The spelling of empaako and its justification

By Professor Oswald K. Ndoleriire Ateenyi

The Empaako, predominantly used by the Banyoro and Batooro of Western Uganda and by a few other neighboring ethnic groups in the Great Lakes region, are 12 in number and they are the following:

Abbooki, Abwoli, Acaali, Adyeri, Akiiki, Amooti, Apuuli, Araali, Ateenyi, Atwoki, Bbala (or Abbala), and Okaali.

The orthography or spelling of the above empaako is justified as follows:

Empaako Monument In Fort Portal Town

Abbooki - It is written with double b because this is a hard b, called a plosive in phonetics, as opposed to the soft b, called a fricative b in words such as abantu. It is also written with double o because the pronunciation of this o is prolonged as opposed to the o in words like kuboha (to tie).

Abwoli - Many people write it as Abwooli, but that is wrong because the prolonged o after bw is always predictable and there is therefore no need to write it with double o.

  

Acaali - It is written with a double a because o is produced in a prolonged manner. Each time a consonant is followed by w or y the vowel that follows is pronounced in a prolonged manner. There is therefore no need to write it as a double vowel because the native speaker of Runyoro-Rutooro will always produce it as a long vowel.

Acaali - It is written with double a because this a is produced in a prolonged manner.

Adyeri - Some people write it as Adyeeri, with double e. This is a mistake because the vowel e appearing after a y compound, that is b+y, is automatically prolonged in its pronunciation. So there is no need to write a double e.

Akiiki - It is written with double i because this is a long i, i.e. pronounced in a prolonged way.

Amooti  - It is written with a double o because the pronunciation of o is prolonged just as the i in 

Akiiki. This o is produced in a prolonged manner.

Apuuli -This is written with double u because the production of u is prolonged.

Araali - It is also written with double a because this is a long a, produced in a prolonged manner.

The 12 Empaako names

Ateenyi - Just like in the previous four mpaako, Ateenyi  is written with double e because it is a long e.

Atwoki - Although the o in Atwoki is a long o it is however written as a single o because the lengthening of this vowel is due to the presence of bw preceding it. Since this lengthening is predictable, it does not need to be written with two vowels.

Bbalaor  Abbala. It is written with double b because this is the strong b or plosive in phonetics. Compare Abbala (empaako) with Abara (he counts).

Okaali - It is written with double a because the production of a is prolonged.

Conclusion

Empaako naming in Kyenjojo district

Eight out of the twelve mpaako are written with a double vowel because this vowel is pronounced long. For Abwoli, Atwoki and Adyeri, their middle or intervocalic vowel is pronounced long but written as one vowel because the lengthening of that vowel is predictable, caused by the preceding w or y compound. Bbala or Abbala is the only mpaako without the lengthening of the middle vowel but it has its b written double because it is produced as a strong sound.

Makerere University

6^th February 2019

Adopted by scholars of Runyoro – Rutooro language and representatives, custodians and bearers of Empaako heritage, assembled in the ongoing workshops on comprehensive documentation of Empaako ceremonies and practices, published as such by Engabu Za Tooro and UNESCO

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