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THUƆŊJÄŊ (THUONGJANG)

1. Introduction:
Dinka (natively, Thuongjang "Thuɔŋjäŋ" or Thonge-Jieeng "Thoŋë-Jiëëŋ") is a western Nilotic language which is spoken by Dinka people South Sudan (Muongjieeng "Muɔnyjiëëŋ" or Jieeng "Jiëëŋ" in plural and Muonyjang "Muonyjäŋ" in single), the major ethnic group of South Sudan. In addition, it is closely related to other western Nilotic languages such as: Nuer, Atuot, Acholi, Shiluk e.t.c.

2. Intelligibility:
Thuɔŋjäŋ (Thuongjang) can be much more intelligible if one learns to handle pitch, length and voice quality. "Pitch" is a height on a musical scale, "Length" is a duration in time, and "Voice quality" refers to the breathiness and the creakiness of vowels.

3. Tone:
In most Dinka dialects, the surface units of vowel length are: single (short) or double (long) e.g., Tim (tree) or Tiim (trees) respectively. The surface units of pitch are three tones; high, low, and drop (falling) e.g., Yíth (to climb), Yìth (facts), and Yîth (a well) respectively. The surface units of voice qualities are: creaky(a, e, i, o, u, ε, ɔ) and breathy (ä, ë, ï, ö, u, ɛ̈, ɔ̈) which have two dots above the letter (diaeresis/umlauts) except "u" which is a breathy sound but it's not a diacritic.

NB: Learning to pronounce these units is relatively simple. What is not simple in Thuongjang (Dinka) is remembering when to use which tone.

4. The verb segment:
The verb segmentally consists of a single consonant (C) followed by a vowel which is either single (v) or double (vv) or a diphthong which is a combination of a glide (w) or (j) with a single vowel (v) or double vowel (vv) and ends with coda (C) e.g., Riang (playground) where (R) is the consonant, (ia) is a single diphthong and (ng) is the coda.

5. Codas:
Dinka uses voiceless consonants as codas in morphemes such as: [p, th, t, c, and k] instead of [b, dh, d, j, and g] respectively and the vowels [u and i] instead of the semi vowels / glides [w and y] respectively and other consonants such as: [m, nh, n, ng, ny, r, and l] according to Dinka orthography.

NB: "Coda" refers to the final part of the syllable, placed after the central part of a syllable (known as the nucleus)

Tr. Makot Mabor Malek
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Dinka has four commonly major clusters i.e. Padang, Agaar, Rek and Bor respectively.

1. Padang (Northern dialects) is the first cluster spoken in north-east of Sudd, along the White Nile and the Sobat, north of Bahr-El-Ghazal River, and around Abyei. The dialects in this cluster include: Abiliang, Ageer, Nyieel, Dongjol, Ngok of Sobat and Kordufan, Thoi, Rut, Luach, and Pan-Aru.

2. The second cluster is Agaar (Central dialects) spoken in west of the Nile, and the Sudd. Its dialects are: Agaar, Gok, Aliap, Apaak, And Ciec (AGAAC).

3. The third cluster is Rek (South-western dialects) which is spoken in north and northwest of Wau town in western Bahr-El-Ghazal region. The dialects in this cluster are: Rek, Luach, Twic and Malual.

4. The fourth cluster is Bor (South-eastern dialects). It is spoken in east of the Nile, around Bor and North of Bor Town. The dialects in this cluster are: Bor, Twic, Nyarweng and Hol.

Days of the week = Nïn ke läät
Numbers = Cin/nambaa

Learn Dinka with teacher makot (Rɔmkupöc Media)
__________________________________________
= teacher
= gatekeeper
= farmer
= cattle keeper
= pastor
= doctor
-ë wëu = cashier
= driver
-ë nhiëm = barber
-ë riöp = nail technician
= hairdresser
= conductor
(dëlöŋ alɛ̈th) = laundress
(dëköny alɛ̈th) = tailor
- parent
- student

NB: In other Dinka dialect, the prefix "dë" changes to "du" e.g., dëpööc = dupiööc, and most Agaar words with letter "ö" changes to "iö" in other Dinka dialects. Also the diphthong "iö" changes to "iɔ̈"