Ateso
/əˈteɪsoʊ/noun
A language of the Teso people spoken chiefly in eastern Uganda and western Kenya.
Did you know?Ateso belongs to the Eastern Nilotic language family, linking it linguistically with neighboring languages such as Turkana and Karamojong, though its deeper origins remain under scholarly reconstruction.
Etymological Timeline
Precolonial period
Eastern Nilotic
*Teso / *Iteso
“An ancestral ethnolinguistic designation associated with the Teso people; the exact older form is reconstructed and not fully settled.”
19th Century
Iteso
Iteso
“The name used for the Teso people in their own linguistic and cultural context.”
19th–20th Century
Iteso
Ateso
“The language of the Iteso; the initial a- functions in the language’s naming pattern for the language.”
20th Century
English
Ateso
“English-language name for the language spoken mainly in Uganda and Kenya.”
Modern English
English
Ateso
“A recognized name for an Eastern Nilotic language, also written in some contexts as Teso.”
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