The Eastern Nilotic languages are one of the three primary branches of the

Nilotic languages The Nilotic languages are a group of related languages spoken across a wide area between South Sudan and Tanzania by the Nilotic peoples. Etymology The word Nilotic means of or relating to the Nile River or to the Nile region of Africa. D ...

, themselves belonging to the Eastern Sudanic subfamily of

Nilo-Saharan The Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed family of African languages spoken by some 50–60 million people, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers, including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributaries of the Nile meet. ...

; 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 South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the ...

. They are spoken across a large area in

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the histori ...

, ranging from Equatoria to the highlands of

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

. Their speakers are mostly cattle herders living in semi-arid or arid plains.

Classification

According to Vossen (1982), the Eastern Nilotic languages are basically classified as follows by the

comparative method In linguistics, the comparative method is a technique for studying the development of languages by performing a feature-by-feature comparison of two or more languages with common descent from a shared ancestor and then extrapolating backwards ...

. Vossen (1982) also provides a reconstruction of Proto-Eastern Nilotic. ;Eastern Nilotic *

Bari languages Bari is the Nilotic language of the Karo people, spoken over large areas of Central Equatoria state in South Sudan, across the northwest corner of Uganda, and into the Democratic Republic of Congo. Bari is spoken by several distinct tribes: t ...

* Teso–Lotuko–Maa: ** Teso–Turkana (or Ateker; incl. Karimojong) **Lotuko–Maa: ***Lotuko languages **** Lango language **** Lopit language ****

Lokoya language Lokoya is an Eastern Nilotic language spoken by an estimated 12,400 people in South Sudan. It is also referred to by various other names, including Ellyria, Koyo, Loirya, Ohoromok, Lokoiya, Lokoja, Loquia, Lowoi, Oirya, Owoi, and Oxoriok. Classi ...

****

Lotuko language Otuho, also known as Lotuko (Lotuxo), is the language of the Otuho people. It is an Eastern Nilotic language, and has several other Otuho speaking dialectic groups. Language varieties Dongotono is related. Other related varieties may be: *Logir ...

**** Dongotono language ***Ongamo–Maa **** Ongamo language ****

Maa languages The Maa languages are a group of closely related Eastern Nilotic languages (or from a linguistic perspective, dialects, as they appear to be mutually intelligible) spoken in parts of Kenya and Tanzania by more than a million speakers. They are s ...

*****

Maasai language Maasai (previously spelled ''Masai'') or Maa (; autonym: ''ɔl Maa'') is an Eastern Nilotic language spoken in Southern Kenya and Northern Tanzania by the Maasai people, numbering about 800,000. It is closely related to the other Maa varieti ...

(see also

Mukogodo-Maasai The Yaaku are a people who are said to have lived in regions of southern Ethiopia and central Kenya, possibly through to the 18th century. The language they spoke is today called Yaakunte. The Yaaku assimilated a hunter-gathering population, whom t ...

) ***** Camus language ***** Samburu language (see also Elmolo-Samburu) It is generally agreed upon that Bari forms a primary branch, but lower-level splits are less clear.

Swadesh approach (Vossen 1982)

Vossen's classification using the Swadesh approach is as follows (Vossen 1982:114). ;Eastern Nilotic *Bari languages **Mondari **Kakwa **Nyanggwara **Kuku **Pöjulu **Ngyepu **Bari *Lotuko–Maa languages **Lotuko languages ***Lopit, Dongotono ***Lotuko, Lokoya **Ongamo–Maa languages ***Ongamo ****Maasai *****Camus, Samburu *Teso–Turkana languages **Teso ***Nyangatom ****Turkana, Karimojong

Gleason approach (Vossen 1982)

Vossen's classification using the Gleason approach is as follows (Vossen 1982:119). ;Eastern Nilotic *Bari languages **Kuku, Ngyepu **Pöjulu **Kakwa **Bari **Nyanggwara, Mondari *Lotuko languages **Lopit, Dongotono **Lotuko, Lokoya *Teso–Turkana languages **Nyangatom ***Teso ****Turkana, Karimojong **Ongamo–Maa languages ***Ongamo ****Maasai *****Camus, Samburu

Gender Marking

Gender marking through prefixes (or proclitics) on nouns is an innovation in the Eastern Nilotic languages that is not found in the other branches of Nilotic. However, not every Eastern Nilotic language has this feature: for example, Bari does not have it.

Comparative vocabulary

Sample basic vocabulary of Eastern Nilotic languages from Vossen (1982):

Footnotes

Bibliography

* Vossen, Rainer. 1982. ''The Eastern Nilotes: Linguistic and Historical Reconstructions''. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag. .

External links

A Classified Vocabulary of the Turkana in Northwestern Kenya
by Itaru Ohta, 1989.
Vowel Harmony and Cyclicity in Eastern Nilotic
Eric Bakovic
The Consequences of Microvariation in Eastern Nilotic
Eric Bakovic {{Eastern Sudanic languages