Luhya languages
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
oLuLuhya | ||
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Spoken in: | Kenya, Uganda | |
Region: | East Africa | |
Total speakers: | 4,600,000 | |
Language family: | Niger-Congo Atlantic-Congo Volta-Congo Benue-Congo Bantoid Southern Narrow Bantu Central Masaba-Luyia Luyia oLuLuhya |
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Language codes | ||
ISO 639-1: | ke | |
ISO 639-2: | bnt | |
ISO/FDIS 639-3: | — | |
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-based pronunciation key. |
Luhya (also Luyia, Luhia) is a group of Bantu languages spoken in the western part of Kenya by the Luhya people residing between Lake Victoria, Uganda and Mount Elgon. The Luhya area extends into Uganda, where closely related languages like Masaba and Nyole are found.
Kenya is divided into 8 provinces. The Luhya traditionally occupied Western province, as well as the Rift Valley province areas around Kitale. The Luhya number about 4 600 000. The languages of the Luhya are similar in structure but are different to one another to the extent that none of them has been designated as the central dialect. Some of the sub-tribes have similarities to the Baganda tribe of Uganda with some having words from the neighbouring tribes like the Luo and Kalenjin. There are Bible translations in the Maragoli, Wanga and Bukusu dialects.