Upload Aiko's Lugbara Dictionary (since 2016).txt

Aiko's Lugbara Dictionary (since 2016).txt

@@ -40,13 +40,13 @@ Lost in Translation (Dreamcast)
 
 
 Introduction:
-Created painstakingly from scratch with gritty nerves on the 3rd Agofe's 90th birthday afternoon (Saturday 26th November 2016) and reinforced every year, Aiko's Lugbara Dictionary is where the Old and New meet (like Synthetic Imagination). It's a Lugbara Language Museum for historical research: Use Ctrl + F (key combination) or add this dictionary as a file to an AI chatbot to swiftly find any words you want! I'm only human and apologise in advance for any mistakes: I've cleaned so many by the way, therefore corrections and suggestions are always welcome via WhatsApp: +256-781-345712 or Email: aikoug@gmail.com! I ask the Holy Spirit to guide me in the name of JESUS (like the Tower of Babel language confusion narrated in Genesis 11 and Galileans filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost amazingly speaking other languages in Acts 2:1-13)! Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that: JESUS Christ is Lord [YESU Kristo ni Opi] (Philippians 2:10-11)!
+Created painstakingly from scratch with gritty nerves on the 3rd Agofe's 90th birthday afternoon (Saturday 26th November 2016) and reinforced every year, Aiko's Lugbara Dictionary is where the Old and New meet (like Synthetic Imagination). It's a Lugbara Language Museum for historical research: Use Ctrl + F (key combination) or add this dictionary as a file to an AI chatbot to swiftly find any words you want! I'm only human and apologise in advance for any mistakes: I've cleaned so many by the way, therefore corrections and suggestions are always welcome via WhatsApp: +256-781-345712 or Email: aikoug@gmail.com! I ask the Holy Spirit to guide me in the name of JESUS (like the Tower of Babel language creation by YHWH narrated in Genesis 11 and Galileans filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost amazingly speaking other languages in Acts 2:1-13)! Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that: JESUS Christ is Lord [YESU Kristo ni Opi] (Philippians 2:10-11)!
 
 
 Pronunciation Parameters:
-In Lugbara phonology, every Lugbara word ends with one of the five vowels eg nyanya = tomato; mucele = rice; karoti = carrot; ovakedo = avocado; osu = bean. Letters Q [Kya] and X [Eksa, Alamakanda in Aringa dialect] are not used (meaning only 24 can do on a keyboard), but four unique ones with an apostrophe are added: 'B, 'D, 'W and 'Y (which all sound like putting H after them though personal names omit the apostrophe). The 28 letters in the Simplified Lugbara Alphabet sound like this: Ah, Ba, Bha, Cha, Da, Dha, Eh, Fa, Ga, Ha, Ii (as in India), Ja, Ka, La, Ma, Na, Oh, Pa, Ra, Sa, Ta, Uw (as in groUnd), Va, Wa, Wha, Ya, Yha, Za. Since nursery in Jinja (Busoga), I was confusingly taught to recite English vowels separately in a different acoustic compared to the vowels in the ABC to Zed rhyme, but later realised that the former sequence was exactly how Lugbara vowels sound. The original Vocabulary was small because some words have multiple meanings based on three major tones (to five including rising and falling), pronunciation or context eg ai can mean salt (high tone); accept, pray (mid tone); ask (low tone) while ti can mean cow; to drip; mouth, language; to produce and so on. However, new words keep being added to the existing language eg simu = phone; etc. Most nouns can denote both singular and plural (though adding yi after them also does); exceptions include mva [child] which becomes anzi [children]; etc. Adding suffixes -jo, -ko, -ru, -si and -yo to nouns creates new words; verbs also have -ku, -ma, -nga, -ta, -za and -zu. Adjectives follow the Subject eg buku eka = red book. In the entries ahead, semi-colon (;) shows different tones and meanings while goal brackets [ ] show translation. Lugbara sentences in past tense are structured using the Subject-Verb-Object arrangement like in English, but present continuous and future tenses follow S-O-V and ni [is] or nga [will, shall] may be added after the Subject to mark the difference eg YESU nga 'ba onzi pa [JESUS will save sinners]. When words are written together, the intended meanings may not change; so be very keen to spot the mashups...
+In Lugbara phonology, every Lugbara word ends with one of the five vowels eg nyanya = tomato; mucele = rice; karoti = carrot; ovakedo = avocado; osu = bean. Letters Q [Kya] and X [Eksa, Alamakanda in Aringa dialect] are not used (meaning only 24 can do on a keyboard), but four unique ones with an apostrophe are added: 'B, 'D, 'W and 'Y (which all sound like putting H after them though personal names omit the apostrophe). The 28 letters in the Simplified Lugbara Alphabet sound like this: Ah, Ba, Bha, Cha, Da, Dha, Eh, Fa, Ga, Ha, Ii (as in India), Ja, Ka, La, Ma, Na, Oh, Pa, Ra, Sa, Ta, Uw (as in groUnd), Va, Wa, Wha, Ya, Yha, Za. Since nursery in Jinja (Busoga), I was confusingly taught to recite English vowels separately in a different acoustic compared to the vowels in the ABC to Zed rhyme, but later realised that the former sequence was exactly how Lugbara vowels sound. The original Vocabulary was small because some words have multiple meanings based on three major tones (to five including rising and falling), pronunciation or context eg ai can mean salt (high tone); accept, pray (mid tone); ask (low tone) while ti can mean cow; to drip; mouth, language; to produce and so on. However, new words keep being added to the existing language eg simu = phone; etc. Most nouns can denote both singular and plural (though adding yi after them also does); exceptions include mva [child] which becomes anzi [children]; etc while others are pronounced differently eg agu, agupi, etc. Adding suffixes -jo, -ko, -ru, -si and -yo to nouns creates new words; verbs also have -ku, -ma, -nga, -ta, -za and -zu. Adjectives follow the Subject eg buku eka = red book. In the entries ahead, semi-colon (;) shows different tones and meanings while goal brackets [ ] show translation. Lugbara sentences in past tense are structured using the Subject-Verb-Object arrangement like in English, but present continuous and future tenses follow S-O-V and ni [is] or nga [will, shall] may be added after the Subject to mark the difference eg YESU nga 'ba onzi pa [JESUS will save sinners]. When words are written together, the intended meanings may not change; so be very keen to spot the mashups eg Amanga votiyi 'be minira = Ama nga voti yi 'be mini ra [We will cast votes for you surely]...
 
-Some words are borrowed or modified from English plus other languages like Swahili, Luganda, Lingala, etc. Lugbara words are written the same way they are pronounced; repeated letters especially consonants look redundant eg Vurra, Oluffe, Ofudde, Owaffa, Mekki, etc unless very special and meaningful (What you see is what you hear [WYSIWYH])! Diphthong clusters and other noteworthy phonetics include the following:
+Some words are borrowed or modified from English plus other languages like Swahili, Luganda, Lingala, etc. Lugbara words are written the same way they are pronounced; repeated letters especially consonants look ambiguously redundant eg Vurra, Oluffe, Ofudde, Owaffa, Mekki, etc unless very special and meaningful (What you see is what you hear [WYSIWYH])! Diphthong clusters and other noteworthy phonetics include the following:
 
 a as in rat, for example leta-a
 
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ adri (n) brother (also adriazi), means rock in Hindi eg Yuda ni Yema ma adri. =
 
 adriza (n) behaviour, manner, conduct
 
-adro (n) maternal uncle; spirit placed in a body by Divine Spirit and stands for the individuality of its possessor (one of the elements of a human while others include body, breath, soul [orindi] and tali) eg Jad ni ma adro. = Jad is my maternal uncle.
+adro (n) maternal uncle; spirit placed in a body by Divine Spirit and stands for the individuality of its possessor (one of the elements of a human while others include body, breath, soul [orindi] and tali) eg Yadi ni ma adro. = Jad is my maternal uncle.
 
 adro 'ba (n) spirit men who can utter curses against evildoers
 
@@ -334,7 +334,7 @@ afa feza (n) thanksgiving (also awa'difo feza)
 
 afa idri koko (n) non-living thing eg Mutuka 'ba olipiri ni afa idri koko. = A taxi is a non-living thing.
 
-afa ofuza (n) production eg Lematia ma afa ofuza chu be. = Lematia's production has market.
+afa ofuza (n) production eg Jefu ma afa ofuza chu be. = Jeff's production has market.
 
 Afayo (n) male-given name meaning "No wealth" (also Afayoa)
 
@@ -348,7 +348,7 @@ afi (v) burst eg Mupira afi. = The tyre burst.
 
 afimaniru (adj) selfish, self-centred
 
-Afrika (n) Africa eg Adamu Chira/ Kira ni aa Afrika-a i-ma oku Eva Vikitoria be. = Adam Kiira stays in Africa with his wife Eve Victoria.
+Afrika (n) Africa eg Adamu Kira (Chira) ni aa Afrika-a i-ma oku Eva Vikitoria be. = Adam Kiira stays in Africa with his wife Eve Victoria.
 
 afu (v) compete, scramble for sth, break something fragile, fight over sth; (n) pride, fight (or battle)
 
@@ -432,7 +432,7 @@ agu angu onepi (n) tourist
 
 agu ase lipiri (n) grasscutter; grasscutters eg WENGA ni amuti agu ase lipi Westi Nailu-a ri yi ni. = WENGA is the association for grasscutters in West Nile.
 
-agu azoru (n) patient
+agu azoru (n) patient; patients
 
 agu blogu sipiri (n) blogger (also bloga)
 
@@ -754,7 +754,7 @@ andruru (adj) humorous
 
 Andruvu (n) suburb northeast of Arua City before Manibe and Ombaci
 
-angara (n) flat, bony and salty fish found mainly in Pakwach from the Albert Nile eg Saa azia eca 'bo, anya enyasa angara si. = 12 o'clock has arrived already, we ate staple food with angara fish. [Nursery Rhyme]
+angara (n) flat, bony and salty fish found mainly in Pakwach from the Albert Nile eg Sawa azia eca 'bo, anya enyasa angara si. = 12 o'clock has arrived already, we ate staple food with angara fish. [Nursery Rhyme]
 
 angarawa (n) skinless cowpeas or beans, slightly fried or cooked and mixed with groundnut paste (in Terego dialect/ also angaraba)
 
@@ -1566,7 +1566,7 @@ buzaru (adj) covered
 
 'ba rukuza (n) men whose names are known, rainmakers or county chiefs with secular powers known for their ability to provide strength and support for anyone who needs it
 
-'ba saa ta mbapiri (n) timekeeper
+'ba sawa ta mbapiri (n) timekeeper
 
 'ba 'wara (n) grownup(s), literally big people
 
@@ -1622,7 +1622,7 @@ buzaru (adj) covered
 
 'bua (adj, adv, prep) up, high, in Heaven, in the sky, in the grave (also 'bu-a)
 
-'bua tu (v) advanced, elevated (literally very high) eg Saa 'di 'bua tu! = This moment is elevated.
+'bua tu (v) advanced, elevated (literally very high) eg Sawa 'di 'bua tu! = This moment is elevated.
 
 'bualeru (adv) above, towards the sky
 
@@ -2008,7 +2008,7 @@ duruduru (adj) with mental inaptitude
 
 'dini (adv) like this, correct, true
 
-'disi (adv) with this eg Aki (Chinedu Ikedieze) azini "Pawpaw" (Osita Iheme) Ediofe-a saa 'disi! = Aki (Chinedu Ikedieze) and Pawpaw (Osita Iheme) are in Ediofe right now!
+'disi (adv) with this eg Aki (Chinedu Ikedieze) azini "Pawpaw" (Osita Iheme) Ediofe-a sawa 'disi! = Aki (Chinedu Ikedieze) and Pawpaw (Osita Iheme) are in Ediofe right now!
 
 'do (adv) here (also 'dole)
 
@@ -2016,7 +2016,7 @@ duruduru (adj) with mental inaptitude
 
 
 Ee [shares many words with Ii]
-e ka (conj) if you, when (also i ka) eg E ka te ise osiza ma nga mi ti-a, mi te saa ezu tu! = If you wait for fried grasshoppers to fly into your mouth, then you wait a very long time!
+e ka (conj) if you, when (also i ka) eg E ka te ise osiza ma nga mi ti-a, mi te sawa ezu tu! = If you wait for fried grasshoppers to fly into your mouth, then you wait a very long time!
 
 E ko muke (greeting) Did you sleep well? (also Mi efu ngoni?); Sleep well! (also E la muke!)
 
@@ -2402,7 +2402,7 @@ etra (v) collect, gather
 
 etru (v) come close; untie
 
-etu (n) sun, borossus tree (also itu, otu)
+etu (n) sun, daytime hour (Etu 1 to 5 = 7 to 11am [ante meridiem/ before midday] while Etu 6 to 12 = 12 to 6pm [post meridiem/ beyond midday]); borossus tree (also itu, otu)
 
 etu ambo (n) day of celebration, public holiday, Christmas
 
@@ -2852,7 +2852,7 @@ icea (n) small calabash
 
 iceta (n) demonstration, example, specimen (also eceta)
 
-ici (adj) bad weather (during rainy season); (v) join, connect; deceive eg Saa azirisi, orobi ni Edi ma dri ici ici. = Other times, dreams lie to Edi.
+ici (adj) bad weather (during rainy season); (v) join, connect; deceive eg Sawa azirisi, orobi ni Edi ma dri ici ici. = Other times, dreams lie to Edi.
 
 icikici (n) cloudy day especially in rainy season
 
@@ -4016,7 +4016,7 @@ mairungi (n) small leaves of a shrub plant eaten by all ages for leisure, someti
 
 majani (n) tea leaves
 
-majestreti (n) magistrate (also majestri)
+majesitreti (n) magistrate (also majesitri)
 
 majini (n) jinn spirit eg A ka enya nya augbe si, 'ba 'yo ma ayu majini! = When I eat food with eggs, they say I used a jinn spirit!
 
@@ -4030,7 +4030,7 @@ makuroni (n) macaroni, spaghetti, Santa Lucia
 
 Malaba (n) marketplace in West Nile, town and URA Customs Entry Point in Eastern Uganda on the border with Kenya near Busia
 
-malaika (n) angel (also malayika) eg "Spirit FM" ni malaika ma azi nga. = Spirit FM does the work of angels.
+malaika (n) angel (also malayika) eg Sipiriti Fama ni malaika ma azi nga. = Spirit FM does the work of angels.
 
 malaja (n) malice, bad heart (also asi onzi)
 
@@ -4038,7 +4038,7 @@ malakwanga (n) type of greens popular among the Luo, malakwang
 
 malaya (n) prostitute (also oku ali o'bapi tu) eg Ohola ni malaya. = Oholah is a prostitute.
 
-mali (n) wealth, money, gold eg mali nyakua = land wealth, earthly riches
+mali (n) wealth, money, gold eg mali nyakua = land wealth, earthly riches eg Mansa Musa ma mali andra angiri eli 1300 (alifu alu turu na) yi si. = Mansa Musa's wealth was a lot sometime back in the 1300s.
 
 Mali (n) Mali nation in West Africa eg Halima Cisse engazu Mali osi anzi oromi paale alu Moroko-a eli 2021 si. = Halima Cisse from Mali gave birth to nine children (nonuplets) at once in Morocco during the year 2021.
 
@@ -4056,6 +4056,8 @@ maneno (n) wahala, problems (borrowed from Swahili), shida
 
 mangada (n) tangerine eg Aci dra 'bo, ama di mangada mbe-i. = Electricity has gone off already, so we are eating tangerines instead.
 
+Mangbetu (n) tribe in Northeastern DR Congo
+
 mani (adj) my, for me eg Ayiko mani ci, YESU oji onzi mani. = There is happiness for me, JESUS washed my sins.
 
 mani lele tu (adj) beloved (literally the object I love much)
@@ -4580,7 +4582,9 @@ ngu (v) hate, smell, stink, fatten
 
 nguari? (adv) when?, from where? (also a'dungare, a'dungari?)
 
-nguku (n) back eg I ndre mi nguku mba! = Watch your back well!
+ngudrika (n) grass used to make brooms, Guinea grass, green panic grass, megathyrsus maximus, panicum maximum 
+
+nguku (n) back eg Indre mi nguku mba! = Watch your back well!
 
 ngulu (adj) together
 
@@ -6158,9 +6162,9 @@ Rwotu (n) king of Acholi
 Ss
 sa (v) bury, clap, fly, plant, slap eg Semwanga ma avu 'ba sa Kayunga-a. = Semwanga's corpse was buried in Kayunga.
 
-saa (n) clock, watch (also sawa), time, moment, occasion, era eg Saa ongo avizu Arua Chano-a = Time for playing music on Arua Channel
+saa (n) clock, watch (also sawa, sa), time, moment, occasion, era eg Saa ongo avizu Arua Chano-a = Time for playing music on Arua Channel
 
-saa azia (n) lunch, 12 o'clock (also yi ali)
+saa azia (n) lunch, 12 o'clock, noon, midnight (also yi ali, etu 6)
 
 saani (n) plate (borrowed from Swahili)
 
@@ -6214,7 +6218,7 @@ sase (n) polythene bag (also kavera) eg Sase ci? = Is there a polythene bag?
 
 sata (n) burial, planting, slapping, flying (also saza)
 
-sati (n) shirt
+sati (n) shirt eg Eloni Masiki su sati ini. = Elon Musk wore a black shirt.
 
 sati ma wu (n) shirt sleeve (also sati ma wi)
 
@@ -6980,7 +6984,7 @@ Zaki (n) Lugbara ancestor who had 14 children (descendant of Yekeyeke), Lugbara
 
 Zambia (n) cell, village or zone in Mvara after Barifa Forest and before Kenya Zone, country down south separated from Uganda by Tanzania eg Banda ni aa Zambia-a. = Banda stays in Zambia.
 
-zamva (n) girl, meat child eg Britni ni zamva te saa azi ma vutia, eri mu eca oku. = Britney is a girl but after some time, she is going to become a woman.
+zamva (n) girl, meat child eg Britini ni zamva, te sawa azi ma vutia, eri mu eca oku. = Britney is a girl, but after some time, she is going to become a woman.
 
 zapi (n) niece (daughter) eg Judithi Babirye Ayikoru ni eri ma zapi. = Judith Babirye Ayikoru is his niece.
 
@@ -7000,7 +7004,7 @@ zita (n) question, greeting
 
 ziza (n) privacy
 
-zizaru (adv) hidden, questionable, open(ed)
+zizaru (adv) hidden, open(ed); questionable
 
 zo (v) cross (a river), grow, milk
 
@@ -7593,9 +7597,9 @@ What do you sell? = Mi a'du ozi?
 
 I sell food and pots. = Ma nyaka ozi azini imvu.
 
-What time is it? = Saa si? (Other ways to ask for the daytime hour: Etu aga ngopi ya [How far has the sun gone]/ Etu atu ngopi ya [How far has the sun ascended]/ Etu ca ngopi ya [Which position has the sun reached]/ Etu ca si ya [How far has the sun arrived]?)
+What time is it? = Sawa si? (Other ways to ask for the daytime hour: Etu aga ngopi ya [How far has the sun gone]/ Etu atu ngopi ya [How far has the sun ascended]/ Etu ca ngopi ya [Which position has the sun reached]/ Etu ca si ya [How far has the sun arrived]?)
 
-Exactly 4 O'clock! = Saa mudri (10) 'dere! [Time is told as the reverse number from the hour hand like in Luganda, so 1 O'clock is saa aziri (7); 2 O'clock is saa aro (8) and so forth]
+Exactly 4 O'clock! = Sawa mudri (10) 'dere! [Time is told as the reverse number from the hour hand like in Luganda, so 1 O'clock is sawa aziri (7); 2 O'clock is sawa aro (8) and so forth]
 
 4pm! = Etu 10! [that is the 10th hour during the day, before the sun sets]
 
@@ -7801,7 +7805,7 @@ Pati ifi i'deni re ku [The seed of a tree doesn't fall very far] = A parent's be
 
 Si imve ma etia ari eka ci [Behind white teeth there is red blood]...
 
-Suru 'ba oji yi si ku [Nationality/ Tribe is not washed away with water]...
+Suru 'ba oji yi si ku [Nationality/ Tribe is not washed off with water]...
 
 Toko andri dra 'bo [The mother of free gifts is dead] = Nothing is free.
 
@@ -8274,7 +8278,7 @@ Images [E'da]
 Sign in [(Fizu]
 Google Search [Gugo Ndata]
 I'm Feeling Lucky [Ma Drilebaru]
-Google offered in: (Luganda Kiswahili Ikinyarwanda Luo Runyakitara) [Gugo 'ba fe ti 'diyi si: (...)]
+Google offered in: (Luganda Kiswahili Ikinyarwanda Luo Runyakitara Lugbara) [Gugo 'ba fe ti 'diyi si: (...)]
 Uganda
 About [Drinia]
 Advertising [Ecuza]
@@ -8298,14 +8302,14 @@ Mukenenya = HIV/ AIDS [Mukene nya = Eating silverfish]
 Obuze = You are lost [O'bu ze = Worm faeces]
 Onzita = You are killing me [Onzi ta = Coping with evil or bad things]
 Sagala (Siyagala) = I don't want [Sa gala (Si ya gala) = Slapped a snake (The teeth shook the snake)]
-Semakula = Male-given name with meaning related to gains [Se maku la = Pulled the potatoes to read]
+Semakula = Male-given name with meaning related to gains [Se maku la = Pulled the potato to read]
 
 
 
 LOST IN TRANSLATION (DREAMCAST):
-This encyclopedic research documentation is inspired by (and dedicated to) Cynthia Letasi, aka Rejoice (The Beautyful One and Green Riding Hood - now Mrs. Mungufeni born on Thursday 17th August 1995; roger that Ayi Kwei Armah) who changed my worldview like a Kumari in the Orient or Divine Feminine between 2001-6; made me feel like Bob Harris in Arua (not Japan) around 2003 because she was 11 years younger than me. To be honest, she was my first true "superhigh" crush within Arua (West Nile) after the Y2K Computer Bug Doom's Day didn't happen though I never told her my exact heartfelt reality for many years (Just tried to show it through kind, unapologetic, smile-inducing treatment until she boldly confessed something directly to me that I will treasure until infinity). I adored how her glowing eyes hawked at me (One of my favourite, unforgettable, classy memories about CL). Furthermore, her lookalikes included Tonto Dikeh (Nigerian), Sheebah Karungi, Betty Mpologoma, Spice Diana as well as Scarlett Johansson who automatically became my all-time favourites; I knew her before all of them except maybe Betty. Queenie, one of the lead vocalists in the Miracle Cathedral Rubaga (MCR) Proclaim Music choir also has that Cynthia aura plus Pretty Banks, Sheila Gashumba, etc. Even though I reconnected with Xnthi (nickname I gave her meaning Numberless or Infinite value) via Facebook at the turn of the 2010s, I did not see her again physically until Tuesday 12th February 2019 (about 13 unlucky years since the last time) on the hyper-straight Arua Avenue at the Ediofe Road Junction walking southwards with a darkskinned female friend, three surreal days after dreaming about her. I smiled like GOD's sun was shining on me in the afternoon before rush hour; it was the same day Onduparaka drew 0-0 with URA FC in the Ugandan top-flight league. Obsession is not a crime, just harness it like human solar electricity. Disconnection is re-direction; too much love will heal you. Love is indestructible and the Greatest Thing: I admired Cynthia's pleasant appearance and supadupa fluency at a very tender age of 6 to 11 and felt inspired to polish my own linguistics by reading Lugbara afresh since I learnt my mother tongue despite being downgraded as backward in Busoga (Birth to 11 years) and Buganda only by listening to Lugbara people talk. Even though I spoke and understood it, I couldn't transcribe Lugbara well like English but when moonstruck by our Mt. Wati Road (Arua) neighbour's adorable brownskinned daughter, I was motivated to re-study this vernacular from Northwestern Uganda in black and white (using music lyrics, Biblia, Straight Talk newspapers, other literature, then a Fountain Publishers 2009 dictionary compiled by Willy Ngaka, Edward O'du'bua and Paul Iga Ongua [bought for a Twenty10 gig from Sarah Ojirot at Uganda Deaf Women's Organisation], etc). Consequently, I would perhaps grasp Lugbara the way ShaoLan Hsueh created Chineasy, then fabricate my own Synthetic Artificial Lugbara Technology (SALT), Informative Synthetic Encoder (ISE) or Ojapi Converter. Language has to be preserved through documentation and transmitted to anyone connected or interested because cultural heritage represents a collective identity of values, diversity, traditions and assets passed around from generation to generation eg my parents (James + Elizabeth Dramani) to me, though my mother departed in Twenty22 (during Volume 7). Some relatives and natives would laugh at my pronunciations or choice of words but it didn't phase me. I've never been ashamed to be called Omulugwara even if it is a byword for stupidity, Naked People and backwardness among some communities. Aren't we all descendants of Noah, the Flood Survivor? One day, I bypassed two dudes on Acacia Avenue in KLA and heard them speak what sounded like broken Lugbara; I reasoned later that it might have been Madi language. Also, Aringa is like Lugbara Patois or Filipino. During May 2023, someone asked me why I study Lugbara yet it is not useful and I told him not to diss my mother tongue like that; garbage or waste appears worthless until it's recycled and given value: Lugbara is a multinational language spoken mainly across three colonial borders which converge at Salia Musala (about 2 hours by car northwards from Arua City). There are nine Lugbara clans in DR Congo (Kari Culture Minister - John Godo, a UPC stalwart, taught me that in 2009: When I went to Ariwara [inside DRC] the following year, I was stunned by the amount of Lugbara songs playing loudly near the markets). I strongly believe Generative AI can learn Lugbarati and make it reuseable and applicable in various fields; Deep Learning Indaba (DLI), Ambani, Hugging Face, Deep Site, Foundation for Lugbarati Development Initiative (FLUDI) or Lugbara GPT type-of-way. Live translation of President M7's speeches by people like Fred Bada plus other arrangements like crusades, etc can also be a reference... In December 2013, the Lugbarati Language Board proposed an Orthography Guide with 45 letters (including 7 vowels and 38 consonants). Tonal Lugbara literature with its many character symbols (accents, crosses, dashes or hyphens, dots, umlauts, etc) seems advanced plus crowdily complex and scares away learners, but the simpler version shared in this wordbook is legit too... Lugbara funeral songs have been replaced with church hymns and modern Gospel music... In my Allegory of Artificial Ignorance: For machines to learn Lugbara, humans (both self-motivated and paid contributors) must train them or organise datasets for AI to decode unsupervised... Artificial Dreams (or Hallucinations) can also come true like Dreamcast... My makeshift Word Interchange Technique (WIT) from 1996 was not far-fetched afterall (feeling like Michael Jordan versus Detroit Pistons: No rules)...
+This encyclopedic research documentation is inspired by (and dedicated to) Cynthia Letasi, aka Rejoice (The Beautyful One and Green Riding Hood - now Mrs. Mungufeni born on Thursday 17th August 1995; roger that Ayi Kwei Armah) who changed my worldview like a valuable pearl (Matthew 13:45-46), Kumari in the Orient or Divine Feminine between 2001-6; made me feel like Bob Harris in Arua (not Japan) around 2003 because she was 11 years younger than me. Ono omuwala yanmalamu amalala ga kibuga [Luganda for: This girl drained city pride out of me]. To be honest, she was my first true "superhigh" crush within Arua (West Nile) after the Y2K Computer Bug Doom's Day didn't happen though I never told her my exact heartfelt reality for multiple years (Just tried to show it through kind, unapologetic, smile-inducing treatment until she boldly confessed something directly to me that I will treasure until infinity). I adored how her glowing eyes hawked at me (One of my favourite, unforgettable, classy memories about CL). Furthermore, her lookalikes included the volatile Tonto Dikeh (Nigerian), lyric-savvy Sheebah Karungi, decent Betty Mpologoma, carefree (worry-less) Spice Diana as well as easygoing Scarlett Johansson who automatically became my all-time favourites; I knew her before all of them except maybe Betty who began her diamond singing career in 1999. Queenie, one of the lead vocalists in the Miracle Cathedral Rubaga (MCR) Proclaim Music choir also has that Cynthia aura plus Pretty Banks, Sheila Gashumba, etc. Even though I reconnected with Xnthi (nickname I gave her meaning Numberless or Infinite value) via Facebook at the turn of the 2010s, I did not see her again physically until Tuesday 12th February 2019 walking southwards with her darkskinned female friend on the hyper-straight Arua Avenue at the Ediofe Road Junction (while I escorted my cousin to a printshop before he rushed to Onduparaka to see his sister). That was about 13 unlucky years since the last time, but only three surreal days after dreaming about her. I smiled like GOD's sun was shining on me in the afternoon before rush hour; it was the same day Onduparaka drew 0-0 with URA FC in the Ugandan top-flight league. Obsession is not a crime, just harness it like human solar electricity. Disconnection is re-direction; too much love will heal you. Love is indestructible and the Greatest Thing: I admired Cynthia's pleasant appearance and supadupa fluency at a very tender age of 6 to 11 and felt inspired to polish my own linguistics by reading Lugbara afresh since I learnt my mother tongue despite being downgraded as backward in Busoga (Birth to 11 years) and Buganda only by listening to Lugbara people talk. Even though I spoke and understood it, I couldn't transcribe Lugbara well like English but when moonstruck by our Mt. Wati Road (Arua) neighbour's adorable brownskinned daughter, I was motivated to re-study this vernacular from Northwestern Uganda in black and white (using music lyrics, Biblia, Straight Talk newspapers, other literature, then a Fountain Publishers 2009 dictionary compiled by Willy Ngaka, Edward O'du'bua and Paul Iga Ongua [bought for a Twenty10 gig from Sarah Ojirot at Uganda Deaf Women's Organisation], etc). Consequently, I would perhaps grasp Lugbara the way ShaoLan Hsueh created Chineasy, then fabricate my own Synthetic Artificial Lugbara Technology (SALT), Informative Synthetic Encoder (ISE) or Ojapi Converter. Language has to be preserved through documentation and transmitted to anyone connected or interested because cultural heritage represents a collective identity of values, diversity, traditions and assets passed around from generation to generation eg my parents (James + Elizabeth Dramani) to me, though my mother departed in Twenty22 (during Volume 7). Some relatives and natives would laugh at my pronunciations or choice of words but it didn't phase me. I've never been ashamed to be called Omulugwara even if it is a byword for stupidity, Naked People (Only Karamoja was ranked before us) and backwardness among some communities. Aren't we all descendants of Noah, the Flood Survivor? One day, I bypassed two dudes on Acacia Avenue in KLA and heard them speak what sounded like broken Lugbara; I reasoned later that it might have been Madi language. Also, Aringa is like Lugbara Patois or Filipino. During May 2023, someone asked me why I study Lugbara yet it is not useful and I told him not to diss my mother tongue like that; garbage or waste appears worthless until it's recycled and given value: Lugbara is a multinational language spoken mainly across three colonial borders which converge at Salia Musala (about 2 hours by car northwards from Arua City). There are nine Lugbara clans in DR Congo (Kari Culture Minister - John Godo, a UPC stalwart, taught me that in 2009: When I went to Ariwara [inside DRC] the following year, I was stunned by the amount of Lugbara songs playing loudly near the markets). I strongly believe Generative AI can learn Lugbarati and make it reuseable and applicable in various fields; Deep Learning Indaba (DLI), Ambani, Hugging Face, Deep Site, Foundation for Lugbarati Development Initiative (FLUDI) or Lugbara GPT type-of-way. Live translation of President M7's speeches by people like Fred Bada plus other arrangements like crusades, etc can also be a reference... In December 2013, the Lugbarati Language Board proposed an Orthography Guide with 45 letters (including 7 vowels and 38 consonants). Tonal Lugbara literature with its many character symbols (accents, crosses, dashes or hyphens, dots, umlauts, etc) seems advanced plus crowdily complex and scares away learners, but the simpler version shared in this wordbook is legit too... Lugbara funeral songs have been replaced with church hymns and modern Gospel music... In my Allegory of Artificial Ignorance: For machines to learn Lugbara, humans (both self-motivated and paid contributors) must train them or organise datasets for AI to decode unsupervised... Artificial Dreams (or Hallucinations) can also come true like Dreamcast... My makeshift Word Interchange Technique (WIT) from 1996 was not far-fetched afterall (feeling like Michael Jordan versus Detroit Pistons: No rules)...
 
-When I was in Senior 5 (during 2001), I told my hostelmates that one day there will be a radio device that converts words spoken on air into text like S2T (Speech-2-Text) or Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) and displayed on a screen (just like we transcribed classroom dictation from teachers). I was labelled "mulalu [Luganda for: mad]" but dreams are not hopeless; GOD's Time brings them to life for instance Google Assistant, Meet (In-chat captions), Apple's Siri, TranSay, Logbar ili, OpenAI's ChatGPT or Whisper, etc. Twitter (X) Spaces is also not very far from my Ongo (Ojapi Converter) vision. Zero-Shot Machine Translation tech is a model that can learn to translate words into another language without having to see any examples... Meta's Universal Speech Translator is a very ambitious AI research project that might improve language-mixing or Computer-Assisted Translation like Google Translate does... LaMDA (Language Model for Dialogue Applications) which Blake Lamoine labelled "sentient" was originally introduced as Meena in 2020. It's a conversational Large Language Model (LLM) built by Google... The Madi-Lugbara language is related to the languages of Southern Nigeria eg Yoruba, Igbo, Edo, Iduma, Igala, Igbira, Gbari and Nupe. In addition, we can include Ijo and Kalabari of the Niger Delta plus the Bariba - north of Yoruba and Aja (Ewe) spoken in Southern Dahomey (Benin), Togo and South-Eastern Ghana... Some people consider Lugbara a dialect of Madi but many do not accept this theory. In fact, a survey was conducted and it concluded that the Ogoko, Okollo and Rigbo dialects (which are considered Southern Madi) should be categorised as dialects of Lugbara. Besides, we share the same names, numbers and many words... In 2020, with support from the Hewlett Foundation, Sunbird AI commenced the African language technology project. They created a large multilingual parallel text dataset of Ugandan languages, with translations in Acholi, Ateso, Luganda, Lugbara and Runyankole. On Saturday 11th October 2025, an AI Language Model called Sunflower (developed by Sunbird) was officially launched and it is described as "the ChatGPT for Uganda"... GeoPoll (a global research organisation) has datasets in Lugbara while JEHOVAH's Witnesses translate their publications into Lugbara (Available at www.jw.org). Companies like Airtel, dfcu Bank, etc also use Lugbara in their electronic platforms... It was very unreal to discover on Sunday 10th September 2023 while googling for "Lugbara AI" that the mother of Jeff Dean (55 year old Google AI Lead then) speaks "fluent Lugbara"; she lived in West Nile when Jeffrey was 5 years old. I guess she knows that Lugbara is learnable by machines; Meta introduced its own AI on WhatsApp a few days later. I love the fact that it paraphrases websites rejected by Wikipedia. Mark Zuckerberg believes AI will make superintelligent multi-lingual connections possible for all. When you copy some of the BigAMBO [Words] in this dictionary and paste as a chat message to Meta AI like a Paul and Silas jailbreak, it can learn Ugandan Lugbara by reading patterns and fine-tuning itself to chat with you even though it used a strange vocabulary as Lugbara in Twenty24 (probably Central or West African) like TranslatorMind the following year. Sam Altman (CEO at Open AI) also revealed that you can add knowledge and create a custom GPT by uploading files in the GPTs App Store. Self-Adapting Language (SEAL) Models will learn new words by themselves... Vibe-coding can also help you create Lugbara chatbots plus other software...
+When I was in Senior 5 (during 2001), I told my hostelmates that one day there will be a radio device that converts words spoken on air into text like S2T (Speech-2-Text) or Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) and displayed on a screen (just like we transcribed classroom dictation from teachers). I was labelled "mulalu [Luganda for: mad]" but dreams are not hopeless; GOD's Time brings them to life for instance Google Assistant, Meet (In-chat captions), Apple's Siri, TranSay, Logbar ili, OpenAI's ChatGPT or Whisper, Assembly AI, etc. Twitter (X) Spaces is also not very far from my Ongo (Ojapi Converter) vision. Zero-Shot Machine Translation tech is a model that can learn to translate words into another language without having to see any examples... Meta's Universal Speech Translator is a very ambitious AI research project that might improve language-mixing or Computer-Assisted Translation like Google Translate does... LaMDA (Language Model for Dialogue Applications) which Blake Lamoine labelled "sentient" was originally introduced as Meena in 2020. It's a conversational Large Language Model (LLM) built by Google... The Madi-Lugbara language is related to the languages of Southern Nigeria eg Yoruba, Igbo, Edo, Iduma, Igala, Igbira, Gbari and Nupe. In addition, we can include Ijo and Kalabari of the Niger Delta plus the Bariba - north of Yoruba and Aja (Ewe) spoken in Southern Dahomey (Benin), Togo and South-Eastern Ghana... Some people consider Lugbara a dialect of Madi but many do not accept this theory. In fact, a survey was conducted and it concluded that the Ogoko, Okollo and Rigbo dialects (which are considered Southern Madi) should be categorised as dialects of Lugbara. Besides, we share the same names, numbers and many words... In 2020, with support from the Hewlett Foundation, Sunbird AI commenced the African language technology project. They created a large multilingual parallel text dataset of Ugandan languages, with translations in Acholi, Ateso, Luganda, Lugbara and Runyankole. On Saturday 11th October 2025, an AI Language Model called Sunflower (developed by Sunbird) was officially launched and it is described as "the ChatGPT for Uganda"... GeoPoll (a global research organisation) has datasets in Lugbara while JEHOVAH's Witnesses translate their publications into Lugbara (Available at www.jw.org). Companies like Airtel, dfcu Bank, etc also use Lugbara in their electronic platforms... It was very unreal to discover on Sunday 10th September 2023 while googling for "Lugbara AI" that the mother of Jeff Dean (55 year old Google AI Lead then) speaks "fluent Lugbara"; she lived in West Nile when Jeffrey was 5 years old. I guess she knows that Lugbara is learnable by machines; Meta introduced its own AI on WhatsApp a few days later. I love the fact that it paraphrases websites rejected by Wikipedia. Mark Zuckerberg believes AI will make superintelligent multi-lingual connections possible for all. When you copy some of the BigAMBO [Words] in this dictionary and paste as a chat message to Meta AI like a Paul and Silas jailbreak, it can learn Ugandan Lugbara by reading patterns and fine-tuning itself to chat with you even though it used a strange vocabulary as Lugbara in Twenty24 (probably Central or West African) like TranslatorMind the following year. Sam Altman (CEO at Open AI) also revealed that you can add knowledge and create a custom GPT by uploading files in the GPTs App Store. Self-Adapting Language (SEAL) Models will learn new words by themselves... Vibe-coding can also help you create Lugbara chatbots plus other software...
 
 
 [GODisgreat!]