Masaba language (original) (raw)

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Bantu language spoken in East Africa

Masaba
Lumasaba
Native to Uganda
Region Eastern Uganda, south of the Kupsabiny, Bugisu Province
Ethnicity Masaba, Luhya
Native speakers 2.7 million (2002 & 2009 censuses)[1]
Language family Niger–Congo? Atlantic–CongoVolta-CongoBenue–CongoBantoidSouthern BantoidBantuNortheast BantuGreat Lakes BantuMasaba–Luhya (J.30)Masaba
Dialects Gisu Kisu Bukusu Syan Tachoni Dadiri Buya
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Variously:myx – Masaba (Gisu, Kisu, Dadiri, Buya)bxk – Bukusu (Tachoni)lts – Tachoni
Glottolog masa1299 Masaababuku1249 Bukusutach1242 Tachoni
Guthrie code 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. 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 of Masaba are as follows:[3]

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.

See Bukusu dialect for details of one variety of Masaba.

| | Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | | Nasal | m | n | | ŋ | | | Plosive | voiceless | p | t | | k | | voiced | b | d | | g | | | Fricative | voiceless | f | s | | | | voiced | β | z | | | | | Approximant | | l | j | | |

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

  1. ^ Masaba (Gisu, Kisu, Dadiri, Buya) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Bukusu (Tachoni) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Tachoni at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. ^ Maho (2009)