Documentation of Opuuo
Landing page image for the collection ’Documentation of Opuuo’. Click on image to access collection.
| Language | Opuuo |
| Depositor | Mellese Gelaneh Alemu |
| Affiliation | Addis Ababa University |
| Location | Ethiopia |
| Collection ID | 0161 |
| Grant ID | IGS0171 |
| Funding Body | ELDP |
| Collection Status | Collection online |
| Landing Page Handle | http://hdl.handle.net/2196/fd2fea93-6102-44b2-93a5-12eb0a66b6fc |
Summary of the collection
Opuuo (Shita) is a Koman language family and Nilo-Saharan phylum language. This language is spoken in the Gambela region of the Ethiopian border (the western part) and in the Ethio-South Sudan Border. It has 1,750 native speakers and only 999 live in the Gambela Region. Other speakers are spread throughout the country. Opuuo is a critically endangered language.
The main objective of this collection is to document and describe the grammar of Opuuo. The collection contains:
- a sociolinguistic assessment of the language in Ethiopia;
- audio, video and annotated texts;
- and description of grammar of the language.
Group represented
The Opuuo call themselves Opuuo and their language Táá Pòò (Mouth of Opuuo). They mainly settled in Wnanke and Merra areas of Gambella region, Itang Special Woreda, Ethiopia; and Majut, Kigille, and Pilakoj areas of South Sudan. This documentation is mainly related with Táá Pòò spoken at different villages of Wanke Kebele (Akula, Taigiba, Bonga, Bukocha and Lankue).
Language information
Opuuo (also Ansita, Ciita, Cita, Kina, Kwina, Langa, Opo, Opo-Shita, Opuo, Shiita, Shita) is a Koman language family and Nilo-Saharan phylum language. This language is spoken in western part of Ethiopian border in Gambela region and Ethiopia-South Sudan Border. It has 1,750 native speakers and only 999 leave in Gambella Region. Other speakers are distributed throughout the country. Opuuo is a critically endangered language.
According to Cornfield (1938) quoted by Bender (1976), Opuuo has three dialects. These are closely related Kigille and Kusgilo; and the more distant Buldiit. But Lemi (2010) quoting a mother tongue speaker of the language described that Opuuo has seven closely related and mutually intelligible dialects. These are Murdin and Bilogo verities spoken in Ethiopia and Pilakoye, dana, Pame, Kigile, and Bikol varieties spoken in the southern part of the newly formed southern Sudan.
Collection contents
This documentation includes audio, video and annotation; of monologues, dialogues, and conversations by both genders on different topics of the speech community.
Acknowledgement and citation
Users of any part of the collection should acknowledge Mellese Gelaneh Alemu as the principal investigator, the data collector and the researcher. Users should also acknowledge the Endangered Languages Documentation Programme (ELDP) as the funder of the project. Individual speakers whose words and/or images are used should be acknowledged by respective name(s). All information on contributors is available in the metadata.
To refer to any data from the collection, please cite as follows:
Alemu, Mellese Gelaneh. 2014. Documentation of Opuuo. Endangered Languages Archive. Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/2196/00-0000-0000-0002-EF14-1. Accessed on [insert date here].
