Gwere

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A language of Uganda

ISO 639-3
gwr
Alternate Names
Lugwere, Olugwere
Population

409,000 (2002 census), increasing.

Location

East, Budaka and Kibuku districts; some in Pallisa District.

Language Maps
Language Status

5 (Developing).

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

Mutually intelligible with Lamoogi-Siginyi [xog] and Kenye [lke]. Lexical similarity: 68% with Ganda [lug], 82% with Lamooji [xog], 79% with Lusiginyi [xog], 77% with Kenye [lke], 64% with Lutenga [xog].

Typology

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

Language Use

Very vigorous. Home, village, market, work, church. All ages. Positive attitudes.

Language Development
Taught in primary schools. Poetry. Newspapers. Radio programs. Dictionary. Bible portions: 2005–2010.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Gwere
Writing
Latin script, used since 2005.
Other Comments

Christian.