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Ethnologue > Web version > Country index > Africa > Uganda > Ma’di, Southern

Ma’di, Southern

A language of Uganda

ISO 639-3: snm

Population  48,000 (1983 SIL).
Region  Arua District, Madi-Okollo County, Nile River west bank.
Language map  Uganda, reference number 33
Alternate names   Southern Ma’di
Dialects  Okollo, Ogoko, Rigbo. More similar to Lugbara [lgg] than to Ma’di (Moyo) [mhi], which they do not understand. Ogoko and Rigbo dialects are more similar to Lugbara than Okollo is; intelligibility testing needed. Okollo considered more ‘pure’ than the others. “The ‘southern Ma’di’ dialects, spoken in the area of Rigbo, Ogoko, and Okollo, Uganda, should be considered Lugbara dialects” (SIL 1992 Moru-Ma’di Survey Report). Lexical similarity: 85% between the Ogoko dialect and Adjumani Ma’di [mhi], 83% between Okollo and Ogoko, 80% between Ogoko and Arua Lugbara, 80% between Ogoko and Moyo Ma’di, 78% between Ogoko and Moyo Ma’di, 76% between Okollo dialect and Arua Lugbara [lgg], 64% between Okollo and Moyo Ma’di, 59% between Okollo and Adjumani Ma’di [mhi] (SIL Survey, 1992).
Classification  Nilo-Saharan, Central Sudanic, East, Moru-Madi, Southern
Language use  Southern Ma’di may be displaced in towns by Swahili [swh]. Home, work, markets. Positive attitude. Also use Lugbara, Swahili, or English.
Comments  Agriculturalists: cassava, sesame, peas, maize, beans, cow peas, tobacco; fishermen along the River Nile.