Dholuo
The Dholuo dialect (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 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).
| 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) |
| Latin, Luo script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | luo |
| ISO 639-3 | luo |
| Glottolog | luok1236 |
Dholuo is mutually intelligible with Alur, Acholi, Adhola and Lango 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.
It is estimated that Dholuo has 90% lexical similarity with Leb Alur (Alur), 83% with Leb Achol (Acholi), 81% with Leb Lango and 93% with Dhopadhola (Adhola). However, these are often counted as separate languages despite common ethnic origins due to linguistic shift occasioned by geographical movement.