Eastern Nilotic languages

Eastern Nilotic
Geographic distribution:	southwestern Ethiopia, eastern South Sudan, northeastern Uganda, western Kenya, northern Tanzania
Linguistic classification:	Nilo-Saharan? Eastern Sudanic Kir–Abbaian Nilotic Eastern Nilotic
Subdivisions:	Bari Teso–Lotuko–Maa

The Eastern Nilotic languages are one of the three primary branches of the Nilotic languages, themselves belonging to the Eastern Sudanic subfamily of Nilo-Saharan; they are believed to have begun to diverge about 3,000 years ago, and have spread southwards from an original home in Equatoria in South Sudan. They are spoken across a large area in East Africa, ranging from Equatoria to the highlands of Tanzania. Their speakers are mostly cattle herders living in semi-arid or arid plains.

According to Vossen, they are classified as follows by the comparative method:

• Bari languages
• Teso–Lotuko–Maa:
  • Teso–Turkana (or Ateker)
    • Teso language
    • Turkana language
    • Karimojong language
  • Lotuko–Maa:
    • Lotuko languages
      • Lotuko language
      • Lango language
      • Lopit language
      • Lokoya language
      • Otuho language
    • Ongamo–Maa
      • Ongamo language
      • Maa languages
        • Maasai language (see also Mukogodo-Maasai)
        • Camus language
        • Samburu language (see also Elmolo-Samburu)

It is generally agreed upon that Bari forms a primary branch, but lower-level splits are less clear.

See also

• Western Nilotic languages
• Southern Nilotic languages

Bibliography

• Rainer Vossen. The Eastern Nilotes: Linguistic and Historical Reconstructions. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag 1982. ISBN 3-496-00698-6.

External links

• A Classified Vocabulary of the Turkana in Northwestern Kenya, by Itaru Ohta, 1989.
• Vowel Harmony and Cyclicity in Eastern Nilotic, Eric Bakovic
• The Consequences of Microvariation in Eastern Nilotic, Eric Bakovic