Taveta orTubeta is aNortheast Coast Bantu language spoken by theTaveta people ofKenya. It is closely related toPare (called Chasu by speakers).

Taveta was confused withDawida by Jouni Maho in his (2009) classification.^[2]

In 1910Alfred Claud Hollis published a collection of appx. 100 Taveta proverbs collected from speakers in what was then the southern part of the BritishEast Africa Protectorate.^[3] Here are some of those proverbs:

• "Esikie mbeho niye esongeria moto." "It is he who feels cold that approaches the fire (i.e. a person does not do a thing for no reason at all)." (#4)
• "Ukakoma nyoka, mhome na kamwe." "If you kill a snake, kill it entirely." (#6)
• "Ibau liiya na lisiiya, iwiwi ni lisiiya." "Of the hyena that howls and that does not howl, the bad one is the one that does not howl (i.e. it is better to fight a brave and straightforward enemy than one that is cowardly and underhand)." (#8)
• "Ideghe imwe likaremwa kuiya teheshigha kucha." "If one bird ceases singing the dawn will not stop (i.e. the world will not come to an end because one bird ceases singing or because one man dies)." (#10)
• "Iraro la zowu liyaiwa ni suni." "The elephant's bed is slept on by the gazelle (i.e. when a rich man leaves his dwelling as no longer suitable for him, a poor man is only too glad to take up his residence there)." (#14)

In 1911, Hollis also published a collection 66 Taveta riddles.^[4]

Items in Taveta were first published by Anglican missionaries. Rev. Albert Remington Steggall worked with a native called Yohana Nene Mdighirri, to translated the Scriptures into Taveta. In 1892 the Gospels of Mark and John were published asSumu Yedi ya Isa Masiya, hena Marko and Sumu Yedi, yakwe Yohana. They were printed at theChurch Mission Society CMS Station. In 1894, the epistles 1-3 John were published. In 1896 The Gospels according to St. Matthew and St. Luke were published by BFBS asSumu Yedi yakwe Yesu Masihi hena Mattayo andSumu Yedi yakwe Yesu Masihi (niye Jesus Christ) hena Luka. In 1897 the book of Exodus was published asKitamo cha keri cha Musa chaitangwa ‘Kufuma’, printed at the Office of the Taveta Chronicle. The bulk of this edition was destroyed by a fire in 1903. In 1900 the Acts of the Apostles were published by theBritish and Foreign Bible Society, BFBS asMihiro ya Waondo. Also in 1900 the Epistles of St. James, St. Peter, and St. Jude were published asMawaraka Mawo Waondo Yakobo, Petro, na Yuda. They were printed at the CMS Taveta Mission Station. In 1903 the Gospel of Mark was revised from the 1892 edition and published by BFBS. In 1894 theSociety for Promoting Christian Knowledge published theBook of Common Prayer asTaveta Kitamo cha Kuomba. In 1895 Steggall published, through the SPCK, Hymns in the language of Taveta. In 1905 The Psalms were published by SPCK asMalumbo, hena viteto vya kituweta: (the Psalms, in the language of Taveta), and printed by Richard Clay and Sons of Bungay. There were published by SPCK. In 1906 the Epistles and the Revelation were published asMawaraka na Ujughuo: hena viteto vya kiyuweta: (the Epistles and the Revelation in Taveta), and these completed the New Testament.^[5]

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