Samburu language

Samburu
Sampur, ɔl Maa
Spoken in	Kenya
Region	Samburu district of Rift Valley Province
Native speakers	128,000 (147,000 including the Camus)  (date missing)
Language family	Nilo-Saharan? Eastern Saharan Eastern Nilotic Lotuxo–Teso Lotuxo–Maa Maa Samburu
Language codes
ISO 639-3	saq

Samburu is the Eastern Nilotic, North Maa language spoken by the Samburu in the highlands of northern Kenya. The Samburu number about 128,000 (or 147,000 including the Camus/Chamus). Samburu is closely related to Camus (88% to 94% lexical similarity; Camus is sometimes considered a Samburu dialect) and to the South Maa language Maasai (77% to 89% lexical similarity). The word Samburu itself derives from the old Maa word 'saamburr' for the leather bag the Samburu use.

References

• Rainer Vossen. The Eastern Nilotes: Linguistic and Historical Reconstructions. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag 1982. ISBN 3496006986.

External links

• Ethnologue report on Samburu
• Samburu language at The Rosetta Project
• Maa Language Project