- Gusii language
language
name=Gusii
nativename=EkeGusii
states=Kenya
region=Western Kenya, Gusii district
speakers=1,5 million
familycolor=Niger-Congo
fam2=Atlantic-Congo
fam3=Volta-Congo
fam4=Benue-Congo
fam5=Bantoid
fam6=Southern Bantoid
fam7=Narrow Bantu
fam8=Central
iso2=bnt|iso3=guzThe Gusii language (also known as Kisii or Ekegusii) is a
Bantu language spoken in the Kisii district in westernKenya ,whose head-quarters isKisii town , (between the Kavirondo Gulf ofLake Victoria and the border withTanzania ). It is spoken by the Gusii people, numbering about 1.5 million (SIL/Ethnologue 1994). Many Gusii are bilingual in Luo.Classification
Gusii is classified as a Central Bantu language, part of the subfamily of
Kuria languages labeled E.10 in Guthrie's zonal classification of Bantu languages. Related languages are found mainly in Tanzania, and include Ware, Ikizu, Ikoma, and Kuria.ounds
Vowels
Gusii has seven vowels.
Vowel length is contrastive, i.e. the words 'bór' "to miss" and 'bóór' "to say" are distinguished by vowel length only.Consonants
In the table below, orthographic symbols are included between brackets if they differ from the IPA symbols. Note especially the use of ‘y’ for IPA IPA|/j/, common in African orthographies. When symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a voiced consonant.
Phonetic inventory of consonants in Gusii, IPA notation. . bilabial alveo-palatal palatal velar plosive p b t c (c) k g fricative s affricate cç (c) nasal m n ɲ (ny) ŋ (ng') trill r approximant w j (y) The following morphophonological alternations occur:
* n+r = nd
* n+b = mb
* n+g = ŋg
* n+k = ŋk
* n+m = mmBibliography
* Cammenga, Jelle (2002) "Phonology and morphology of Ekegusii: a Bantu language of Kenya". Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.
* Whiteley, Wilfred H. (1956) "A practical introduction to Gusii". Dar es Salaam/Nairobi/Kampala: East African Literature Bureau.
* Whiteley, Wilfred H. (1960) "The tense system of Gusii". Kampala: East African Institute of Social Research.
* Whiteley, Wilfred H. (1974) "Language in Kenia". Nairobi: Oxford University Press.External links
* [http://www.ekegusii.org/ Ekegusii-English English-Ekegusii Dictionary]
* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=guz Ethnologue on Gusii]
* [http://www.rosettaproject.org/archive/guz/view?searchterm=gusii Partial Gusii Swadesh list at Rosetta Project]Listening
* [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5371609 National Public Radio story about Kisii language] (from "All Things Considered" program, April 29, 2006)
ee also
*
Languages of Kenya
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