Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Maasai (previously spelled Masai) or Maa (English: / ˈ m ɑː s aɪ / MAH-sy; [2] autonym: ɔl Maa) is an Eastern Nilotic language spoken in Southern Kenya and Northern Tanzania by the Maasai people, numbering about 1.5 million.
Except for some elders living in rural areas, most Maasai people speak the official languages of Kenya and Tanzania—Swahili and English. [ 6 ] The Maasai population has been reported as numbering 1,189,522 in Kenya in the 2019 census, [ 1 ] compared to 377,089 in the 1989 census, though many Maasai view the census as government meddling and ...
As a result, the Yaaku almost completely gave up their language for the Maa language of the dominant Maasai tribe (including the Samburu) between 1925 and 1936. The variety of Maa they speak is called Mukogodo-Maasai. Old Yaaku words are still found in bee-keeping vocabulary, for example: — 'honey' (cf. Maasai en-aisho o lotorrok)
Today, English is the official language in Kenya, while Swahili enjoys the status of the national language. British English is primarily used in Kenya. Additionally, a distinct local dialect, Kenyan English , is used by some communities and individuals in the country, and contains features unique to it that were derived from local Bantu ...
After being defeated by the Purko Maasai in the 1870s, the Kore fled to north-eastern Kenya where they were taken captive by Somali people. After functioning for years as clients or slaves in Somali households, they were set free by British imperial forces around the end of the 19th century. They have lost their own language and speak Somali.
The Eastern Nilotic languages are one of the three primary branches of the Nilotic languages, themselves belonging to the Eastern Sudanic subfamily of Nilo-Saharan; they are believed to have begun to diverge about 3,000 years ago, and have spread southwards from an original home in Equatoria in South Sudan.
The Samburu speak the Samburu dialect of the Maa language, a Nilotic language which is also spoken by 22 other sub tribes of the Maa community commonly known as the Maasai. Some [who?] suggest that the Samburu are a distinct tribe separate from the Maasai, a view that [neutrality is disputed] some Samburu people accept today. [citation needed]
Kwavi is the dialect of Maasai spoken by the Kwavi people (a.k.a. Parakuyo or Baraguyu) of Tanzania.According to Hurskainen (1994), "The Parakuyo (earlier also called Ilparakuyo, Baraguyu, Kwavi, Lumbwa, and Iloikop) are a Maa-speaking ethnic group scattered over a large area in the northeastern and central parts of Tanzania", while Beidelman (1960) confirms that "Kwavi" and "Baraguyu" are ...