Ik language

Last updated
Ik
Icé-tód
Region Uganda
Ethnicity Ik people
Native speakers
14,000 (2014) [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 ikx
Glottolog ikkk1242
ELP Ik

Ik (also known as Icetot, Icietot, Ngulak or (derogatory[ further explanation needed ]) Teuso, Teuth) is one of the Kuliak languages of northeastern Uganda. The Kuliak languages form their own branch of the proposed Nilo-Saharan language family. With the other two Kuliak languages being moribund, Ik may soon be the sole remaining language of its family.

Contents

A comprehensive dictionary and grammar of Ik has been published in Schrock (2017). [2]

Names

The Ik refer to their own language as Icé-tód [ītʃé-tôd̥̚]. [3]

According to Schrock (2015), as a spurious language, Dorobo does not actually exist as a fourth Kuliak language, and may at most be a dialect of Ik. [4]

Distribution

Ik speakers have traditionally resided in Kamion Subcounty, Kaabong District, Uganda, with the Kamion Subcounty consisting of the five parishes Kapalu, Timu, Kamion, Lokwakaramoe, and Morungole. [5] Their traditional homeland is a 50 kilometer-long narrow strip of territory along the Kenya-Uganda border, stretching from Mount Morungole and Kidepo National Park in the north to Mount Lopokok and Timu Forest in the south. Some Ik-speaking villages in Kaabong District are Pirre, Morungole, and Oropoi. [6]

Within the past few decades, Ik-speaking communities have also sprouted up in the following locations. [6]

Sociolinguistics

Today, Ik is a highly vital language, although many speakers are also fluent in the local Teso–Turkana languages (such as the Dodoth dialect of Karimojong), Swahili, and to a lesser extent, English. [3]

The Ik language is still stable, as young children still learn the language and remain monolingual until they go to school, and Ik is spoken in all domains of life. Although the community subtly pressures its children to learn more widely spoken languages like Turkana, they see this multilingualism as good without being detrimental to the vitality of their own language. The community sees the language as vital to maintaining their ethnic identity and wants their children to learn Ik in school. [7]

Phonology

The Ik phonemic inventory, as documented by Schrock (2014), is given below.

Consonants include ejectives and implosives.

Consonants
Bilabial Labiodental Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar
Stop voiceless p t k
voiced b d ɡ
implosive ɓ ɗ ʄ ʝ ~ ɠ ƙ
Affricate voiceless t͡s ts t͡ʃ c
ejective t͡sʼ ts'
voiced d͡z dz d͡ʒ j
Fricative voiceless f s ʃ x
voiced z ʒ
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Approximant l j y w
Flap ɾ

Ik displays ATR vowel harmony.

Vowels
Front Central Back
+ATR -ATR +ATR -ATR +ATR -ATR
Close i ɪ ɨ u ʊ ʉ
Mid e ɛ ə o ɔ
Open a

Three additional phonemes, /tlʼ,ɬ,ɮ/, were originally in the language but were lost in the early 21st century. [7]

Lexicon

Some Ik names for native plants and animals (which are also found in Kidepo National Park) are: [8]

Flora

Ik nameEnglish nameScientific name
asʊnánAfrican pencil cedar Juniperus procera
átsʼᵃSycamore fig Ficus sycomorus
ɓʊkʊ́láGerrard’s acacia Vachellia gerrardii
ɡáʒadᵃRed-pod terminalia Terminalia brownii
ɪtɪt́ ɪ ́Flame tree Erythrina abyssinica
mʊsCandelabra Euphorbia candelabrum
tsʊmˊDesert date Balanites aegyptiaca
tsʊ́ʊ́rWhite-thorn acacia Acacia hockii

Ik crops include: [9]

Fauna

Ik nameEnglish nameScientific name
borokᵃBushpig Potamochoerus porcus
ɡasoˊWarthog Phacochoerus aethiopicus
kɔtɔ́rOribi Ourebia ourebi
kʊláɓᵃBushbuck Tragelaphus scriptus
ŋamurˊCommon duiker Sylvicapra grimmia
ŋʊrˊCane rat Thryonomys swinderianus
ɲólGünther’s dik-dik Madoqua guentheri
róɡᵃMountain reedbuck Redunca fulvorufula
tɔrɔmɪɲCrested porcupine Hystrix cristata
tsɔ́rBaboon Papio cynocephalus
aláláAugur buzzard Buteo augur
fúluƙurúWhite-crested turaco Tauraco leucolophus
itsókᵃAmethyst sunbird Chalcomitra amethystina
ƙáraƙárGreen wood-hoopoe Phoeniculus purpureus
kíryooróCrested helmet shrike Prionops plumatus
kʊ́rakᵃFan-tailed raven Corvus rhipidurus
múɗuɗúSenegal coucal Centropus senegalensis
tsitsᵃGabar goshawk Micronisus gabar

Society

Like the neighboring Nilotic peoples, the Ik people have age-groups (cohorts), each with its own assigned totem. Nowadays, the traditional Ik age-group system is mostly obsolete (Heine 1999). [5]

Traditional Ik society also has terms for specific prohibitions and taboos, such as: [3]

See also

Notes

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References

Further reading