Nyanza Kenya, Kisii County & Nyamira County, Southern Rift Valley, parts of Kericho County & Bomet County
Ethnicity
Abagusii
Native speakers
L1: 2.2 million (2009 census)[1] L2: 500,000
Language family
Niger–Congo?
Atlantic-Congo
Volta-Congo
Benue–Congo
Bantoid
Southern Bantoid
Bantu
Northeast Bantu
Great Lakes Bantu
Logooli-Kuria (E.40)
Gusii
Dialects
Ekegusii Proper
Bogirango Maate
Writing system
Latin (after European contact)
Language codes
ISO 639-3
guz
Glottolog
gusi1247
Guthrie code
JE.42[2]
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The Gusii language (also known as 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. Ekegusii has only two dialects: The Rogoro and Maate dialects. Phonologically, they differ in the articulation of /t/. Most of the variations existing between the two dialects are lexical. The two dialects can refer to the same object or thing using different terms. An example of this is the word for cat. While one dialect calls a cat ekemoni, the other calls it ekebusi. Another illustrating example can be found in the word for sandals. While the Rogoro word for sandals is chisiripasi, the Maate dialect word is chitaratara. Many more lexical differences manifest in the language. The Maate dialect is spoken in Tabaka and Bogirango. Most of the other regions use the Rogoro dialect, which is also the standard dialect of Ekegusii.
^Gusii at Ethnologue (22nd ed., 2019)
^Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
The Gusiilanguage (also known as Ekegusii) is a Bantu language spoken in Kisii and Nyamira counties in Nyanza Kenya, whose headquarters is Kisii Town...
up Gusii in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Gusii or Kisii may refer to: Gusii people, a tribal people of Kenya Gusiilanguage, their Bantu language Kisii...
The Abagusii (also known as Kisii (Mkisii/Wakisii) in Swahili, or Gusii in Ekegusii) are a Bantu ethnic group and nation indigenous to Kisii and Nyamira...
Solanum nigrum, the European black nightshade or simply black nightshade or blackberry nightshade, is a species of flowering plant in the family Solanaceae...
Bukusu 1.2 million) Gusii 2.7 million Meru 2.0 million Mijikenda/Giriama ca. 1 million Nilotic Dholuo 5.0 million Kalenjin languages 4.6 million (Kipsigis...
Malawi's Chichewa language. The possessive kizungu (or chizungu) translated literally means "of the wanderers". It has now come to mean "language of the wanderers"...
bordered to the south and southeast by the Maasai. To the west, Gusii (a Bantu language) is spoken. To the north-east, other Kalenjin people are found...
and English are national languages Gikuyu (8 million) Luhya (6.8 million) Kamba (4 million) Meru (Kimeru) (2.7 million) Gusii (2 million) Mijikenda Taita...
has been translated into 115 languages, and there are active projects to translate it into a number of other languages. Portions of the book, as opposed...
females until today considering modern practices. Kuria is related to the Gusiilanguage. "2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census Volume IV: Distribution of...
Daniel Arts Training Institute (EDATI) Government Training Institute (GTI) Gusii Institute of Technology Harvard Institute of Development Studies - Thika...
tea factory to process the product grown in the Gusii Highlands. Due to the fertile nature of the Gusii highlands, many different types of fruits including...
predominant language in Nyanza is Dholuo, a Nilotic language whose origins are from Southern Sudan, spoken by the Luo. Other languages include Gusii, Luhya...
in Tumbuka; anthu in Chichewa; batu in Lingala; bato in Duala; abanto in Gusii; andũ in Kamba and Kikuyu; abantu in Kirundi, Lusoga, Zulu, Xhosa, Runyoro...
Engsh is English based, but mixes Swahili, and other ethnic languages such as Kikuyu, Gusii, Luhya, and Luo. However, just like Sheng, it is a code, and...
linguistic names. Language portal Constructed language and List of constructed languagesLanguage (for information about language in general) Language observatory...
adoption as a way of naturalization into the clan, usually from Maasai/Gusii/Luo as Kipsigis cannot adopt from within Kalenjin. The patriarchal ancestors...
languages as interpreted by Harald Hammarström, and following the Guthrie classification. Bantu languages Guthrie classification of Bantu languages Classification...
among the Gusii of Kenya". American Ethnologist. 21 (3): 516–538. doi:10.1525/ae.1994.21.3.02a00040. JSTOR 645919. Maxon, R.M. (1976). "Gusii Oral Texts...
group tends to be associated with shared ancestry, history, homeland, language or dialect and cultural heritage; where the term "culture" specifically...
the early Logoli, Gusii, Bukusu, Tachoni and such tribes as claim origin from 'Misri' Generally, the concept of Hamitic languages and the notion of a...
Nyasae or Nasaye) is the Luo and Gusii word for God. The same or similar words are also used by speakers of Luhya languages, but they refer to the same entity...
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