Lusoga

Lusoga is a Bantu language spoken by the Basoga people in Uganda, principally in the Busoga sub-region of eastern Uganda around Lake Kyoga. It is one of the major languages of Uganda and is used in daily communication, local media, and cultural ceremonies. The language is part of the Niger-Congo language family, within the Bantu branch, and it shares the characteristic Bantu noun class system, in which prefixes mark grammatical class on nouns, pronouns, and modifying words.

Lusoga is written in the Latin alphabet. A standard orthography has been developed for education and literacy programs, employing digraphs and conventions common to Ugandan Bantu languages; tone is phonemic in speech but is not always marked in everyday writing. It is a tonal language, where pitch can distinguish some lexical or grammatical meanings.

There are regional dialects across the Busoga region, but speakers generally understand one another. In modern Uganda, Lusoga coexists with English and Swahili in formal contexts, and it is supported by local media, literature, and cultural institutions. The language reflects the cultural heritage of the Basoga, including proverbs, oral history, and traditional music, and continues to be transmitted through families and schools.