Samburu language

{{Short description|Dialect of the Maa language}}{{Infobox language

|name=Samburu

|nativename=Sampur, ɔl Maa

|states=Kenya

|region=Samburu district of Rift Valley Province

|speakers={{sigfig|237,000|2}}

|date=2009 census

|ethnicity=Samburu

|ref=e18

|speakers2= (including Camus)

|familycolor=Nilo-Saharan

|fam2=Eastern Sudanic

|fam3=Nilotic

|fam4=Eastern Nilotic

|fam5=Ateker-Lotuko-Maa

|fam6=LotukoMaa

|fam7=OngamoMaa

|iso3=saq

|glotto=samb1315

|glottorefname=Samburu

|dia1=Camus

}}

Samburu is a Maa language dialect spoken by Samburu pastoralists in northern Kenya. The Samburu number about 128,000 (or 147,000 including the Camus/Chamus).{{when|date=April 2012}} The Samburu dialect is closely related to the Camus dialect (88% to 94% lexical similarity) and to the South Maasai dialects (77% to 89% lexical similarity). The word "Samburu" itself may derive from the Maa word saamburr for a leather bag the Samburu use.

Phonology

class="wikitable"

|+Consonant phonemes {{Cite web |title=Samburu Dictionary » Phonology – Fonolojia |url=https://www.webonary.org/samburu/language/phonology/ |access-date=2025-06-02 |language=en-US}}

! colspan="2" |

!Labial

!Alveolar

!Palatal

!Velar

!Glottal

colspan="2" |Explosives

|{{IPAslink|b}}

|{{IPAslink|t}}

|{{IPAslink|c}}

|{{IPAslink|k}}

|{{IPAslink|ʔ}}

colspan="2" |Implosives

|{{IPAslink|ɓ}}

|{{IPAslink|ɗ}}

|{{IPAslink|ʄ}}

|{{IPAslink|ɠ}}

|

colspan="2" |Nasals

|{{IPAslink|m}}

|{{IPAslink|n}}

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|

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colspan="2" |Fricatives

|

|{{IPAslink|s}}

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|{{IPAslink|h}}

colspan="2" |Laterals

|

|{{IPAslink|l}}

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colspan="2" |Flaps

|

|{{IPAslink|ɾ}}

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|

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colspan="2" |Trills

|

|{{IPAslink|r}}

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|

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rowspan="2" |Semivowels

!Weak

|{{IPAslink|w}}

|

|{{IPAslink|j}}

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Strong

|{{IPAslink|wː}}

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|{{IPAslink|jː}}

|

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References

{{reflist}}

Further reading

  • Rainer Vossen. The Eastern Nilotes: Linguistic and Historical Reconstructions. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag 1982. {{ISBN|3-496-00698-6}}.