The Southern Nilotic languages are spoken mainly in western

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

and northern

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

(with one of them, Kupsabiny or Sapiny, being spoken on the

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

n side of

Mount Elgon Mount Elgon is an extinct shield volcano on the border of Uganda and Kenya, north of Kisumu and west of Kitale. The mountain's highest point, named "Wagagai", is located entirely within Uganda.

). They form a division of the larger Nilotic language family, along with the

Western Nilotic languages The Western Nilotic languages are one of the three primary branches of the Nilotic languages, along with the Eastern Nilotic languages and Southern Nilotic languages; Themselves belonging to the Eastern Sudanic subfamily of Nilo-Saharan. The ab ...

and the

Eastern Nilotic languages 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 spre ...

Subdivisions

The Southern Nilotic languages are generally divided into two groups,

Kalenjin Kalenjin may refer to: * Kalenjin people of Kenya ** Elgeyo people (Keiyo people) ** Kipsigis people ** Marakwet people ** Nandi people ** Pokot people ** Terik people ** Tugen people ** Sebei people * Kalenjin language Kalenjin may refer t ...

and Tatogoa, although there is some uncertainty as to the internal coherence of the Kalenjin branch. Southern Nilotic languages appear to have been influenced considerably by

Cushitic The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken primarily in the Horn of Africa, with minorities speaking Cushitic languages to the north in Egypt and Sudan, and to the south in Kenya and Tanzania. As of 2 ...

(

Afro-Asiatic The Afroasiatic languages (also known as Afro-Asiatic, Afrasian, Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic) are a language family (or "phylum") of about 400 languages spoken predominantly in West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of th ...

) languages. The Kalenjin languages are spoken by the

Kalenjin people The History of the Kalenjin people, Kalenjin is a group of tribes indigenous to East Africa, residing mainly in what was formerly the Rift Valley Province in Kenya and the eastern slopes of Mount Elgon in Uganda. They number 6,358,113 individu ...

. This family spreads all around

and to some of

. The Tatoga languages consist of the

Omotik language Omotik (Sawas) is a moribund Nilotic language of Kenya. It is spoken by the hunter-gatherer Omotik people of the Great Rift Valley among the Maasai; most of the Omotik population has shifted to the Maasai language Maasai (previously spel ...

and of the larger Datooga language, or more fitting, Datooga dialect cluster. *

(see) *Tatoga: Omotik, Datooga

Languages

* Kalenjin ** Elgon languages *** Kupsabiny *** Sabaot ** Nandi–Markweta ** Kipsigis ** Okiek ** Pökoot * Tatogoa ** Datooga ** Omotik

Reconstruction

Proto-Kalenjin has been reconstructed by

Franz Rottland Franz Rottland (4 December 1934 – 4 August 2014) was a German linguist and Africanist. His interests included the historical linguistics of Nilotic languages and Cushitic languages. Biography After receiving his doctorate on September 8, 1970 ...

(1979).

Cushitic influences

Historically, Southern Nilotic has undergone extensive contact with a "missing" branch of

East Cushitic The East Cushitic languages are a branch of Cushitic within the Afroasiatic phylum. Prominent East Cushitic languages include Oromo, Somali, and Sidama. The unity of East Cushitic has been contested: Robert Hetzron suggested combining the H ...

that Heine (1979) refers to as ''Baz''. Proto-Baz reconstructions proposed by Heine (1979),Heine, Bernd, Franz Rottland & Rainer Voßen. 1979. Proto-Baz: Some aspects of early Nilotic-Cushitic contacts. ''Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika'' 1. 75‒92. with notes about corresponding East Cushitic and Proto-East Cushitic forms from Sasse (1979):

References

{{Eastern Sudanic languages

Subdivisions

Languages

Reconstruction

Cushitic influences

See also

References