{"history":[],"article":{"id":"2d186f61-1ca6-400a-b6cc-1e53c331cd74","title":"Tooro language","slug":"tooro-language","content":":::summary\n**Name:** Tooro \n**Altname:** Rutooro \n**Nativename:** Orutooro \n**States:** [Uganda](https://bliptext.com/articles/uganda) \n**Region:** [Tooro Kingdom](https://bliptext.com/articles/tooro-kingdom) \n**Ethnicity:** [Batooro](https://bliptext.com/articles/tooro-people) \n**Speakers:** 490,000 \n**Date:** 1991 census \n**Ref:** e18 \n**Familycolor:** Niger-Congo \n**Fam 2:** [Atlantic–Congo](https://bliptext.com/articles/atlantic-congo-languages) \n**Fam 3:** [Volta-Congo](https://bliptext.com/articles/volta-congo) \n**Fam 4:** [Benue–Congo](https://bliptext.com/articles/benue-congo-languages) \n**Fam 5:** [Bantoid](https://bliptext.com/articles/bantoid) \n**Fam 6:** [Southern Bantoid](https://bliptext.com/articles/southern-bantoid) \n**Fam 7:** [Bantu](https://bliptext.com/articles/bantu-languages) \n**Fam 8:** [Northeast Bantu](https://bliptext.com/articles/northeast-bantu) \n**Fam 9:** [Great Lakes Bantu](https://bliptext.com/articles/great-lakes-bantu) \n**Fam 1 0:** [West Nyanza](https://bliptext.com/articles/west-nyanza-languages) \n**Fam 1 1:** [Rutara](https://bliptext.com/articles/rutara-languages) \n**Fam 1 2:** [North Rutara](https://bliptext.com/articles/rutara-languages) \n**Fam 1 3:** [Nkore-Kiga](https://bliptext.com/articles/nkore-kiga)-[Nyoro-Tooro](https://bliptext.com/articles/nyoro-tooro) \n**Stand 1:** [Runyakitara](https://bliptext.com/articles/runyakitara-language) \n**Dia 1:** Tuku \n**Iso 3:** ttj \n**Glotto:** toor1238 \n**Glottorefname:** Tooro \n**Guthrie:** JE.12 \n:::\n\n# \n**Tooro** or **Rutooro** (, Orutooro, ) is a [Bantu](https://bliptext.com/articles/bantu-[language](https://bliptext.com/articles/language)s) [language](https://bliptext.com/articles/language) spoken mainly by the **Tooro** people (Abatooro) from the **Tooro** Kingdom in western [Uganda](https://bliptext.com/articles/uganda).\nThere are three main areas where Tooro as a language is mainly used: [Kabarole District](https://bliptext.com/articles/kabarole-district), [Kyenjojo](https://bliptext.com/articles/kyenjojo) District and [Kyegegwa District](https://bliptext.com/articles/kyegegwa-district).\nTooro is unusual among [Bantu languages](https://bliptext.com/articles/bantu-languages) as it lacks lexical tone.\nIt is most closely related to [Runyoro](https://bliptext.com/articles/nyoro-language).\n\n# Phonology\n\n## Vowels\nTooro has 5 short vowels and 5 corresponding long vowels.\nIt also has 3 diphthongs.\n\n### Nasal vowels\nVowels followed by a nasal cluster tend to be [nasalised](https://bliptext.com/articles/nasalization), even to the point that the nasal consonant is barely heard (e.g. Abakonjo [aβakṍːⁿd͡ʒo] \"[Konjo people](https://bliptext.com/articles/konjo-people)\").\n\n### Vowel lengthening\nVowels can be lengthened in these contexts:\n\n### Vowel shortening\nWord-final long vowels are shortened, except if they are in the penultimate syllable of a noun phrase.\nAs a result, the inherently long final vowel in obuso \"forehead\" and the phonetically long final vowel in omutwe \"head\" are shortened in isolation but are lengthened after a monosyllabic [qualifier](https://bliptext.com/articles/grammatical-modifier) (obuso bwe [oβusóː βwe] \"his/her forehead\"; omutwe gwe [omutwéː gwe] \"his/her head\").\n\n### Diphthongs\nTooro has 3 diphthongs, /ai/, /oi/ and /au/, the latter only being attested in 3 words, 2 being [English](https://bliptext.com/articles/english-language) loanwords (autu \"vegetable cooking oil\", etauni < Eng. \"town\", etaulo < Eng. \"towel\").\nIn some dialects, /ai/ is pronounced as [ei].\n\n### Vowel hiatus resolution\nTooro has different ways of resolving [vowel hiatus](https://bliptext.com/articles/vowel-hiatus) in individual words or in between words:\n\n### Mid vowel harmony\nSome suffixes that are added to v**er**bs exhibit [mid vowel harmony](https://bliptext.com/articles/vowel-harmony), wh**er**e the vowel in the suffix (/i/ or /u/) is low**er**ed to a mid vowel (/e/ or /o/ respectively) if the vowel in the [ultimate syllable](https://bliptext.com/articles/ultima-linguistics) of the v**er**b root is a mid vowel (e.g. okuc u mb**ir**a \"to cook for someone\"; okus e k**er**a \"to laugh for someone\").\nMid vowel harmony does not apply if consonant mutation to the v**er**b root also applies, instead only the consonant mutation in the v**er**b root applies (e.g. ng e nz**ir**e (from the root √-gend-) \"I went (and the effect remains)\" instead of *ng e nz**er**e).\n\n## Consonants\n\n### Consonant mutation\nCertain suffixes, specifically the perfective -ir (not to be confused with the applicative -ir), the [nominalizer](https://bliptext.com/articles/nominalizer) -i, the short causative -i, and the long causative -is cause the consonant before it to be [mutated](https://bliptext.com/articles/consonant-mutation).\nThe first two suffixes mutate /ɾ, d͡ʒ/ or [d] to [z] and /t/ to [s] (e.g. barubasire \"they have walked\" < √-rubat- \"to walk\"; omubaizi \"carpenter < √-baij- \"to do carpentry\"). However, perfective -ir mutates /d͡ʒ/ to [z] inconsistently (e.g. baizire \"they have come\" < √-ij- \"to come\"; bahiijire \"they have panted\" < √-hiij- \"to pant\"), and most of the time, it can be used with or without mutation (e.g. babaijire ~ babaizire \"they have done carpentry\" < √-baij-). The distinction between the perfective and applicative -ir is important as the applicative -ir cannot cause mutation (e.g. okurubatira \"to walk for\" < okurubata \"to walk\"). Additionally, only the unmutated perfective -ir can cause mutation, as the mutated form, -iz, cannot cause mutation (e.g. beereze \"they have cleaned < √-eer \"to clean\" instead of *beezize).\nCausative -i also mutates /ɾ/ or [d] to [z] and [t] to [s] (no instance has been found of causative -i mutating /d͡ʒ/).\nSince the /zj/ and /sj/ clusters are not permitted in Tooro\"s [phonotactics](https://bliptext.com/articles/phonotactics), the /j/ is dropped (e.g. okukwasa \"to make touch\" < *okukwasya < okukwata \"to touch\").\nFinally, causative -is only mutates /ɾ/ to [z] (e.g. okuhazisa \"to cause to scratch\" < okuhara \"to scratch\").\nIt cannot mutate /d͡ʒ/, [d] or /t/ (e.g. okutundisa \"to cause to sell\" < okutunda \"to sell\" instead of *okutunzisa).\n\n## Tone\nTooro has 2 main tones (high and low, low tone being the default), and 2 other tones (falling and rising) that appear in restricted circumstances.\nIt is worth mentioning that vowels and nasal consonants can have a high tone (e.g. nnywa [ń̩ɲwa] \"I drink\").\n\n### High tone\nAlthough Tooro lacks lexical tone, it has grammatical tone in the form of the high tone.\nIn isolation, the high tone always falls on the [penultimate](https://bliptext.com/articles/penult) syllable of a word, however, when a noun is modified by a following [disyllabic](https://bliptext.com/articles/disyllabic) adjective, the noun loses its high tone except if the noun functions as a [predicate](https://bliptext.com/articles/predicate-grammar).\n-ona \"all, whole\" and -ombi \"both\" are exceptions to this, as they let the noun keep its high tone.\nAdditionally, a noun followed by a monosyllabic adjective makes the high tone fall on the last syllable of the noun.\nAn adjective with more than two syllables morphologically lets the noun keep its high tone.\nThis means that ondi \"the other (person, class 1)\" & endi \"the other (class 9)\" are considered trisyllabic as they are derived from o-o-ndi/e-e-ndi and [overlong](https://bliptext.com/articles/overlong-vowel) vowels are not permissible.\nThus, the only difference between [omuːntu óːndi] \"another person\" and [omúːntu óːndi] \"the other person\" is the high tone of the noun.\n[Demonstratives](https://bliptext.com/articles/tooro-language) also let the noun keep its high tone, regardless if the demonstrative has only 1 or 2 syllables.\n\n### Falling tone\nA falling tone appears in two cases:\n\n### Rising tone\nRising tone is very rare, and only occurs in one case where a monosyllabic noun stem which has no noun prefix is used without an augment word-finally (e.g. enu ka [eːnǔ ka] \"this is a house\").\n\n## Phonotactics\nThe following syllable types are allowed in native Tooro words, where V stands for a [vowel](https://bliptext.com/articles/vowel) (short or long), C a [consonant](https://bliptext.com/articles/consonant), N a nasal [consonant](https://bliptext.com/articles/consonant), and G a [glide](https://bliptext.com/articles/glide-linguistics).\nNote that since these rules only apply to native Tooro words, loanwords like Kristo \"Christ\" may break them.\n\n# Orthography\nTooro uses the same orthography as Nyoro.\nVowel hiatus resolution between words is not indicated in the orthography, except for some short words like na \"and\", -a \"of\" or nka \"approximately\" (e.g. okusoma ekitabu [okusóm‿eːkitáβu] \"to read a book\"; ky'abantu [c‿aβáːntu] \"of (class 7) the people\").\n[Doubled vowels](https://bliptext.com/articles/digraph-orthography) are not used in environments where vowel lengthening can be easily predicted (e.g. in a penultimate syllable before a nasal cluster).\nTone is not represented in the orthography.\n\n# Grammar\n\n## Noun classes\nLike most [Bantu languages](https://bliptext.com/articles/bantu-languages), Tooro has noun classes, shown in the table below ([augment vowels](https://bliptext.com/articles/augment-bantu-languages) in brackets).\nA noun is made augmentless (i.e. without an augment, equivalent to the [base state](https://bliptext.com/articles/luganda) in Luganda) in these circumstances:\nCompare the following examples:\n\n## Pronouns\n\n### Independent pronouns\n\n### Relative pronouns\n\n## Pronominal concords\nPossessive pronouns and some other words like -a \"of\" and -ndi \"another\" are inflected depending on the noun class of the noun being qualified:\nThese words support augments.\nFor possessive pronouns, the augment conveys the meaning of \"own\" (e.g. omwana owange \"my own child\", instead of omwana wange \"my child, any of my children\").\nFor other words, it conveys definiteness (e.g. embuzi eya Bagonza \"the house of Bagonza\" instead of embuzi ya Bagonza \"a house of Bagonza\").\n\n## Demonstratives\n[Demonstratives](https://bliptext.com/articles/demonstrative) in Tooro can optionally be placed before or after the noun (e.g. omuntu onu / onu omuntu \"this person\").\nClasses 16 and 17 are used as adverbs (i.e. hanu means \"here\", kunu \"this way\", hali \"there\", kuli \"that way\")\n\n## Verbs\nTooro, like all [Rutara languages](https://bliptext.com/articles/rutara-languages), is a heavily [agglutinative](https://bliptext.com/articles/agglutination) language, with verbs needing to agree with the tense, mood, subject and object in class and number.\nti-ba-ka-ki-mu-h-es-er-a-yo-ga\nNEG-3PL.SM-REM.PST-CL7.DOM-3SG.IOM-give-CAUS-APL-FV-LOC-HAB\nThey have never caused it (class 7) to be given to him/her over there.\nThe morphological structure of a Tooro verb is:\n\n### Subject markers\nNote the similarity to the subject concord prefixes.\nOnly class 1 and 4 differ.\n\n### Object markers\nNote the similarity to the subject markers, only class 1, 4 and 9 differ.\nThe object markers are used for direct and indirect objects.\nThe indirect object marker comes before the direct object marker:\na-ka-ki-mu-h-a\n3SG-REM.PST-CL7-3SG-give-FV\nhe/she gave it (class 7) to him/her\nIf the object marker is used with an object noun, the noun is made definite.\nCompare the following examples:\n\n### Verb derivation suffixes\nTooro has a lot of derivational affixes for verbs, most of them exhibiting [mid vowel harmony](https://bliptext.com/articles/tooro-language).\n[Reduplication](https://bliptext.com/articles/reduplication) is also used for some verbs (e.g. okutematema \"to cut into small pieces using a machete\").\n\n### Verb conjugations\nBelow are some verb conjugations in Tooro with examples that use the subject marker n- \"I\" and the verb [root](https://bliptext.com/articles/root-linguistics) √-gend- \"go\".\nPerfective -ir is subject to [mid vowel harmony](https://bliptext.com/articles/tooro-language) and causes [consonant mutation](https://bliptext.com/articles/tooro-language).\nNote that SM stands for \"subject marker\" and RT stands for \"root\".\n\n## Numbers\nIn Tooro, the numbers [1](https://bliptext.com/articles/1) to [5](https://bliptext.com/articles/5) are numerical adjectives that need to [agree](https://bliptext.com/articles/agreement-linguistics) with the noun they [qualify](https://bliptext.com/articles/grammatical-modifier), whereas the numbers [6](https://bliptext.com/articles/6) to [1](https://bliptext.com/articles/1)0 are numerical nouns that do not [agree](https://bliptext.com/articles/agreement-linguistics) with the qualified noun.\nFor abstract counting, the class 10 inflection of the numerical adjective is used.\n20 to 50, 200 to 500 and 2000 to 5000 are expressed using the plural of 10, 100 and 1000 respectively with the cardinal numbers for 2 to 5.\n60 to 100, 600 to 1000 and 6000 to 10,000 are numerical nouns derived from the same roots as 6 to 10.\n\n### Time-telling\nIn Tooro, time is counted in a 12-hour time convention from sunrise to sunset, with 7:00 am being the first hour of the day and 6:00 pm being the twelfth.\nSame goes for 7:00pm and 6:00 am respectively.\nTo tell time, use saaha (\"hour\") + the corresponding number of the hour (equivalent of subtracting 6 from the [A.M./P.M.](https://bliptext.com/articles/12-hour-clock) system).\nThe class 16 locative class is used for time (e.g. tukahika hasaaha ikumi \"we arrived at four o'clock\").\n\n# Greetings (Endamukya)\nGreetings in Tooro differ depending on number (singular or plural):\n\n# Sample text\nEveryone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels.\n(Article 1 of the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms)","current_revision":null,"created_by":"kACnuQmH5k9Nr5VNVEpVeg7XpvUmMctD","created_at":"2025-01-26T06:56:33.858Z","updated_at":"2025-01-26T06:56:33.858Z","search_vector":"'languag':2 'tooro':1","search_content":" \n**Name:** Tooro \n**Altname:** Rutooro \n**Nativename:** Orutooro \n**States:** [Uganda](https://bliptext.com/articles/uganda) \n**Region:** [Tooro Kingdom](https://bliptext.com/articles/tooro-kingdom) \n**Ethnicity:** [Batooro](https://bliptext.com/articles/tooro-people) \n**Speakers:** 490,000 \n**Date:** 1991 census \n**Ref:** e18 \n**Familycolor:** Niger-Congo \n**Fam 2:** [Atlantic–Congo](https://bliptext.com/articles/atlantic-congo-languages) \n**Fam 3:** [Volta-Congo](https://bliptext.com/articles/volta-congo) \n**Fam 4:** [Benue–Congo](https://bliptext.com/articles/benue-congo-languages) \n**Fam 5:** [Bantoid](https://bliptext.com/articles/bantoid) \n**Fam 6:** [Southern Bantoid](https://bliptext.com/articles/southern-bantoid) \n**Fam 7:** [Bantu](https://bliptext.com/articles/bantu-languages) \n**Fam 8:** [Northeast Bantu](https://bliptext.com/articles/northeast-bantu) \n**Fam 9:** [Great Lakes Bantu](https://bliptext.com/articles/great-lakes-bantu) \n**Fam 1 0:** [West Nyanza](https://bliptext.com/articles/west-nyanza-languages) \n**Fam 1 1:** [Rutara](https://bliptext.com/articles/rutara-languages) \n**Fam 1 2:** [North Rutara](https://bliptext.com/articles/rutara-languages) \n**Fam 1 3:** [Nkore-Kiga](https://bliptext.com/articles/nkore-kiga)-[Nyoro-Tooro](https://bliptext.com/articles/nyoro-tooro) \n**Stand 1:** [Runyakitara](https://bliptext.com/articles/runyakitara-language) \n**Dia 1:** Tuku \n**Iso 3:** ttj \n**Glotto:** toor1238 \n**Glottorefname:** Tooro \n**Guthrie:** JE.12 \n \n\n# \n**Tooro** or **Rutooro** (, Orutooro, ) is a [Bantu](https://bliptext.com/articles/bantu-[language](https://bliptext.com/articles/language)s) [language](https://bliptext.com/articles/language) spoken mainly by the **Tooro** people (Abatooro) from the **Tooro** Kingdom in western [Uganda](https://bliptext.com/articles/uganda).\nThere are three main areas where Tooro as a language is mainly used: [Kabarole District](https://bliptext.com/articles/kabarole-district), [Kyenjojo](https://bliptext.com/articles/kyenjojo) District and [Kyegegwa District](https://bliptext.com/articles/kyegegwa-district).\nTooro is unusual among [Bantu languages](https://bliptext.com/articles/bantu-languages) as it lacks lexical tone.\nIt is most closely related to [Runyoro](https://bliptext.com/articles/nyoro-language).\n\n# Phonology\n\n## Vowels\nTooro has 5 short vowels and 5 corresponding long vowels.\nIt also has 3 diphthongs.\n\n### Nasal vowels\nVowels followed by a nasal cluster tend to be [nasalised](https://bliptext.com/articles/nasalization), even to the point that the nasal consonant is barely heard (e.g. Abakonjo [aβakṍːⁿd͡ʒo] \"[Konjo people](https://bliptext.com/articles/konjo-people)\").\n\n### Vowel lengthening\nVowels can be lengthened in these contexts:\n\n### Vowel shortening\nWord-final long vowels are shortened, except if they are in the penultimate syllable of a noun phrase.\nAs a result, the inherently long final vowel in obuso \"forehead\" and the phonetically long final vowel in omutwe \"head\" are shortened in isolation but are lengthened after a monosyllabic [qualifier](https://bliptext.com/articles/grammatical-modifier) (obuso bwe [oβusóː βwe] \"his/her forehead\"; omutwe gwe [omutwéː gwe] \"his/her head\").\n\n### Diphthongs\nTooro has 3 diphthongs, /ai/, /oi/ and /au/, the latter only being attested in 3 words, 2 being [English](https://bliptext.com/articles/english-language) loanwords (autu \"vegetable cooking oil\", etauni < Eng. \"town\", etaulo < Eng. \"towel\").\nIn some dialects, /ai/ is pronounced as [ei].\n\n### Vowel hiatus resolution\nTooro has different ways of resolving [vowel hiatus](https://bliptext.com/articles/vowel-hiatus) in individual words or in between words:\n\n### Mid vowel harmony\nSome suffixes that are added to v**er**bs exhibit [mid vowel harmony](https://bliptext.com/articles/vowel-harmony), wh**er**e the vowel in the suffix (/i/ or /u/) is low**er**ed to a mid vowel (/e/ or /o/ respectively) if the vowel in the [ultimate syllable](https://bliptext.com/articles/ultima-linguistics) of the v**er**b root is a mid vowel (e.g. okuc u mb**ir**a \"to cook for someone\"; okus e k**er**a \"to laugh for someone\").\nMid vowel harmony does not apply if consonant mutation to the v**er**b root also applies, instead only the consonant mutation in the v**er**b root applies (e.g. ng e nz**ir**e (from the root √-gend-) \"I went (and the effect remains)\" instead of *ng e nz**er**e).\n\n## Consonants\n\n### Consonant mutation\nCertain suffixes, specifically the perfective -ir (not to be confused with the applicative -ir), the [nominalizer](https://bliptext.com/articles/nominalizer) -i, the short causative -i, and the long causative -is cause the consonant before it to be [mutated](https://bliptext.com/articles/consonant-mutation).\nThe first two suffixes mutate /ɾ, d͡ʒ/ or [d] to [z] and /t/ to [s] (e.g. barubasire \"they have walked\" < √-rubat- \"to walk\"; omubaizi \"carpenter < √-baij- \"to do carpentry\"). However, perfective -ir mutates /d͡ʒ/ to [z] inconsistently (e.g. baizire \"they have come\" < √-ij- \"to come\"; bahiijire \"they have panted\" < √-hiij- \"to pant\"), and most of the time, it can be used with or without mutation (e.g. babaijire ~ babaizire \"they have done carpentry\" < √-baij-). The distinction between the perfective and applicative -ir is important as the applicative -ir cannot cause mutation (e.g. okurubatira \"to walk for\" < okurubata \"to walk\"). Additionally, only the unmutated perfective -ir can cause mutation, as the mutated form, -iz, cannot cause mutation (e.g. beereze \"they have cleaned < √-eer \"to clean\" instead of *beezize).\nCausative -i also mutates /ɾ/ or [d] to [z] and [t] to [s] (no instance has been found of causative -i mutating /d͡ʒ/).\nSince the /zj/ and /sj/ clusters are not permitted in Tooro\"s [phonotactics](https://bliptext.com/articles/phonotactics), the /j/ is dropped (e.g. okukwasa \"to make touch\" < *okukwasya < okukwata \"to touch\").\nFinally, causative -is only mutates /ɾ/ to [z] (e.g. okuhazisa \"to cause to scratch\" < okuhara \"to scratch\").\nIt cannot mutate /d͡ʒ/, [d] or /t/ (e.g. okutundisa \"to cause to sell\" < okutunda \"to sell\" instead of *okutunzisa).\n\n## Tone\nTooro has 2 main tones (high and low, low tone being the default), and 2 other tones (falling and rising) that appear in restricted circumstances.\nIt is worth mentioning that vowels and nasal consonants can have a high tone (e.g. nnywa [ń̩ɲwa] \"I drink\").\n\n### High tone\nAlthough Tooro lacks lexical tone, it has grammatical tone in the form of the high tone.\nIn isolation, the high tone always falls on the [penultimate](https://bliptext.com/articles/penult) syllable of a word, however, when a noun is modified by a following [disyllabic](https://bliptext.com/articles/disyllabic) adjective, the noun loses its high tone except if the noun functions as a [predicate](https://bliptext.com/articles/predicate-grammar).\n-ona \"all, whole\" and -ombi \"both\" are exceptions to this, as they let the noun keep its high tone.\nAdditionally, a noun followed by a monosyllabic adjective makes the high tone fall on the last syllable of the noun.\nAn adjective with more than two syllables morphologically lets the noun keep its high tone.\nThis means that ondi \"the other (person, class 1)\" & endi \"the other (class 9)\" are considered trisyllabic as they are derived from o-o-ndi/e-e-ndi and [overlong](https://bliptext.com/articles/overlong-vowel) vowels are not permissible.\nThus, the only difference between [omuːntu óːndi] \"another person\" and [omúːntu óːndi] \"the other person\" is the high tone of the noun.\n[Demonstratives](https://bliptext.com/articles/tooro-language) also let the noun keep its high tone, regardless if the demonstrative has only 1 or 2 syllables.\n\n### Falling tone\nA falling tone appears in two cases:\n\n### Rising tone\nRising tone is very rare, and only occurs in one case where a monosyllabic noun stem which has no noun prefix is used without an augment word-finally (e.g. enu ka [eːnǔ ka] \"this is a house\").\n\n## Phonotactics\nThe following syllable types are allowed in native Tooro words, where V stands for a [vowel](https://bliptext.com/articles/vowel) (short or long), C a [consonant](https://bliptext.com/articles/consonant), N a nasal [consonant](https://bliptext.com/articles/consonant), and G a [glide](https://bliptext.com/articles/glide-linguistics).\nNote that since these rules only apply to native Tooro words, loanwords like Kristo \"Christ\" may break them.\n\n# Orthography\nTooro uses the same orthography as Nyoro.\nVowel hiatus resolution between words is not indicated in the orthography, except for some short words like na \"and\", -a \"of\" or nka \"approximately\" (e.g. okusoma ekitabu [okusóm‿eːkitáβu] \"to read a book\"; ky'abantu [c‿aβáːntu] \"of (class 7) the people\").\n[Doubled vowels](https://bliptext.com/articles/digraph-orthography) are not used in environments where vowel lengthening can be easily predicted (e.g. in a penultimate syllable before a nasal cluster).\nTone is not represented in the orthography.\n\n# Grammar\n\n## Noun classes\nLike most [Bantu languages](https://bliptext.com/articles/bantu-languages), Tooro has noun classes, shown in the table below ([augment vowels](https://bliptext.com/articles/augment-bantu-languages) in brackets).\nA noun is made augmentless (i.e. without an augment, equivalent to the [base state](https://bliptext.com/articles/luganda) in Luganda) in these circumstances:\nCompare the following examples:\n\n## Pronouns\n\n### Independent pronouns\n\n### Relative pronouns\n\n## Pronominal concords\nPossessive pronouns and some other words like -a \"of\" and -ndi \"another\" are inflected depending on the noun class of the noun being qualified:\nThese words support augments.\nFor possessive pronouns, the augment conveys the meaning of \"own\" (e.g. omwana owange \"my own child\", instead of omwana wange \"my child, any of my children\").\nFor other words, it conveys definiteness (e.g. embuzi eya Bagonza \"the house of Bagonza\" instead of embuzi ya Bagonza \"a house of Bagonza\").\n\n## Demonstratives\n[Demonstratives](https://bliptext.com/articles/demonstrative) in Tooro can optionally be placed before or after the noun (e.g. omuntu onu / onu omuntu \"this person\").\nClasses 16 and 17 are used as adverbs (i.e. hanu means \"here\", kunu \"this way\", hali \"there\", kuli \"that way\")\n\n## Verbs\nTooro, like all [Rutara languages](https://bliptext.com/articles/rutara-languages), is a heavily [agglutinative](https://bliptext.com/articles/agglutination) language, with verbs needing to agree with the tense, mood, subject and object in class and number.\nti-ba-ka-ki-mu-h-es-er-a-yo-ga\nNEG-3PL.SM-REM.PST-CL7.DOM-3SG.IOM-give-CAUS-APL-FV-LOC-HAB\nThey have never caused it (class 7) to be given to him/her over there.\nThe morphological structure of a Tooro verb is:\n\n### Subject markers\nNote the similarity to the subject concord prefixes.\nOnly class 1 and 4 differ.\n\n### Object markers\nNote the similarity to the subject markers, only class 1, 4 and 9 differ.\nThe object markers are used for direct and indirect objects.\nThe indirect object marker comes before the direct object marker:\na-ka-ki-mu-h-a\n3SG-REM.PST-CL7-3SG-give-FV\nhe/she gave it (class 7) to him/her\nIf the object marker is used with an object noun, the noun is made definite.\nCompare the following examples:\n\n### Verb derivation suffixes\nTooro has a lot of derivational affixes for verbs, most of them exhibiting [mid vowel harmony](https://bliptext.com/articles/tooro-language).\n[Reduplication](https://bliptext.com/articles/reduplication) is also used for some verbs (e.g. okutematema \"to cut into small pieces using a machete\").\n\n### Verb conjugations\nBelow are some verb conjugations in Tooro with examples that use the subject marker n- \"I\" and the verb [root](https://bliptext.com/articles/root-linguistics) √-gend- \"go\".\nPerfective -ir is subject to [mid vowel harmony](https://bliptext.com/articles/tooro-language) and causes [consonant mutation](https://bliptext.com/articles/tooro-language).\nNote that SM stands for \"subject marker\" and RT stands for \"root\".\n\n## Numbers\nIn Tooro, the numbers [1](https://bliptext.com/articles/1) to [5](https://bliptext.com/articles/5) are numerical adjectives that need to [agree](https://bliptext.com/articles/agreement-linguistics) with the noun they [qualify](https://bliptext.com/articles/grammatical-modifier), whereas the numbers [6](https://bliptext.com/articles/6) to [1](https://bliptext.com/articles/1)0 are numerical nouns that do not [agree](https://bliptext.com/articles/agreement-linguistics) with the qualified noun.\nFor abstract counting, the class 10 inflection of the numerical adjective is used.\n20 to 50, 200 to 500 and 2000 to 5000 are expressed using the plural of 10, 100 and 1000 respectively with the cardinal numbers for 2 to 5.\n60 to 100, 600 to 1000 and 6000 to 10,000 are numerical nouns derived from the same roots as 6 to 10.\n\n### Time-telling\nIn Tooro, time is counted in a 12-hour time convention from sunrise to sunset, with 7:00 am being the first hour of the day and 6:00 pm being the twelfth.\nSame goes for 7:00pm and 6:00 am respectively.\nTo tell time, use saaha (\"hour\") + the corresponding number of the hour (equivalent of subtracting 6 from the [A.M./P.M.](https://bliptext.com/articles/12-hour-clock) system).\nThe class 16 locative class is used for time (e.g. tukahika hasaaha ikumi \"we arrived at four o'clock\").\n\n# Greetings (Endamukya)\nGreetings in Tooro differ depending on number (singular or plural):\n\n# Sample text\nEveryone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels.\n(Article 1 of the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms)","revisionCount":0},"hasMore":false,"nextCursor":null}

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