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=Lotuko–Maa

|fam7=Ongamo–Maa

|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.