Kalenjin
< Isle de France Creole | Major Languages | Kamba >
Categories: Languages, Kenya, NE Uganda
On this page... (hide)
- 1. Classification / Classification
- 2. Where Spoken / Localisation géographique
- 3. Number of Speakers / Nombre de locuteurs
- 4. Dialect Survey / Enquête de dialecte
- 5. Usage / Utilisation
- 6. Orthography / Orthographe
- 7. Use in ICT / Utilisation dans les TIC
- 8. Localisation resources / Ressources pour localisation
- 9. Comments / Remarques
- 10. References / Références
Nandi, Kipsigis, Terik, Keiyo, Tugen, Cherangany
1. Classification / Classification
Nandi and Kipsigis, are two of the many languages found under the increasingly popular cover term "Kalenjin" (often used for the southern subgroup of Nilotic). (Webbook?)
"The present name for the dialect cluster gained prominence in the late 1940s and the early 1950s, when several Nandi-speaking peoples united to assume the common name 'Kalenjin', a Nandi expression meaning I say (to you). Due to this effort, the peoples were transformed into a major ethnic group in Kenya. The adoption of the name Kalenjin also involved a standardization of the different dialects." (Wikipedia, accessed 2007)
"...since outside Kenya the name Kalenjin has been extended to related languages such as Okiek of Tanzania and Elgon languages of Uganda, it is common in linguistic literature to refer to the languages of the Kenyan Kalenjin peoples as Nandi, after the principal variety." (Wikipedia, accessed 14 Nov 2015)
Ethnologue? lists the classification as: Nilo-Saharan, Eastern Sudanic, Nilotic, Southern, Kalenjin, Nandi-Markweta, Nandi. It considers Kalenjin a macrolanguage including: Keiyo [eyo], Kipsigis [sgc], Markweeta [enb], Nandi [niq], Okiek [oki], Pökoot [pko], Sabaot [spy], Terik [tec], and Tugen [tuy].
2. Where Spoken / Localisation géographique
Rift Valley Province, Kenya. (Nandi is spoken in Nandi, North Nyanza, and Kericho Districts; Kipsigis in Kericho District.) (Webbook)
3. Number of Speakers / Nombre de locuteurs
2,458,123 (1989 census). Population includes 471,459 Kipsigis, 261,969 Nandi, 110,908 Keiyo, 130,249 Tugen (1980 Heine and Möhlig) (Ethnologue)
Kalenjin is a cluster of closely related dialects spoken in Western Kenya and the Rift Valley by about 12% of Kenya's population. (Wikipedia)
According to figures compiled from Ethnologue (accessed 12-2015):
- Kalenjin "Population total all languages": 4,823,400
- Keiyo: 314,000 (2009 census), increasing
- Kipsigis: 1,916,000 (2009 census), increasing
- Markweeta: 180,000 (2009 census)
- Nandi: 949,000 (2009 census)
- Okiek:
- 79,000 in Kenya (2009 census)
- apparently also a small number in Tanzania, where Ethnologue notes it as "moribund"
- Pökoot: Population total all countries: 703,400, of which
- 633,000 in Kenya (2009 census)
- 70,400 in Uganda (2002 census), increasing
- Sabaot: 241,000 (2009 census), increasing
- Terik: 301,000 (2009 census), increasing
- Tugen: 140,000 (2009 census), increasing
4. Dialect Survey / Enquête de dialecte
Rottland (personal communication, 1983) has remarked that the problem with "the term Kalenjin [is that it] implies the existence of a standard, or at least a variant which is understood throughout the area. Both are false." One limited survey has been carried out by van Otterloo (n.d.) [that indicates seven different dialects]. Heine (1980) notes 12 dialects in Kalenjin. (Webbook)
According to Ethnologue (accessed 2007):
- Nandi (Naandi, Cemual)
- Terik (Nyang'ori)
- Kipsigis (Kipsiikis, Kipsikis, Kipsikiis)
- Keiyo (Keyo, Elgeyo)
- South Tugen (Tuken)
- Cherangany
5. Usage / Utilisation
Kalenjin has been used in the police, army, and to some extent "in the Game Department" (Whiteley 1974). It is broadcast over the Voice of Kenya. (Webbook)
Literacy rate (according to Ethnologue, accessed 2007):
- L1: below 1%
- L2: 15% to 25%
Literacy rate for Sabaot (according to Ethnologue, accessed 12-2015)
- L1: Over 30% ("Elaborate mother-tongue education program")
- L2: 50%
6. Orthography / Orthographe
6.1 Status / Statut
Nandi and Kipsigis have standardized orthographies. (Webbook)
[This is apparently a simple Latin alphabet but with diacritics in Nandi?]
6.2 Sample Alphabet / Alphabet exemple
Samples on the "Language museum" site:
- Kalenjin http://www.language-museum.com/k/kalenjin.htm
- Nandi http://www.language-museum.com/n/nandi.htm
7. Use in ICT / Utilisation dans les TIC
7.1 Fonts / Polices
Most Latin fonts would probably suffice. [verify]
7.2 Keyboard layouts / Dispositions de clavier
7.3 Content on computers & internet / Contenu en informatique et sur l'Internet
Kanenjin Online has some Kalenjin content: www.kalenjin.net (offline, 2015)
7.4 Localized software / Logiciels localisés
None known of.
7.5 Language codes / Codes de langue
Kalenjin (macrolanguage}
- ISO 639-1: -
- ISO 639-2: -
- ISO 639-3: kln
Keiyo
- ISO 639-3: eyo
Kipsigis:
- ISO 639-3: sgc
Markweeta
- ISO 639-3: enb
Nandi
- ISO 639-3: niq
Okiek
- ISO 639-3: oki
Pökoot
- ISO 639-3: pko
Sabaot
- ISO 639-3: spy
Terik
- ISO 639-3: tec
Tugen
- ISO 639-3: tuy
7.6 Other / Autre
8. Localisation resources / Ressources pour localisation
8.1 Individuals (experts) / Individuelles (experts)
8.2 Institutions / Institutions
8.3 On the internet / Sur la toile
9. Comments / Remarques
The apparent diversity of dialects might complicate localisation efforts, and the low literacy rates in it do not promise an automatic market. On the other hand, if the use of Kalenjin in broadcast media indicates a standard or emerging standard, something might be tried based on it.
Note the divergent opinions on a standard Kalanjin from the Webbook, which date from the 1980s and earlier, and the more recent (but not as clearly referenced) Wikipedia article on "Kalenjin language."
10. References / Références
Dwyer, David (1997), Webbook of African Languages, http://africa.isp.msu.edu/afrlang/hiermenu.html (page on "Kalenjin (Nandi/Kipsigis)," http://africa.isp.msu.edu/afrlang/Kalenjin_root.html )
SIL International, Ethnologue: Languages of the World, "Kalenjin," http://www.ethnologue.com/language/kln
______, "Keiyo," http://www.ethnologue.com/language/eyo
______, "Kipsigis," http://www.ethnologue.com/language/sgc
______, "Markweeta," http://www.ethnologue.com/language/enb
______, "Nandi," http://www.ethnologue.com/language/niq
______, "Okiek," http://www.ethnologue.com/language/oki
______, "Pökoot," http://www.ethnologue.com/language/pko
______, "Sabaot," http://www.ethnologue.com/language/spy
______, "Terik," http://www.ethnologue.com/language/tec
______, "Tugen," http://www.ethnologue.com/language/tuy
SIL International, "ISO 639 Code Tables," http://www-01.sil.org/iso639-3/codes.asp
U.S. Library of Congress, "ISO 639.2: Codes for the Representation of Names of Languages: Alpha-3 codes arranged alphabetically by the English name of language," http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/English_list.php
Wikipedia, "Kalenjin languages," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalenjin_languages
______, "Kipsigis language," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kipsigis_language
______, "Nandi–Markweta languages," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalenjin_language ("Kalenjin language" redirects here)
______, "Pökoot language," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pökoot_language
______, "Terik language," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terik_language
______, "Tugen language," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tugen_language