Samburu language

Samburu
Samburu
Sampur, ɔl Maa
Native to	Kenya
Region	Samburu district of Rift Valley Province
Native speakers	240,000 (2009 census); (including Camus)
Language family	Nilo-Saharan? Eastern Saharan Eastern Nilotic Lotuxo–Teso Lotuxo–Maa Maa Samburu; ; ; ; ; ;
Dialects	Camus;
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).^[when?] 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

^ Samburu at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013)

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

External links

Maa Language Project

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[e17-1] Samburu at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013)

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