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3.1.1 The relationship between Avokaya and Moru 3.1.1.1 Background
The six closest Moru dialects are found almost exclusively in Mundri District of Equatoria Province in Sudan. Avokaya is spoken to the west and south of the Moru
area, in several locations in the area between Mundri, Maridi, and Yei. The seventh so- called ‘Moru dialect’, Wadi, is spoken at Amaki, north of Maridi. Tucker 1967:9
reported that Wadi was “almost identical’ to one of the other Moru dialects Moro-ägi but that it also had “much in common with Avukaya.” The survey team, including two
people who had worked for several years in Avokaya, wanted to determine whether Wadi was more closely related to Avokaya than to Moru.
3.1.1.2 Lexical Similarity
All of the matrices used in this study are the output of WordSurv, the lexicostatistics program used to analyze the Moru-Madi word list data. The figures represent
percentage of similar vocabulary items for each pair of speech forms, out of a sample of approximately 160 lexical items. Actual data are found in Appendix 11. ‘Union’
Logo is included in addition to the seven Moru and two Avokaya dialects to give a slightly broader perspective.
Moru-Kädiro 100 Moru-Lakamadi
99
100 Moru-Miza
96 98
97
Moru-Ägyi
91 93
93 95
Moru-Ändri
92 93
93 96
99
Moru-Bäribä
83 85
84 86
85 86
Moru-Wadi
69 69
68 71
75 74
81
Avokaya-Ojila Sudan
66 67
66 68
71 71
70 78
Avo-Ajigu Zaïre
65 65
65 66
69 69
70 76
86
Logo
Some of the lists are 99 or even 100 similar for our sample of lexical items. Remember also that because these figures are necessarily based on only part of the
lexical inventory of the each dialect, the “true” lexical similarity of two speech forms may be several percentage points higher or lower than figures given above. Combining
highly similar lists and adding estimates of possible error, we get another matrix:
Moru-Kädiro and Lakamadi and Miza 99±1.4 97±2.5 Moru-Ägyi
93±4 96±3
Moru-Ändri and Bäribä 99±1.4 84±5.7 86±5.3 86±5.5 Moru-Wadi
69±6.4 71±6.2 74±5.8 81±5
Avokaya-Ojila Sudan 67±6.1 68±5.9 71±5.6 70±5.7 78±3.8 Avo-Ajigu Zaïre
65±6.2 66±6.1 69±5.8 70±5.7 76±4
86±2.7 Logo
14 The extent of Moru dialects is fairly well-defined on the lexical level. The Wadi
dialect is set apart from the other six dialects, but is apparently more similar to the other Moru dialects than to Avokaya. In several cases, the six other Moru forms are
similar and the Wadi form is similar to that of Avokaya and sometimes to even many other non-Moru data; other times, though, the Wadi form is unlike the data for any
other dialect. Tucker’s claim that Wadi is nearly identical to Ägyi is not borne out on the lexical level but see the analysis of phonetic similarity below.
The Ojila Sudanese dialect of Avokaya may have more shared vocabulary with the Wadi dialect of Moru than with any other non-Moru dialect; otherwise, the highest
lexical similarity percentage of a Moru dialect with a non-Moru dialect is about 75. Miza is the reference dialect already in use for Moru; the other Moru dialects are over
80 similar to it on the lexical level, while all other speech forms display less than 70 lexical similarity to Miza for our sample.
The WordSurv output for phonetic relationships is given below.
Moru-Kädiro 4 Moru-Lakamadi
6
5 Moru-Miza
15 15
14 Moru-Ägyi
18 19
19 20 Moru-Ändri
15 17
17 18
6 Moru-Bäribä
25 26
25 15
28 28 Moru-Wadi
31 31
32 27
23 25
30 Avokaya-Ojila Sudan
30 30
31 29
25 27
30 13 Avo-Ajigu Zaïre
27 28
29 27
29 30
28 20
19 Logo
Lower numbers mean a smaller degree of phonetic difference between forms judged similar: zero would mean all similar forms were in fact judged phonologically identical
there is no absolute upper limit on the highest possible degree of phonetic difference. Once again, we may combine the most similar lists:
Moru-Kädiro and Lakamadi and Miza 6 15 Moru-Ägyi
15-19 18-20 Moru-Ändri and Bäribä 6
26 15
28 Moru-Wadi
32 27 23-25
30 Avokaya-Ojila Sudan
30 29 25-27
30 13Avo-Ajigu
Zaïre
27-29 27
30 28
20 19Logo
One surprising outcome is the similarity of Wadi to Ägyi half the differences observed between Wadi and other dialects, or between Moru and non-Moru dialects.
15 Also, the ratio of degrees of phonetic difference between Ojila and Ajigu is only half
that for Ojila and Wadi. Although the status of Wadi Moru or non-Moru? is unclear on the basis of phonetic comparisons of word lists, it is clear that Wadi is set apart
from the Avokaya and Logo dialects.
3.1.1.3 Grammatical Similarity
For purposes of comparison, we shall compare the MIZA dialect of Moru the one used in written materials with the OJILA dialect of Avokaya the major dialect of
Sudan. There are many structural similarities between these speech forms, but significant differences as well. The detailed comparison is found in Appendix 10.
3.1.1.4 Intelligibility and Sociolinguistic dynamics
There is no doubt that many more Avokayas speak and understand Moru than vice versa. However, this does not indicate an imbalance in ‘inherent’ intelligibility; rather,
it is a result of the fact that Moru is the dominant language in that area. There are at least five times as many Morus as Avokayas in Sudan, and their territory adjoins.
Furthermore, Moru was established as a regional language at the Rejaf Language Conference of 1928. As a result, there was more missionary activity in Moru, and now
not only do many Avokayas attend Moru schools but Moru is also used in the churches.
It is safe to say that almost all Avokaya-speaking Sudanese understand Moru. The only known exceptions have lived all their lives in Juba, the regional capital over 150
km from the Avokaya area. Avokayas who use Moru in church say that they understand the preaching well but have difficulty reading written Moru due to
underdifferentiation in the orthography.
On the other hand, it would seem that Morus do not understand Avokaya unless they have made a special effort to learn it, and they see no need to do so because most
Avokaya have learnt Moru. It took one highly motivated Moru pastor working in an Avokaya parish about six months to reach a moderate proficiency in Avokaya. He was
able to communicate on everyday topics but was never fully comfortable preaching in Avokaya. This shows that the two languages are not really ‘mutually intelligible’ but
rather must be learnt to be understood.
It seems reasonable to conclude, until it can be proved otherwise, that speakers of Wadi understand Moru better than Avokaya, based on the facts that Wadi is
linguistically more like Moru and that Moru is a language of wider communication.
3.1.1.5 Conclusion
Avokaya and Moru are distinct languages, not inherently inter-intelligible, spoken by distinct people groups. Avokayas and Morus cannot use a common literature. Moru
is the more influential language, and for that reason many Avokaya people understand spoken Moru. This survey did not establish whether enough Avokayas understand
Moru well enough and have a positive enough attitude to it to use Moru Scriptures. There is strong support for Avokaya Scriptures, which are being translated.
Wadi is best considered a Moru dialect, not Avokaya.
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3.1.2 The relationship between Avokaya and Logo 3.1.2.1 Background
