Pökoot language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Pökoot | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spoken in: | Kenya, Uganda | |
| Region: | West Pokot and Baringo districts in Kenya. Karimojong borderland in Uganda. | |
| Total speakers: | 264,000 | |
| Language family: | Nilo-Saharan Eastern Sudanic Southern Nilotic Kalenjin Pokot Pökoot |
|
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1: | none | |
| ISO 639-2: | ssa | |
| ISO/FDIS 639-3: | pko | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-based pronunciation key. | ||
Pökoot (also known as Pokot, Päkot, Pökot and in older literature as Suk) is a language spoken in western Kenya and eastern Uganda by the Pokot people. Pökoot is classified as the Northern branch of the Kalenjin languages found in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The Pökoot are usually called Kimukon by the other Kalenjin peoples. A 1994 figure of SIL puts the total number of speakers at 264 000, while the only little more recent Schladt (1997:40) gives the more conservative estimate of 150 000 people, presumably based on the figures found in Rottland (1982:26) who puts the number at slightly more than 115 000.
The Pökoot area is bordered to the north by the Eastern Nilotic language Karimojong. Turkana, another Eastern Nilotic language, is found to the northeast. To the east, the Maa languages Samburu and Camus (on Lake Baringo) are spoken, and to the south, the other Kalenjin languages Tugen and Markweta are found, which show considerable influence from Pökoot.
[edit] References
- Rottland, Franz (1982) Die Südnilotischen Sprachen: Beschreibung, Vergelichung und Rekonstruktion (Kölner Beiträge zur Afrikanistik vol. 7). Berlin: Dietrich Reimer. (esp. pp. 26, 138-139)
- Schladt, Matthias (1997) Kognitive Strukturen von Körperteilvokabularien in Kenianischen Sprachen (Afrikanistische Monographien vol. 8). Köln: Institut für Afrikanistik / Universität zu Köln. (esp. pp. 40–42)
