Ateso Nouns

Feminine nouns.

  1. Females (humans, animals etc) — Ikiroria lu angor (itunga, itiang etc.)

e.g Akingok — Bitch

      Angwoko —- Bitches

      Apese — Girl

      Apesur — Girls

      Aberu — A woman

      Angor — Women

     Atesot — A woman from Teso (Female from Teso)

      Ateso — Ateso women (Teso women)

     Akaramojait — A woman from Karamojong

      Akaramoja — Karamojong women

     Acolit — A woman from Acoli

      Acolin — Acoli women

     Amusogat — A woman from Amusoga

      Amusoga — Busoga women (Lusoga women)

     Amusugut —A Caucasian woman

     Amusugun — Caucasian women

     Aluga — An Indian woman

     Alugai — Indian women

     Ayarabut — An Arab woman

     Ayarabun — Arab women

     Amusamiat — A Musamian woman

     Amusamian — Samian women

     Apolish — A polish woman

          Apolishi — Polish women

  1. Countries and language —- Akwapin kede Angajepa
  2. g Angajep — Language

Amusugun —- English

Ateso—Ateso language

Amugana — Luganda language

Akaramoja —- Karamojong language

Apolish — Polish language

 

  1. Drinks —- Imaten
  2. g Akipi — Water

Ajon —- Beer or alcohol

            Akile—Milk

            Akawa — Coffee

Akiria — Drink made from fermented baked beer bread

Akima —- Porridge

Acece — Soup

  1. Abstract —- Ikiroria lu itodiarete/aitodiar
  2. g Ajokis — Well being

Awojau —- Height

            Akwena — Loughing

Awurianut — Shortness

Ailamusa — Bargaining

 

  1. Verbs used as nouns—- Alosikineta nu itosomao bala Ikiroria
  2. g Alosit — Going

Abunore —- Coming

            Akerit — Running

Aipo — Cooking

Ailamusa — Bargaining

 

Masculine nouns.

  1. Males (humans, animals) — Ikiroria lu Ikiliok (itunga, itiang etc.)

e.g Etunganan — A man

Etelepat — A boy

Ekingok —- A dog

Emere — A rum

Etom — An Elephant

Ekingok — A dog

            Emong — A bull

          Ekokor — A cock

            Emir — A rat

               Ekiliton — A scopion

  1. Trees, fruits, herbs and grass —- Ikiroria lu ikito, araito, ilitia ka inya
  2. g Emwebe — A mango

Esuju —- Pumpkin

            Enimu —Lemon

Emucuga — Orange

Esurulac —- Herb for headache

Eusuk — Medicinal herb

Ebale — Mushrooms

Eswei — Small mushrooms

Enyanya — Tomatoe

Emutungulu — Onion

Emapera — Guava

Enanasi — Pineapple

Etangausi — Ginger

  1. Local beverages —- Imaten
  2. g Ewaragi — Waragi (Uganda gin)

Ecai —- Tea

            Ekofi —Coffee

Echanga — Local spirit

Ekwete —- Beer nade from cassava or maize

Esike — Honey

Enyanya — Tomatoe

Emutungulu — Onion

Emapera — Guava

Enanasi — Pineapple

Etangausi — Ginger

 

Nouns

Abstract nouns and names of diseases, as in English, have no plurals.

Some nouns form plurals from other roots.

For example.

Aberu — Woman                                       Angor — Women

Ikoku — Child                                             Idwe — Children

 

Some nouns, in addition to the normal plural, form generic plurals by adding -sinei to form plurals.

For example.

Etunganan – A man          Itunga — People                Itungasinei — Mankind

Akwap — Country            Akwapin — Countries       Akwapisinei — World

 

There are no definite or indefinite articles in Ateso. Aberu means ‘a woman’ or ‘the woman’ regardless of the context.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neuter nouns.

Neuter names — Ikiroria lu mam itodiaritos eipone kec

e.g Itunganan — A person

Iboro— Things

Ikito —- Trees

Inya — Grass

Names of diminutive objects —- Ikiroria lu iboro lu idisiak

  1. g Ikingok — Puppy

Imiot —- Chick

            Ipese —A girl

Isapat — A boy

Ikong —- White ants

Noun prefix

All nouns in Ateso have a prefix which varies according to the gender of the noun or whether the noun is singular or plural.

 Noun prefixes

                            Masculine                          Feminine                       Neuter

Singular:                   e                                  a                                 i

Plural:                         i                                   a                                 i

There are however some exceptions with nouns denoting relationships.

E.g Toto — Mother, Tata — Grand Mother, Papa — Farther, papaka — Grand farther.

And with geographical bearings of East — Kide and West — Too all have no noun prefixes.

Note, noun prefixes are always dropped when the noun comes after the following pronouns or adjectives.

Lo — This, which

Ece — Other, another

Ngol, Ngin, Ngul — Those, other, every

Adio, Edio, Idio — Any, some

Adiope, Ediope, Idiopet — One

 

Feminine, neuter or plural forms examples.

Etunganan — A man                    Ecetunganan — Another man

Aberu — A woman                       Ece aberu — Another woman

Aberu na — This woman             Adiope aberu — One man

Etelepat — A boy                          Ngoli telepat — Every boy

 Plural endings

Plural endings of nouns change, change may consist of omission of the last syllable, the addition of another syllable or syllables, or the alteration of the last syllable or syllables.

Here are some examples of omission, addition and alteration.

(Omission)    Amukat — Shoe                                       Amuk — Shoes

(Addition)    Ekek — Door                                               Ikekia — Doors

(Alteration) Apese — Girl                                               Apesur — Girls

In case of masculine nouns, the noun prefix changes as shown below.

Noun prefixes

                            Masculine                          Feminine                       Neuter

Singular:                   e                                  a                                 i

Plural:                         i                                   a                                 i

Noun end changes are so irregular so much so that formulating rules for formulation of plurals is difficult and impossible. Where there are irregular endings of plurals of nouns, brackets will be used to highlight them.

Nouns

Certain nouns derived from verbs form their plurals according to rules.

  • Nouns denoting an agent (a person who does the action of the verb) for a singular ending of -an or -on and plural endings of -ak and -ok.

For example.

Ekamejan — Hunter                                              Ikamejak —- Hunters

Ekecokon — Herdsman                           Ikacokok — Herdsmen

  • Nouns denoting something which does or is done, form a singular ending of -et or etait and plural endings of -eta.

For example:

Elacet — A key                                           Ilaceta — Keys

Arapetait —A cover                                              Arapeta — Covers

Some nouns only exist in one plural form covering both singular and plural, they are used without a singular.

For example

Akipi —- Water                               Ajon —- Beer

Ajo — Sleep                                     Ileic —- Shame

Other nouns only exist in singular form covering both singular and plural, they are used without plural.

For example

Ekuron — Ashes                       Akolong — Sun

Adam — Brain                                Aduan — Weeds