| Southern Nilotic | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | westernKenya, easternUganda, northernTanzania |
| Linguistic classification | Nilo-Saharan?
|
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | sout2830 |
TheSouthern Nilotic languages are spoken mainly in westernKenya and northernTanzania (with one of them,Kupsabiny or Sapiny, being spoken on theUgandan side ofMount Elgon). They form a division of the largerNilotic language family, along with theWestern Nilotic languages and theEastern Nilotic languages.
The Southern Nilotic languages are generally divided into two groups,Kalenjin 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 byCushitic (Afro-Asiatic) languages.[1] The Kalenjin languages are spoken by theKalenjin people. This family spreads all aroundUganda and to some ofKenya. The Tatoga languages consist of theOmotik language and of the largerDatooga language, or more fitting, Datooga dialect cluster.[citation needed]
Proto-Kalenjin has been reconstructed byFranz Rottland (1979).[2]
Historically, Southern Nilotic has undergone extensive contact with a "missing" branch ofEast Cushitic that Heine (1979) refers to asBaz.[3] Proto-Baz reconstructions proposed by Heine (1979),[4] with notes about corresponding East Cushitic and Proto-East Cushitic forms from Sasse (1979):[5]
| Gloss | Proto-Baz | Proto-East Cushitic | Example cognates |
|---|---|---|---|
| bat | *rɛɛrɛɛʕ | ||
| bell | *kor | ||
| bovine, male | *aʀ | *ʔawr- 'large male animal' | Saho and Somaliawr, Oromoooroo |
| calf | *maʀ | ||
| cow dung, mud | *zig | ||
| curse (n.) | *hab- | *hab-aar- 'to curse' | Saho and Oromoabaar, Somalihabaar |
| eat, to | *am | ||
| eight | *siziet | ||
| ewe, virgin | *subeen | ||
| feathers, fur | *goro- | ||
| fifty | *konom | *ken- 'five' | Konsoken, Oromoshani, Somalishan |
| fingernail, claw | *ʕidd | ||
| forty | *afaram | *ʔafar- 'four' | Afaraffara, Somaliafar, Oromoafur |
| goat, male | *quar- | ||
| goat/sheep, young | *maqal | ||
| grass | *ʕaus | *ʕawš- ~ *ʕayš- | Afarqayso, Somalicaws, Oromoees |
| head | *mɛtɛħ | *matħ- | Arboremete, Somalimadax, Oromomataa |
| honey | *malab | *malab- | Afar–Saho and Somalimalab |
| hundred | *boqol | *bokʼl- | Sahobool, Somaliboqol |
| lake, sea | *baz | *baz- | Afar–Saho and Somalibad, Daasanachbaz |
| look, to | *ilaal | *ʔil-aal-, derivative from *ʔil- 'eye' | Saho and Oromoilaal |
| lost, to get | *bod | *bad- | Afar–Saho, Somali and Oromobad- |
| louse | *insir | ||
| lover | *saani | ||
| nine | *sagaal | Afar and Somalisagaal, Oromosagal | |
| pot, clay | *ɖeri | ||
| rain | *roob | *roob- | Oromorooba, Somaliroob |
| red | *buri- | ||
| scratch, to | *quut | ||
| see, to | *kas | ||
| seven | *tizzaba | Arboretuzba | |
| six | *lVħ | *liħ | Daasanachli, Oromojaha, Somalilix |
| smoke | *iʀi | ||
| spear | *tor | ||
| suck, to | *nug | *nuug- | Oromoluug, Rendillenug, Somalinuug |
| ten | *tamman | *tomman | Arboretomon, Sahotamman, Somalitoban |
| thirty | *sozzom | *sezħ- 'three' | Arboresezze, Oromosadii, Somalisaddex |