerusha: An Jerusha. Ma nyachira, to ma reru to mano dhako matin. Wan gi nyithindo ma yowuowi gi manyiri to gi nyikwawa. Wuoda madoung' nyinge Yohana, osekendo. En kod nyithindo ariyo. Chi wuoda ni e od tedo, otedo chiemb okinyi. Wuon pargi ni e od nindo, pod onindo. Dawa Maria bende nitie. En dayo maber, wahere ahinya. Kwarwa to ne osetho.

Achieng': Openjo ni ka iyie to inyise kaka ute madalau kae obet.

Jerusha: Ma en oda, macha od dhako mar ariyo, macha mar adek to mogik cha mar dhako mogik.

Translation:

Good morning!

Good morning!

Come close, sit down.

What's up? (Where's the news?)

Not much. (There's no news.)

I come back to visit you all again so that we know each other better.

That's very good, today we are all present. My husband only is not here.

I'm from Sweden. We have two children in our house.

I'm Jerusha. That's the second wife, and that's the third wife and that's the youngest wife. We have children that are boys and that are girls and also our grandchildren. My old son his name is Yohana, he is married. He has two kids. The wife of my