Learn Kumam

Kumam (also known as Akokolemu, Akum, Ikokolemu, Ikumama, Kuman, or Kumum) is a Southern Lwoo (Nilotic) language spoken primarily by the Kumam people in eastern Uganda, particularly in districts like Kaberamaido, Soroti, Dokolo, and parts of Teso. It belongs to the Nilo-Saharan language family and has approximately 170,000 to 500,000 native speakers. The language shares about 82% lexical similarity with Acholi and 81% with Lango, making it mutually intelligible to some extent with related Luo dialects like those of the Lango and Iteso peoples. Kumam is stable and used as a first language in homes and communities, with some institutional support like radio programs and literacy initiatives, but it lacks widespread formal education resources.

Kumam evolved from a mix of Ateker (e.g., Teso) and Luo influences, with historians tracing the Kumam people’s origins to northeastern migrations around A.D. 1600. It’s written in the Latin alphabet and features a vowel harmony system, ten vowels (with no length distinction except in morphology), and six tones (low, high, falling, rising, downstep high, and double downstep high). Sounds like f, h, q, w, x, and z do not occur