- Samburu language
language
name=Samburu
nativename=Sampur, IPA|ɔl Maa
familycolor=Nilo-Saharan
states=Kenya
region=Samburu district ofRift Valley Province
speakers=128,000 (147,000 including the Camus)
fam2=Eastern Saharan
fam3=Eastern Nilotic
fam4=Lotuxo-Teso
fam5=Lotuxo-Maa
fam6=Maa
iso2=ssa|iso3=saqSamburu is the Eastern Nilotic, North Maa language spoken by the
Samburu in the highlands of northernKenya . The Samburu number about 128,000 (or 147,000 including the Camus/Chamus). Samburu is closely related to Camus (88% to 94% lexical similarity; Camus is sometimes considered a Samburu dialect) and to the South Maa language Maasai (77% to 89% lexical similarity). The word "Samburu" itself derives from the old Maa word 'saamburr' for the leather bag the Samburu use.References
* Rainer Vossen. "The Eastern Nilotes: Linguistic and Historical Reconstructions". Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag 1982. ISBN 3496006986.
External links
* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=saq Ethnologue report on Samburu]
* [http://www.rosettaproject.org/archive/nilo-saharan/africa/saq Samburu language] at The Rosetta Project
* [http://www.uoregon.edu/~maasai/ Maa Language Project]
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