Masaba language: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
m order box using AWB
→‎External links: redundant template link using AWB
Line 93: Line 93:


==External links==
==External links==
*{{ethnologue|myx}}
*[http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/Uganda/masaba.html Kulomba Kwikumutikinyi] Portions of the [[Book of Common Prayer]] in Masaba (1907) digitized by Richard Mammana and Charles Wohlers
*[http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/Uganda/masaba.html Kulomba Kwikumutikinyi] Portions of the [[Book of Common Prayer]] in Masaba (1907) digitized by Richard Mammana and Charles Wohlers



Revision as of 11:49, 13 September 2013

Masaba
Lumasaba
Native toUganda
RegionEastern, south of the Kupsabiny, Bugisu Province
EthnicityMasaba, Luhya
Native speakers
2.8 million (2002 & 2009 censuses)[1]
Dialects
  • Gisu
  • Kisu
  • Bukusu
  • Syan
  • Tachoni
  • Dadiri
  • Buya
Language codes
ISO 639-3Variously:
myx – Masaba (Gisu, Kisu, Dadiri, Buya)
bxk – Bukusu (Tachoni)
lts – Tachoni
JE.31[2]

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. 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 has a large set of prefixes used as noun classifiers. This is similar to how gender is used in many Germanic and Romance languages, except that instead of the usual two or three, there are around eighteen different noun classes. The language is not tonal[citation needed] but has a quite complex verb morphology.

Varieties

Varieties of Masaba are as follows:[3]

  • 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 territory in Uganda. Bukusu is spoken in Kenya, separated from ethnic Masaba by Nilotic languages on the border.

Sounds

See Bukusu dialect for details of one variety of Masaba.

Consonants

labial Alveolar Palatal Velar
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive p b t d k g
Fricative f β s z
Approximant l j

Vowels

Masaba has a basic 5-vowel system consisting of /i, e, a, o, u/.

References

  1. ^ Masaba (Gisu, Kisu, Dadiri, Buya) at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013) Closed access icon
    Bukusu (Tachoni) at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013) Closed access icon
    Tachoni at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013) Closed access icon
  2. ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. ^ Maho (2009)
  • Brown, Gillian (1972) Phonological Rules and Dialectal Variation: A study of the phonology of Lumasaaba ISBN 0-521-08485-7

External links