Kalenjin languages

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The Kalenjin languages are a group of twelve related Southern Nilotic languages spoken in Kenya, eastern Uganda and northern Tanzania. The term Kalenjin comes from a Nandi expression meaning 'I say (to you)'. Kalenjin in this broad linguistic sense should not be confused with Kalenjin as a term for the common identity the Nandi-speaking peoples of Kenya assumed halfway the twentieth century; see Kalenjin and Kalenjin language.

The Kalenjin languages are generally distinguished into four sub-branches. There is less certainty regarding internal relationships within those four main branches. The following internal classification is based on the Ethnologue, 15th edition (2005):

Elgon languages
- Kupsabiny (Uganda)
- Sabaot (Kenya)
Nandi-Markweta languages
- Markweta languages
  - Endo language (Kenya)
  - Talai language (Kenya)
- Nandi languages
  - Aramanik language (Kenya)
  - Kalenjin language (Kenya)
    - (including Kipsigis, Nandi, Terik, and Keiyo dialects)
  - Kisankasa language (Tanzania)
  - Mediak language (Tanzania)
  - Mosiro language (Tanzania) (considered a subdivision of Akiek by Rottland (1982) and Sommer (1992))
  - Tugen language (Kenya)
Okiek language (Kenya, Tanzania)
- Kinare dialect (extinct)
- Sogoo dialect (endangered)
- Akiek dialect (endangered)
Pökoot language (Kenya)

[edit] References

Rottland, Franz (1982) Die Südnilotischen Sprachen: Beschreibung, Vergleichung und Rekonstruktion (Kölner Beiträge zur Afrikanistik vol. 7). Berlin: Dietrich Reimer. (See esp. map 1 on p. 31, and the 'Sprachbeschreibung' of the Kalenjin languages on pp. 69–143.)