{{Short description|Bantu language of Uganda}} {{Infobox language |name=Ruuli |nativename=''Luduuli'' |states=[[Uganda]] |ethnicity=[[Baruuli]] |speakers=160,000 |date = 2002 census |ref=e18 |familycolor=Niger-Congo |fam2=[[Atlantic–Congo languages|Atlantic–Congo]] |fam3=[[Volta-Congo]] |fam4=[[Benue–Congo languages|Benue–Congo]] |fam5=[[Bantoid languages|Bantoid]] |fam6=[[Southern Bantoid]] |fam7=[[Bantu languages|Bantu]] |fam8=[[Northeast Bantu]] |fam9=[[Great Lakes Bantu]] |fam10=[[West Nyanza languages|West Nyanza]] |fam11=[[Rutara languages|Rutara]] |fam12=[[Rutara languages|North Rutara]]
|dia1=Nyara |iso3=ruc |glotto=ruul1235 |glottorefname=Ruuli |guthrie=JE.103 }}
'''Ruuli''' (also spelled as Ruruuli-Lunyala, Ruli, Luruuri-Lunyara, Ruruli-Lunyara, Ruruli-Runyala, and Luduuli) is the [[Bantu language]] spoken by the [[Baruuli]] and [[Banyala]] people of [[Uganda]] primarily in Nakasongola and Kayunga districts. It is closely related to the [[Nyoro language]].
Ruruuli and Lunyala are two major varieties of the language that have approximately ninety percent [[mutual intelligibility]]. The Baruuli and Banyala people are considered to be two separate [[ethnic groups]] although both communities have very similar cultural practices, for example with names and the nomenclature systems.<ref name="Namyalo">{{Cite book | vauthors = Namyalo S, Witzlack-Makarevich A, Kiriggwajjo A, Atuhairwe A, Molochieva Z, Mukama RG, Zellers M | title =A dictionary and grammatical sketch of Ruruuli-Lunyala | place = Berlin | publisher = Language Science Press | date = 2021 | format = pdf | url = https://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/326 | doi = 10.5281/zenodo.5548947 | doi-access=free | isbn = 978-3-96110-329-4 }}</ref>
== Phonology == Ruuli is a [[Tone (linguistics)|tonal language]]: high and low tones distinguish lexical and grammatical meaning.<ref name="Namyalo" />
=== Consonants === There are 21 [[Consonant|consonants]] in the Ruuli.<ref name="Namyalo" /> {| class="wikitable" |+Consonant Phonemes ! ![[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]] ![[Labiodental consonant|Labio-dental]] ![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]] ![[Palatal consonant|Palatal]] ![[Velar consonant|Velar]] |- |[[Plosive]] |[[Voiceless bilabial plosive|/p/]] [[Voiced bilabial plosive|/b/]] | |[[Voiceless dental and alveolar plosives|/t/]] [[Voiced alveolar plosive|/d/]] |[[Voiceless palatal plosive|/c/]] [[Voiced palatal plosive|/ɟ/]] |[[Voiceless velar plosive|/k/]] [[Voiced velar plosive|/g/]] |- |[[Fricative]] |[[Voiced bilabial fricative|/β/]] |[[Voiceless labiodental fricative|/f/]] [[Voiced labiodental fricative|/v/]] |[[Voiceless alveolar fricative|/s/]] [[Voiced alveolar fricative|/z/]] | | |- |[[Trill consonant|Trill]] | | |[[Voiced alveolar trill|/r/]] | | |- |[[Lateral consonant|Lateral]] | | |[[Voiced dental, alveolar and postalveolar lateral approximants|/l/]] | | |- |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]] |[[Voiced bilabial nasal|/m/]] | |[[Voiced dental, alveolar and postalveolar nasals|/n/]] |[[Voiced palatal nasal|/ɲ/]] |[[Voiced velar nasal|/ŋ/]] |- |[[Approximant]] |[[Voiced bilabial approximant|/w/]] | | |[[Voiced palatal approximant|/j/]] | |}
=== Vowels === Ruuli uses five phonemic [[Vowel|vowels]] and all five have a [[Vowel length|short and long form]]. The vowels in the Ruuli phonemic inventory are [[Close front unrounded vowel|/i/]], [[Close back rounded vowel|/u/]], [[Close-mid front unrounded vowel|/e/]], [[Close-mid back rounded vowel|/o/]], and [[Open front unrounded vowel|/a/]].<ref name="Namyalo" />
== Morphology ==
=== Nouns === Nouns in Bantu languages usually consist of a nominal [[prefix]] and a [[Word stem|stem]]. The prefixes that are attached can be specific to the [[Noun class|noun classes]] that a noun form is attached to, but not all nouns have prefixes that signal noun class. Noun class is ultimately decided by the prefixes on the [[Verb|verbs]] and [[Adjective|adjectives]] in the clause. Typically Bantu nouns are paired in two class, singular and plural, which can also be referred to as gender, although this may not be the case for all nouns.<ref name="Namyalo" />
=== Adjectives === In Bantu languages adjectives use adjectival prefixes to ensure that adjectives and nouns agree within a clause. Adjectives in Bantu languages are not usually "pure" adjectives and many are derived from verbs. There are a few underived adjectives but a majority of the adjectives in Ruuli are derived.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://doreco.huma-num.fr/languages/ruul1235 Ruuli DoReCo corpus] compiled by Alena Witzlack-Makarevich, Saudah Namyalo, Anatol Kiriggwajjo and Zarina Molochieva. Audio recordings of narrative texts with transcriptions time-aligned at the phone level, translations, and time-aligned morphological annotations.
{{Languages of Uganda}} {{Narrow Bantu languages (Zones E–H)}} {{Narrow Bantu languages (Zones J–M)}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:Languages of Uganda]] [[Category:Nyoro-Ganda languages]]