The Maa languages are a group of closely related

Eastern Nilotic languages The Eastern Nilotic languages are one of the three primary branches of the Nilotic languages, themselves belonging to the Eastern Sudanic subfamily of Nilo-Saharan; they are believed to have begun to diverge about 3,000 years ago, and have sprea ...

(or from a linguistic perspective, dialects, as they appear to be mutually intelligible) spoken in parts of

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

and

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

by more than a million speakers. They are subdivided into North and South Maa. The Maa languages are related to the Lotuko languages spoken in

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...

History

In the past, several peoples have abandoned their languages in favor of a Maa language, usually following a period of intensive cultural and economic contact. Among peoples that have assimilated to Maa peoples are the Aasáx (Asa) and the

El Molo The El Molo, also known as Elmolo, Dehes, Fura-Pawa and Ldes, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the northern Eastern Province of Kenya. They historically spoke the El Molo language as a mother tongue, an Afro-Asiatic language of the Cushitic ...

, former hunter-gatherers who spoke

Cushitic languages The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken primarily in the Horn of Africa, with minorities speaking Cushitic languages to the north in Egypt and the Sudan, and to the south in Kenya and Tanzania. As ...

, and the Mukogodo-Maasai (Yaaku), former bee-keepers and hunter-gatherers ( Eastern Cushitic). The

Okiek Okiek or Ogiek may refer to: *the Okiek people The Okiek ( Ogiek: ), sometimes called the Ogiek or Akiek (although the term Akiek sometimes refers to a distinct subgroup), are a Southern Nilotic ethnic group native to Tanzania and Southern Kenya ...

of northern Tanzania, speakers of a

Southern Nilotic The Southern Nilotic languages are spoken mainly in western Kenya and northern Tanzania (with one of them, Kupsabiny language, Kupsabiny or Sapiny, being spoken on the Ugandan side of Mount Elgon). They form a division of the larger Nilotic langu ...

Kalenjin Kalenjin may refer to: * Kalenjin people The Kalenjin are a group of tribes designated as Highland Nilotes and are descended from Maliri people ''(thus related to Daasanach of Ethiopia.)'' The Kalenjin are cousins with Datooga people of Tan ...

tongue, are under heavy influence from Maasai.

Languages

*Northern Maa ** Samburu (spoken by the

Samburu people The Samburu are a Nilotic people of north-central Kenya. Samburu are semi-nomadic pastoralists who herd mainly cattle but also keep sheep, goats and camels. The name they use for themselves is Lokop or Loikop, a term which may have a variety of ...

) **

Camus Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His works ...

(or il-Chamus, the preferred autonym; sometimes considered a dialect of Samburu) *Southern Maa **

Maasai Maasai may refer to: * Maasai people *Maasai language * Maasai mythology * MAASAI (band) See also * Masai (disambiguation) * Massai Massai (also known as: Masai, Massey, Massi, Mah–sii, Massa, Wasse, Wassil or by the nickname "Big Foot" Mas ...

(spoken by the

Maasai people The Maasai (; sw, Wamasai) are a Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting northern, central and southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. They are among the best-known local populations internationally due to their residence near the many game parks of t ...

s) ** Ngasa or Ongamo (extinct or at least

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

; most speakers have shifted to

Chaga The Chaga or Chagga ( Swahili language: WaChaga) are Bantu-speaking indigenous Africans and the third-largest ethnic group in Tanzania. They traditionally live on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and eastern Mount Meru in both Kilimanjaro R ...

) (Sommer 1992:380). A Maa dialect is also spoken by the Baraguyu people of Central Tanzania, in an area known as the Makata Swamp near Morogoro, TZ. Another Kenyan Maa variety once existed,

Kore Kore may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Kore (comics), a comic-book series by Josh Blaylock and Tim Seeley *Kore (producer), French-Algerian music producer, also part of duo Kore & Skalp *Kore (sculpture), a type of ancient Greek sculpture dep ...

. After being defeated by the Purko Maasai in the 1870s, the Kore fled to north-eastern Kenya where they were taken captive by

Somali people The Somalis ( so, Soomaalida 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒆𐒖, ar, صوماليون) are an ethnic group native to the Horn of Africa who share a common ancestry, culture and history. The Lowland East Cushitic Somali language is the shared ...

. After functioning for years as clients or slaves in Somali households, they were set free by British imperial forces around the end of the 19th century. They have lost their own language and speak Somali. Loss of cattle brought them to

Lamu Lamu or Lamu Town is a small town on Lamu Island, which in turn is a part of the Lamu Archipelago in Kenya. Situated by road northeast of Mombasa that ends at Mokowe Jetty, from where the sea channel has to be crossed to reach Lamu Island. ...

island in the second half of the 20th century, where they live nowadays.

Reconstruction

Proto-Ongamo-Maa has been reconstructed by Vossen & Rottland (1989).Vossen, Rainer and Franz Rottland. 1989. The historical reconstruction of Proto-Ongamo-Maa: phonology and vocabulary. In Bender, M. L. (ed.), Topics in Nilo-Saharan linguistics, 181-217. Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag.

References

* Heine, Bernd & Vossen, Rainer (1980) 'The Kore of Lamu: A contribution to Maa dialectology', ''Afrika und übersee'', 62, 272–288. * Vossen, Rainer (1982) ''The Eastern Nilotes: Linguistic and Historical Reconstructions''. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag. . * Vossen, Rainer (1988) ''Towards a comparative study of the Maa dialects of Kenya and Tanzania'' (Nilo-Saharan 2.) Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag. * Sommer, Gabriele (1992) 'A survey on language death in Africa', in Brenzinger, Matthias (ed.) ''Language Death: Factual and Theoretical Explorations with Special Reference to East Africa''. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 301–417.

External links

*Maa Language Project, a website maintained by Doris L. Payne at the University of Oregon {{DEFAULTSORT:Maa Language Agglutinative languages Eastern Nilotic languages Languages of Kenya Languages of Tanzania pt:Língua maasai