Idakho, Isukha, and Tirikhi | |
---|---|
Luidakho, Luisukha, Lutirichi | |
Native to | Kenya |
Ethnicity | Idakho, Isukha, Tiriki |
Native speakers | 600,000 (2009 census) [1] |
Niger–Congo?
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | ida |
Glottolog | idak1243 |
JE.411–413 [2] |
Idakho, Isukha, and Tiriki (Luidakho, Luisukha, Lutirichi) are mutually intelligible Kenyan languages within the Luhya ethnic group. They are a set of languages closely related to some other Luhya ethnic groups like Maragoli, but less so in comparison to others, like Bukusu,Tachoni or Samia.
Tiriki, or known by the autoglossonym Lutirichi, is a language variety spoken in western Kenya and eastern Uganda [3] within the Luyia language family. It is the southeasternmost of the Luyia dialects, spoken primarily in Hamisi Constituency in Vihiga County, Western Province, Kenya. As reported in the 15th ed. of the Ethnologue, [4] a 1980 survey by Bernd Heine and Wilhelm Möhlig estimated there to be 100,000 speakers of Tiriki. The 17th ed. of the Ethnologue [5] indicates a Tiriki-speaking population of 210,000 based on the 2009 Kenyan census, which surveyed ethnicity not language.
Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plosive | p | t | k | ||
Prenasalized | ᵐb | ⁿd , ⁿz | ⁿdʒ | ᵑg | |
Affricate | ts | tʃ | |||
Fricative | f , β | s | ʃ | h | |
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |
Approximant | w | l | j |
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
High | i | u | |
Near-high | ɪ | ʊ | |
Mid | e | o | |
Low | a |
The Luhya are a Bantu people and the second largest ethnic group in Kenya. The Luhya belong to the larger linguistic stock known as the Bantu. The Luhya are located in western Kenya and Uganda. They are divided into 20 culturally and linguistically united clans. Once known as the Kavirondo, multiple small tribes in North Nyanza came together under the new name Baluhya between 1950 and 1960. The Bukusu are the largest Luhya subtribe and account for almost 50% of the entire Luhya population, dominating other Luhya subtribes. They live in both Bungoma and Trans-Nzoia counties.
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