Gwere

Print

Primary tabs

A language of Uganda

ISO 639-3
gwr
Alternate Names
Bagwere, Olugwere, oLugwere
Autonym
Lugwere
User Population

621,000 (2014 census), increasing. Census based on tribal affiliation.

Location

Budaka, Butaleja, Butebo, Kibuku, Mbale, Pallisa, and Sironko districts. Kaliro district (Lamoogi dialect).

Language Maps
Language Status

4 (Educational).

Classification
Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Narrow Bantu, Central, J, Nyoro-Ganda (E.17)
Dialects

Lamoogi (Lamogi, Lamooji, Lulamogi, Lulamoogi). Lexical similarity: 82% with Lamoogi, 79% with Siki dialect of Soga [xog], 77% with Kenye [lke], 68% with Ganda [lug], 64% with Tenga dialect of Soga [xog]. Lamoogi dialect; 89%–92% with Siki dialect of Soga [xog]; 83%–88% with Kenye [lke], and 81%–82% with Gwere [gwr].

Typology

SVO; lexical and grammatical tone, highly agglutinating, 5 vowels (contrastive vowel lengths), 21 consonants.

Language Use

Very vigorous. Home, village, market, work, church. Used by all. Positive attitudes. Most also use English [eng]. Many also use Ganda [lug]. Used as L2 by Kenye [lke].

Language Development

Taught in primary schools through grade 3. Literature. Newspapers. Radio. Dictionary. Texts. NT: 2017. Agency: Lugwere Bible Translation and Literacy Association.

Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Gwere
Writing

Latin script [Latn], used since 2005, in development.

Other Comments

Christian.