Gusii language

Last updated
Gusii
Ekegusii
Native to Kenya
Region Nyanza Kenya, Kisii County & Nyamira County, Southern Rift Valley, parts of Kericho County & Bomet County
Ethnicity Abagusii
Native speakers
L1: 2.2 million (2009 census) [1]
L2: 500,000
Dialects
  • Ekegusii Proper
  • Bogirango Maate
Latin (after European contact)
Language codes
ISO 639-3 guz
Glottolog gusi1247
JE.42 [2]
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

The Gusii language (also known as Ekegusii) is a Bantu language spoken in Kiisi and Nyamira counties in Nyanza Province, Kenya, whose headquarters is Kisii Town (between the Kavirondo Gulf of Lake Victoria and the border with Tanzania). It is spoken natively by 2.2 million people (as of 2009), mostly among the Abagusii. Ekegusii has only two dialects: The Rogoro (upper-side) and Maate (lower-side) dialects. Phonologically, they differ in the articulation of /t/. Most of the variations existing between the two dialects are lexical. The two dialects can refer to the same object or thing using different terms. An example of this is the word for cat. While one dialect calls a cat ekemoni, the other calls it ekebusi (a word that comes from the sound used to call a cat in Gusii culture). Another illustrating example can be found in the word for sandals. While the Rogoro word for sandals is chisiripasi (a loanword from the English word "slippers"), the Maate dialect word is chitaratara (adapted from the sound made by sandals when one walks while wearing them). Many more lexical differences manifest in the language. The Maate dialect is spoken in Tabaka and Bogirango. Most of the other regions use the Rogoro dialect, which is also the standard dialect of Ekegusii.

Contents

Sounds

Vowels

Gusii has seven vowels. Vowel length is contrastive, i.e. the words 'bóra' to miss and 'bóóra' to say are distinguished by vowel length only.

Phonetic inventory of vowels in Gusii
Front Central Back
Close iu
Close-mid eo
Open-mid ɛɔ
Open a

Consonants

In the table below, orthographic symbols are included between brackets if they differ from the IPA symbols. Note especially the use of ‘y’ for IPA /j/, common in African orthographies. When symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a voiced consonant.

Phonemic inventory of consonants in Gusii
labialalveolarpalatalvelar
plosive t k  
affricate   
fricativeβs ɣ
nasalmnɲŋ
tap ɾ  
approximantw j 
Phonetic inventory of consonants in Gusii
labialalveolarpalatalvelar
plosivep   bt   dk   ɡ
affricate   
fricativeβs ɣ
nasalmnɲŋ
tap ɾ  
approximantw j 

The following morphophonological alternations occur:

The Gusii language has the consonant 'b' not realized as the bilabial stop as in 'bat' but as bilabial fricative as in words like baba, baminto, abana.

Ekegusii language Alphabet

Ekegusii alphabet (Kenya) [3] [4] [5]
Ekegusii AlphabetABCDEËGHIKMNOÖRSTUWYeiieiooi-----
Ekegusii ConsonantsMbBwmbwChNchChwNchwNdNdwNgGwNgwNg'Ng'wNyNywNkKwNkwMwNwRwNsSwNswNtTwNtwYw

Ekegusii Noun Classes

Samples 1

Ekegusii Noun Class
ClassSingularGlossPluralGloss
1omo-abaomontoperson/humanabantopeople/humans
2omo-emeomotweheademetwehead
3e-cheng'ombecowchiombecows
4ege-ebiegekombecupebikombecups
5ri-amaritundafruitamatundafruits
6o-oobwobacowardnessobwobacowardness
7e-eekegusiiekegusii----------------------
8ama-amaamaberemilkamaberemilk
9omo-i-sekeomoisekegirlaba-i-sekegirls
10--------------------------

Ekegusii Numeral System

Sample 2

Ekegusii Numeral System
NumberReadingMeaningNumberReadingMeaning
1eyemo111ikomi nemo10+1
2ibere212ikomi na ibere10+2
3isato313ikomi na isato10+3
4inye414ikomi na inye10+4
5isano515ikomi na isano10+5
6isano nemo5+116ikomi na isano nemo10+5+1
7isano na ibere5+217ikomi na isano na ibere10+5+2
8isano na isato5+318ikomi na isano na isato10+5+3
9kianda919ikomi na kianda10+9
10ikomi1020emerongo ebere20

Sample phrases

EnglishEkegusii
Good MorningBwakire buya
Good nightObotuko obuya
Headomotwe
Earogoto
Wateramache
eveningmogoroba
grandfathersokoro
to knowkomanya
to milkgokama
donkeyetigere/ebunda
Earthense
Dwellmenya
Homelandinka
Todayrero
Sunrisase/omobaso
Dogesese
Stand-tenena
Know-manya
See-rora
Upperside/Hillsiderogoro
Lake/Seaenyancha
Deserteroro
Fighteromorwani
Roll Over-garagara
Milkamabere
She goatesibeni
Cowdungesike
Ladyomosubati
Harvest (verb/noun)gesa/rigesa
Cryrera
Walktara
LookRigereria
Tomorrowmambia

Bibliography

Bickmore, Lee

Cammenga, Jelle

Mreta, Abel Y.

Nash, Carlos M.

Nyauncho, Osinde K.

Whiteley, Wilfred H.

Omonyi, Moses Mark.

See also

References

  1. Gusii at Ethnologue (22nd ed., 2019) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. Rhonda L. Hartell, ed. 1993. The Alphabets of Africa. Dakar: UNESCO and Summer Institute of Linguistics
  4. Nyauma, Shem (2014). "A Phonological Reconstruction Of Ekegusii And Egekuria Nouns: A Comparative Analysis" (PDF). Masters Thesis, University of Nairobi.
  5. Hartell, Rhonda, ed. (1993). Alphabets of Africa. UNESCO Regional Office in Dakar (BREDA). p. 186. ISBN   92-9091-020-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ignored ISBN errors (link)

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