The MoruâÂÂMadi languages of the Central Sudanic language family are a cluster of closely related languages spoken in South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Uganda. Moru is spoken by 100,000 people, and Madi is spoken by twice that number. The most populous languages are Aringa of Uganda, with close to a million speakers, and Lugbara, with 1.6 million.
The languages in this cluster are found across three countries: Uganda (Madi, Lugbara, Aringa, S. Madi); South Sudan (Aringa, Madi, Lolubo, Avukaya, Kaliko, Moru, and Logo); and the Democratic Republic of Congo (Lugbara, Avukaya, Kaliko, and Logo).
The name Madi is used for various peoples in the region. There is a tendency, especially in the Acholi region of northern Uganda, to refer to anyone from West Nile Region as a Madi, even the Kakwa. The only group in this region who are never called Madi are the Alur.
Joseph Pasquale Crazzolara, for example, states that "all Logbara [...] agree that they are of the Madi nation, that they are Madi. They are called Madi by the Alur of Okooro, their immediate neighbours, in Bunyoro and Buganda." Similarly, the linguist A. N. Tucker described the neighboring Keliko people who occupy the high plateau near the Logbara, as having the "real name Madi". However, the Keliko regard themselves as Keliko rather than as Madi.
Sample basic vocabulary of MoruâÂÂMadi languages from Boone & Watson (1996):