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Songa Language
Samia (Saamia) is a Bantu language spoken by the Luhya people of Uganda and Kenya. ''Ethnologue'' includes Songa as a dialect, but it may be a separate language.Maho (2009) See also * Luhya language Luhya (; also Luyia, Oluluyia, Luhia or Luhiya) is a Bantu language of western Kenya. Dialects The various Luhya tribes speak several related languages and dialects, though some of them are no closer to each other than they are to neighboring ... References Languages of Kenya Languages of Uganda Luhya language {{Bantu-lang-stub ...
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Uganda
Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The southern part includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria, shared with Kenya and Tanzania. Uganda is in the African Great Lakes region, lies within the Nile basin, and has a varied equatorial climate. , it has a population of 49.3 million, of whom 8.5 million live in the capital and largest city, Kampala. Uganda is named after the Buganda, Buganda kingdom, which encompasses a large portion of the south, including Kampala, and whose language Luganda is widely spoken; the official language is English. The region was populated by various ethnic groups, before Bantu and Nilotic groups arrived around 3,000 years ago. These groups established influential kingdoms such as the Empire of Kitara. The arrival of Arab trade ...
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Bantu Languages
The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu language, Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀), or Ntu languages are a language family of about 600 languages of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern, East Africa, Eastern and Southeast Africa, Southeast Africa. They form the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid languages. The total number of Bantu languages is estimated at between 440 and 680 distinct languages, depending on the definition of Dialect#Dialect or language, "language" versus "dialect"."Guthrie (1967–71) names some 440 Bantu 'varieties', Grimes (2000) has 501 (minus a few 'extinct' or 'almost extinct'), Bastin ''et al.'' (1999) have 542, Maho (this volume) has some 660, and Mann ''et al.'' (1987) have ''c.'' 680." Derek Nurse, 2006, "Bantu Languages", in the ''Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics'', p. 2:Ethnologue report for Southern Bantoid" lists a total of 535 languages. The count includes 13 Mbam languages, which are not always included under "Narrow Bantu". ...
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Languages Of Kenya
Kenya is a Multilingualism, multilingual country. The two official languages of Kenya, Swahili language, Swahili and English language, English, are widely spoken as lingua francas; however, including second-language speakers, Swahili is more widely spoken than English. Swahili is a Bantu language native to East Africa and English is inherited from British Kenya, British colonial rule. Overview According to ''Ethnologue'', there are a total of 68 languages spoken in Kenya. This variety is a reflection of the country's diverse population that includes most major ethnoracial and linguistic groups found in Africa (see Languages of Africa). Languages spoken locally belong to three broad language families: Niger-Congo languages, Niger-Congo (Bantu languages, Bantu branch), Nilo-Saharan languages, Nilo-Saharan (Nilotic languages, Nilotic branch) and Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic (Cushitic languages, Cushitic). They are spoken by the country's Bantu peoples, Bantu, Nilotic and Cus ...
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Luhya People
The Luhya (also known as ''Abaluhyia'' or Luhyia) are a Bantu people and the second largest ethnic group in Kenya. The Luhya belong to the larger linguistic stock known as the Bantu. The Luhya are located in Western Province (Kenya), western Kenya and Uganda. They are divided into 20 (or 21, when the Suba are included) culturally and linguistically united clans. Once known as the Kavirondo, multiple small tribes in North Nyanza came together under the new name Baluhya between 1950 and 1960. The Bukusu are the largest Luhya subtribe and account for almost 30% of the entire Luhya population. The Luhya culture is similar to the Great Lakes region Bantu speakers. During a wave of expansion that began 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, Bantu-speaking populations – as of 2023, some 310 million people – gradually left their original homeland of West-Central Africa and traveled to the eastern and southern regions of the continent. Using data from a vast genomic analysis of more than 2,000 sam ...
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Luhya Language
Luhya (; also Luyia, Oluluyia, Luhia or Luhiya) is a Bantu language of western Kenya. Dialects The various Luhya tribes speak several related languages and dialects, though some of them are no closer to each other than they are to neighboring non-Luhya languages. For example, the Bukusu people are ethnically Luhya, but the Bukusu dialect is a variety of Masaba. (See Luhya people for details.) However, there is a core of mutually intelligible dialects that comprise Luhya proper: *Wanga *Tsotso *Marama *Kisa *Kabras *East Nyala All Luhya subtribes # Banyala # Bukusu #Gisu people The Gisu people, or ''Bamasaba'' people of Elgon, are a Bantu peoples, Bantu tribe and Bantu-speaking ethnic group of the Masaba people in eastern Uganda, closely related to the Bukusu people of Kenya. Bamasaba live mainly in the Mbale District of ... # Idakho # Isukha # Kabras # Khayo # Kisa tribe # Marachi # Maragoli # Marama # Masaaba # Nyole # Samia # Tachoni # Tiriki # Tsotso # Wanga Co ...
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Masaba Language
Masaba (''Lumasaaba''), sometimes known as Gisu (''Lugisu'') after one of its dialects, is a Bantu language spoken by more than two million people in East Africa. The Gisu dialect in eastern Uganda is mutually intelligible with Bukusu, spoken by ethnic Luhya in western Kenya. ''Masaba'' is the local name of Mount Elgon and the name of the son of the ancestor of the Gisu tribe. Like other Bantu languages, Lumasaba nouns are divided into several sets of noun classes. These are similar to the genders in Germanic and Romance languages, except that instead of the usual two or three, there are around eighteen different noun classes. The language has a quite complex verb morphology. Varieties Varieties of Masaba are as follows:Maho (2009) *Gisu (''Lugisu'') *Kisu *Bukusu (''Lubukusu''; ethnic Luhya) *Syan *Tachoni (''Lutachoni''; ethnic Luhya) *Dadiri (''Ludadiri'') *Buya (''Lubuya'') Dadiri is spoken in the north, Gisu in the center, and Buya in the center and south of Masaba territ ...
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Great Lakes Bantu
The Great Lakes Bantu languages, also known as Lacustrine Bantu and Bantu zone J, are a group of Bantu languages of East Africa. They were recognized as a group by the ''Tervuren'' team, who posited them as an additional zone (zone J) to Guthrie's largely geographic classification of Bantu. History By 500 BC, Proto-Great Lakes Bantu speakers initially settled between Lakes Kivu and Rweru in Rwanda. Languages The languages are, according to Bastin, Coupez, & Mann (1999), with Sumbwa added per Nurse (2003): *'' Gungu'' (E10) *''Bwari (Kabwari)'' (D50) *Konzo (D40): Konjo, Nande, ? Kobo *Shi–Havu (D50): Hunde, Havu, Shi, Tembo, Nyindu, Fuliiru *Rwanda-Rundi (D60): Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Shubi, Hangaza, Ha, Vinza *Nyoro–Ganda (E10): Ganda, Nyankore, Nyoro, Tooro, Hema, Chiga, Soga, Gwere, West Nyala, Ruli ::(See also Rutara languages, Runyakitara language, Nkore-Kiga) *Haya–Jita (E20): Haya–Rashi, Talinga-Bwisi, Zinza, Kerebe (Kerewe), Jita–K ...
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Northeast Bantu
The Northeast Bantu languages are a group of Bantu languages spoken in East Africa. In Guthrie's geographic classification, they fall within Bantu zones E50 plus E46 (Sonjo), E60 plus E74a (Taita), F21–22, J, G60, plus Northeast Coast Bantu (of zones E & G).Derek Nurse, 2003, ''The Bantu Languages'' Some of these languages (F21, most of E50, and some of J) share a phonological innovation called Dahl's law that is unlikely to be borrowed as a productive process, though individual words reflecting Dahl's law have been borrowed into neighboring languages. The languages, or clusters, are: *Northeast Bantu languages **Kikuyu–Kamba Thagiicu (primarily E50): *** Sonjo (E40) *** Cuka *** Meru (incl. Tharaka, Mwimbi-Muthambi) ***South ****Kamba, Daisu **** Gikuyu, Embu **Chaga–Taita *** Taita (Dawida; E70) – Sagalla *** Chaga languages (E60) ** Northeast Coast Bantu (G10-G40): Swahili (E70), ''etc.'' ** Takama: Sukuma– Nyamwezi (+ Konongo–Ruwila), Kimbu (F20), Iram ...
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Southern Bantoid
Southern Bantoid (or South Bantoid) is a branch of the Bantoid language family. It consists of the Bantu languages along with several small branches and isolates of eastern Nigeria and west-central Cameroon (though the affiliation of some branches is uncertain). Since the Bantu languages are spoken across most of Sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Bantoid comprises 643 languages as counted by ''Ethnologue'', though many of these are mutually intelligible. History Southern Bantoid was first introduced by Williamson in a proposal that divided Bantoid into North and South branches. The unity of the North Bantoid group was subsequently called into question, and Bantoid itself may be polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ..., but the work did establish Southern Banto ...
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Kenya
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. Kenya's capital and largest city is Nairobi. Its second-largest and oldest city is Mombasa, a major port city located on Mombasa Island. Other major cities within the country include Kisumu, Nakuru & Eldoret. Going clockwise, Kenya is bordered by South Sudan to the northwest (though much of that border includes the disputed Ilemi Triangle), Ethiopia to the north, Somalia to the east, the Indian Ocean to the southeast, Tanzania to the southwest, and Lake Victoria and Uganda to the west. Kenya's geography, climate and population vary widely. In western, rift valley counties, the landscape includes cold, snow-capped mountaintops (such as Batian, Nelion and Point Lenana on Mount Kenya) with vast surrounding forests, wildlife and ...
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Bantoid Languages
Bantoid is a major branch of the Benue–Congo language family. It consists of the Northern Bantoid languages and the Southern Bantoid languages, a division which also includes the Bantu languages that constitute the overwhelming majority and after which Bantoid is named. History The term "Bantoid" was first used by Krause in 1895 for languages that showed resemblances in vocabulary to Bantu. Joseph Greenberg, in his 1963 ''The Languages of Africa'', defined Bantoid as the group to which Bantu belongs together with its closest relatives; this is the sense in which the term is still used today. However, according to Roger Blench, the Bantoid languages probably do not actually form a coherent group. Internal classification A proposal that divided Bantoid into Northern Bantoid languages, North Bantoid and Southern Bantoid languages, South Bantoid was introduced by Williamson. In this proposal, the Mambiloid and Dakoid languages (and later Tikar language, Tikar) are grouped together ...
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Benue–Congo Languages
Benue–Congo (sometimes called East Benue–Congo) is a major branch of the Volta-Congo languages which covers most of Sub-Saharan Africa. Subdivisions Central Nigerian (or Platoid) contains the Plateau languages, Plateau, Jukunoid languages, Jukunoid and Kainji languages, Kainji families, and Bantoid–Cross combines the Bantoid languages, Bantoid and Cross River languages, Cross River groups. Bantoid is only a collective term for every subfamily of Bantoid–Cross except Cross River, and this is no longer seen as forming a valid branch, however one of the subfamilies, Southern Bantoid, is still considered valid. It is Southern Bantoid which contains the Bantu languages, which are spoken across most of Sub-Saharan Africa. This makes Benue–Congo one of the largest subdivisions of the Niger–Congo language family, both in number of languages, of which ''Ethnologue'' counts 976 (2017), and in speakers, numbering perhaps 350 million. Benue–Congo also includes a few minor Languag ...
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