Dholuo
| Luo | |
|---|---|
| Dholuo | |
| Native to | Kenya and Tanzania |
| Region | Nyanza province of Kenya and Mara Region of Tanzania |
| Ethnicity | Joluo |
Native speakers | 4.2 million (2009 census) |
Nilo-Saharan?
| |
| Latin script Luo script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | luo |
| ISO 639-3 | luo |
| Glottolog | luok1236 |
Dholuo (pronounced [d̪ólúô]) or Nilotic Kavirondo, is a dialect of the Luo group of Nilotic languages, spoken by about 4.2 million Luo people of Kenya and Tanzania, who occupy parts of the eastern shore of Nam Lolwe (Lake Victoria) and areas to the south. It is used for broadcasts on Ramogi TV and KBC (Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, formerly the Voice of Kenya).
Dholuo is mutually intelligible with Acholi, Alur and Adhola of Uganda. Dholuo and the aforementioned Uganda languages are all linguistically related to Dholuo of South Sudan and Anuak of Ethiopia due to common ethnic origins of the larger Luo peoples who speak Luo languages.
Four primary Dholuo dialects exist. These do not have their own names but are purely geographical; northwestern, south-central, east-central, and south. All dialects are highly mutually intelligible, and mainly differ in lexis.
It is estimated that Dholuo has 93% lexical similarity with Dhopadhola (Adhola), 90% with Leb Alur (Alur), 83% with Leb Achol (Acholi). However, these are often counted as separate languages despite common ethnic origins due to linguistic shift occasioned by geographical movement.