Kuria is a Bantu language spoken by the Kuria people of Northern Tanzania, with some speakers also residing in Kenya.
| Kuria | |
|---|---|
| Igikuria | |
| Native to | Kenya, Tanzania[1] |
| Ethnicity | Kuria people |
Native speakers | 690,000 (2005–2009)[2] |
Niger–Congo?
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Latin, Arabic | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | kuj |
| Glottolog | kuri1259 |
JE.43,431–434[3] | |
Maho (2009) treats the Simbiti, Hacha, Surwa, and Sweta varieties as distinct languages.
Alphabet
edit| Kuria alphabet (Kenya)[4][5][6] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uppercase | A | B | Ch | E | Ë | G | H | I | K | M | N | Nd | Ny | Ng' | O | Ö | R | Rr | S | T | U | W | Y | ||||
| Lowercase | a | b | ch | e | ë | g | h | i | k | m | n | nd | ny | ng' | o | ö | r | rr | s | t | u | w | y | ||||
| IPA Symbol | a | β | t͡ʃ | e | ɛ | ɣ | h | i | k | m | n | n͡d | ɲ | ŋ | o | ɔ | ɾ | r | s | t | u | w | j | ||||
Phonology
editConsonants
edit| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | t | k | |||
| Fricative | β | s | ɣ | h | |
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |
| Trill | r | ||||
| Flap | ɾ | ||||
| Glide | j | ||||
| Prenasalized Stops | m͡b | n͡d | ŋ͡g | ||
| Affricates | t͡ʃ |
Vowels
edit| Advanced Tongue Root (+ATR) | -ATR | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front | Central | Back | Front | Central | Back | |
| Close | i | u | ||||
| Close-Mid | e | o | ||||
| Open-Mid | ɛ | ɔ | ||||
| Open | a | |||||
All vowels contrast length, and can be either short or long.
Bibliography
edit- Jelle Cammenga, Igikuria phonology and morphology : a Bantu language of South-West Kenya and North-West Tanzania, Köppe, Köln, 2004, 351 p. ISBN 3896450298 (revised text of a thesis)
- S. M. Muniko, B. Muita oMagige and M. J. Ruel (ed.), Kuria-English dictionary, LIT, Hambourg, 1996, 137 p. ISBN 3825829510
- W. H. Whiteley, The structure of the Kuria verbal and its position in the sentence, University of London, 1955, 161 p. (thesis)
- Phebe Yoder, Tata na Baba = Father and Mother : a first Kuria reader, Musoma Press, Musoma, Tanganyika, 1949, 44 p.
References
edit- ^ Ethnologue entry for Kuria
- ^ Kuria at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- ^ Rhonda L. Hartell, ed. 1993. The Alphabets of Africa. Dakar: UNESCO and Summer Institute of Linguistics
- ^ a b c Nyauma, Shem (2014). "A Phonological Reconstruction Of Ekegusii And Egekuria Nouns: A Comparative Analysis" (PDF). Masters Thesis, University of Nairobi.
- ^ Hartell, Rhonda, ed. (1993). Alphabets of Africa. UNESCO Regional Office in Dakar (BREDA). p. 186. ISBN 92-9091-020-3.
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