Gusii language

The Gusii language (also known Ekegusii) is a Bantu language spoken in Kisii and Nyamira counties in Nyanza 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. The Bunchari dialect of the Ekegusii is also spoken among the Kuria as Kuria language and among the Suba people (Tanzania) and some other groups like the Suna-Girango and Simbete as well as other small splinter groups from Abagusii and Kuria in Migori County and Homa Bay County as Egesuba.

For the Abagusii or, see Gusii people.
Gusii
Ekegusii
Native toKenya
RegionNyanza Kenya, Kisii County & Nyamira County, Southern Rift Valley, parts of Kericho County & Bomet County
EthnicityAbagusii
Native speakers
2.2 million (2009 census)[1]
0.5 million
Dialects
Latin, Arabic
Language codes
ISO 639-3guz
Glottologgusi1247
JE.42[2]

Sounds

Vowels

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

Phonetic inventory of vowels in Gusii
FrontCentralBack
Close iu
Near-close 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.

Phonetic inventory of consonants in Gusii
bilabial alveo-palatal palatal velar
plosive p   b t c (c) k   ɡ
fricative   s    
affricate     cç (c)  
nasal m n ɲ (ny) ŋ (ng')
trill   r    
approximant w   j (y)  

The following morphophonological alternations occur:

  • n+r = nd
  • n+b = mb
  • n+g = ŋg
  • n+k = ŋk
  • n+m = m:

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 Alphabet ABCDEËGHIKMNOÖRSTUWYeiieiooi-----
Ekegusii Consonants MbBwmbwChNchChwNchwNdNdwNgGwNgwNg'Ng'wNyNywNkKwNkwMwNwRwNsSwNswNtTwNtwYw

Ekegusii Noun Classes

Samples 1
Ekegusii Noun Class
Class Singular Gloss Plural Gloss
1 om-ab omonto person/human abanto people/humans
2 om-em omotwe head emetwe head
3 e-ch eng'ombe cow chiombe cows
4 e-eb egekombe cup ebikombe cups
5 ri-am ritunda fruit amatunda fruits
6 o-o obwoba cowardness obwoba cowardness
7 e-e ekegusii ekegusii ----------- -----------
8 a-a amabere milk amabere milk
9
10 -------------- ------------

Ekegusii Numeral System

Sample 2
Ekegusii numeral system
Number Reading Meaning Number Reading Meaning
1 eyemo 1 11 ikomi nemo 10+1
2 ibere 2 12 ikomi na ibere 10+2
3 isato 3 13 ikomi na isato 10+3
4 inye 4 14 ikomi nainye 10+4
5 isano 5 15 ikomi na isano 10+5
6 isano nemo 5+1 16 ikomi na isano nemo 10+5+1
7 isano na ibere 5+2 17 ikomi na isano na ibere 10+5+2
8 isano na isato 5+3 18 ikomi na isano na isato 10+5+3
9 kianda 9 19 ikomi na kianda 10+9
10 ikomi 10 20 emerongo ebere 20

Sample phrases
EnglishEkegusii
Good MorningBwakire buya
Good nightObotuko obuya
HeadOmotwe
EarOgoto
WaterAmache
EarthEnse
DwellMenya
HomelandInka
TodayRero
SunRisase
DogEsese
StandTenena
KnowManya
SeeRora
Upside/Northern/HillsideRogoro
Lake/SeaEnyancha
DesertEroro
FighterOmorwani
Roll OverGaragara
MilkAmabere
She goatEsibeni
CowdungEsike
LadyOmosubati

Bibliography

Bickmore, Lee

  • 1997. Problems in constraining High tone spread in Ekegusii. Lingua, vol. 102, pp. 265–290.
  • 1998. Metathesis and Dahl’s Law in Ekegusii. Studies in the Linguistic Sciences, vol. 28:2, pp. 149–168.
  • 1999. High Tone Spreading in Ekegusii Revisited: An Optimality Theoretic Account. Lingua, vol. 109, pp. 109–153.

Cammenga, Jelle

  • 2002 Phonology and morphology of Ekegusii: a Bantu language of Kenya. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.

Mreta, Abel Y.

  • 2008 Kisimbiti: Msamiati wa Kisimbiti-Kiingereza-Kiswahili na Kiingereza-Kisimbiti-Kiswahili / Simbiti-English-Swahili and English-Simbiti-Swahili Lexicon. Languages of Tanzania Project, LOT Publications Lexicon Series 7, 106 pp., ISBN 9987-691-09-9.

Whiteley, Wilfred H.

  • 1956 A practical introduction to Gusii. Dar es Salaam/Nairobi/Kampala: East African Literature Bureau.
  • 1960 The tense system of Gusii. Kampala: East African Institute of Social Research.
  • 1974 Language in Kenya. Nairobi: Oxford University Press.

See also

References
  1. Gusii at Ethnologue (22nd ed., 2019)
  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. https://archive.org/details/rosettaproject_kuj_ortho-1: UNESCO Regional Office in Dakar (BREDA). p. 186. ISBN 92-9091-020-3.CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: ignored ISBN errors (link)

Listening
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