Kamba language
Kamba/ˈkæmbə/,[3] or Kikamba, is a Bantu language that is spoken by the Kamba people of Kenya. It is also spoken by 5,000 people in Tanzania (Thaisu).
Kamba | |
---|---|
Kikamba | |
Native to | Kenya, Tanzania |
Region | Machakos, Kitui, Makueni and Shimba Hills |
Native speakers | 3.9 million (2009 census)[1] 600,000 L2 speakers |
Niger–Congo
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-2 | kam |
ISO 639-3 | Either:kam – Kambadhs – Dhaiso (Thaisu) |
Glottolog | kamb1297 |
E.55–56 [2] |
Kamba has lexical similarities to other Bantu languages such as Kikuyu, Meru and Embu.
In Kenya, Kamba is generally spoken in four counties: Machakos, Kitui, Makueni, and Kwale. The Machakos variety is considered the standard variety and has been used in translation.
The Swedish National Museums of World Culture holds field recordings of kamba language made by Swedish ethnographer Gerhard Lindblom in 1911-12.[4] Lindblom used phonograph cylinders to record songs along with other means of documentation in writing and photography. He also gathered objects, and later presented his work in The Akamba in British East Africa (1916).
References
- Kamba at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
Dhaiso (Thaisu) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) - Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student’s Handbook, Edinburgh
- "Historier från samlingarna | Newly digitized 100-year-old recordings bring African song and dance to life". samlingar.varldskulturmuseerna.se. Retrieved 2018-06-13.
Sources
- Mwau, John Harun (2006). Kikamba Dictionary: Kikamba-English, Kikamba-Kikamba, English-Kikamba. ISBN 9966-773-09-6.
External links
- PanAfriL10n page on Kamba
- Ĩvuku ya Mboya kwa andũ Onthe Portions of the Book of Common Prayer in Kamba, digitized by Richard Mammana