Vowels

Consonants

Sounds in parentheses are attested, but rare.^[3]

Possessive prefixes

In the Bantu languages around the Lake Victoria region in Uganda, nouns are reflected mainly by changing prefixes: human beings are indicated by the prefix Ba- (plural), and Mu- (singular), and the name of the country Bu-.

• mu- person (singular), e.g. musoga 'native of Busoga land'
• bu- land, e.g. Busoga 'land of the Soga'
• lu- language, e.g. Lusoga 'language of the Soga'
• ba- people, e.g. Basoga 'the Soga people'
• ki- customs or traditions, e.g. kisoga describes religious tradition or culture common to the Soga people.

Self-standing pronouns

• Nze – 'me'
• Iwe/Imwe – 'you'

Always attached to a verb

• N – 'I'
• O – 'you' (singular)
• A – 'he/she'
• Tu – 'we/us'
• Mu – 'you' (plural)
• Ba – 'they'

Demonstratives

• Wano – 'here'
• Kino – 'this (thing)'
• Ono – 'this (person)'
• Oyo – 'that (person)'
• Bino – 'these (things)'
• Biri – 'those (things)'

Interrogatives

• Ani – 'who'
• Ki – 'what'
• Lwaki – 'why'
• Tya – 'how'

Greetings

Greeting in Soga is accomplished just as it is in western countries. However, it assumes a more personal nature and just as in the West, its form depends on the time of the day and the elapsed time since the last contact with the greeter.

The following dialogue illustrates the basic form to greet a peer or an elder in a respectful manner:

Person A:

Wasuzotya (osiibyotya) ssebo (nnyabo)? – 'How did you sleep/(How was your day), sir (madam)?'

Person B:

Bulungi, wasuzotya (osiibyotya) ssebo (nnyabo)? – 'Well, how did you sleep (how was your day), sir (madam)?'

Person A:

Bulungi ssebo (nnyabo) – 'Well, sir (madam)'

The personal nature of the greetings ensues when the individual being greeted chooses to answer the question instead of merely responding with good or fine. It is somewhat like being asked, "how do you do?" and responding, "how do you do?" However, in Soga, the individual being greeted is free to actually delve into the fine details.

Additionally, simply drop sir/madam to achieve the same effect as in English. The above dialog only addresses greeting one person because some words change into multiple others e.g. wasuzotya is the combination of a singular prefix (wa – 'you'), word (sula – 'sleep'), and singular postfix (otya – 'how did') spoken as one with a plural form that subsequently becomes mwasuze mutya, which is composed of two distinct words emerging from two different plural prefixes, a word, and the plural form of the postfix. It is sometimes impossible to not separate the plural form.

Introductions

• Ninze Kateme – 'I am Kateme'

Some common verbs

When conjugating the verb, remove oku and replace it with the required pronoun i.e. n, o, a, tu, mu, ba.

• Example:
  • okukola – 'to work/to do'
    • nkola – 'I work/do'
    • okola – 'you work/do'
    • akola – 'he/she works/does'
    • tukola – 'we work/do'
    • mukola – 'you work/do' (plural)
    • bakola – 'they work/do'
• okukola – 'to work/to do'
• okusoma – 'to read/to study'
• okunhwa – 'to drink'
• okulya – 'to eat' (the above example does not work with all forms of all words, as some verbs are irregular e.g. the singular form here is Ndya)
• okutambula – 'to walk'
• okuvuga – 'to drive/to ride'
• okusobola – 'to be able to'
• okutwala – 'to carry/to take'
• okuseka – 'to laugh'

Numbers

After 1 to 10 and 20, 30, 40, the other numbers build off the same pattern.

Telling the time

Hours of darkness in Soga correspond to p.m. to include early morning hours. Essentially, the number representing the current hour simply subtracts six from the number in English. A Musoga waking up at what English speakers would call 10:15 a.m. would instead say essawa erii ikumi na ibiri munkyo ('the time is 4:15 in the morning'). Time is said using the word essaawa, e.g., essaawa ndala – 7 o'clock.

Food

• emmere – 'food'
• sukaali – 'sugar'
• kaawa – 'coffee'
• amata – 'milk'
• enkoko – 'chicken'
• kajiiko – 'teaspoon'
• sowaani – 'plate'
• sefuliya – 'saucepan'
• kyikopo – 'cup'

General phrases and vocabulary

• ssente imeka – 'how much' (price)
• ekisenge – '(bed)room'
• meza – 'table'
• enhumba – 'house'
• eifumbiro – 'kitchen'
• olwiigi – 'door'
• entebe – 'chair'
• linda! – 'wait!'
• olugendo – 'journey, trip'
• fuluma – 'get out'
• idho – 'tomorrow'
• idho – 'yesterday'
• mpola – 'slow'
• mangu – 'quick'
• mwami – 'mister'
• mukyala – 'miss'
• mukwano gwange! – 'my friend!'
• banange!/mikwano jange! – 'my friends!' (commonly used as an exclamation)
• wansi/ghansi – 'under'
• songa – 'paternal aunt'
• omuntu – 'person'
• omusaadha – 'man'
• omukazi – 'woman'
• omwaana – 'child'
• omuzungu – 'white man/person'
• mukoirime – 'in-law'
• eitaala – 'lamp'
• omwezi – 'moon, month'