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 the far south of 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. The Nilotic languages are a group of Eastern Sudanic languages spoken across a wide area between southern Sudan and Tanzania by the Nilotic peoples, particularly associated with cattle-herding. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Map showing the distribution of the Nilo-Saharan languages. ... Equatoria was a province of Egypt, located in the extreme south of present-day Sudan along the upper reaches of the White Nile. ... East Africa is a region generally considered to include: Djibouti Eritrea Ethiopia Kenya Somalia Tanzania Uganda [[Image:Example. ... In a draw in a mountainous region, a shepherd guides a flock of about 20 sheep amidst scrub and olive trees. ...

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

• Bari languages
• Teso-Lotuko-Maa:
  • Teso-Turkana languages (or Ateker languages)
    • Teso language
    • Turkana language
    • Karimojong language
  • Lotuko-Maa:
    • Lotuko languages
      • Lotuko language
      • Lopit language
      • Lokoya language
      • Dongotono language
    • Ongamo-Maa languages
      • 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. The Turkana language is the language of the Turkana people of Kenya. ... Ongamo (or Ngasa) is an endangered or extinct Eastern Nilotic language of Tanzania. ... The Maa languages, or Maa dialects, are a group of Eastern Nilotic languages spoken in parts of Kenya and Tanzania by more than a million speakers altogether. ... Maasai is an Eastern Nilotic language spoken in Southern Kenya and Northern Tanzania by the Maasai people, numbering about 900,000. ... The Mukogodo-Maasai (formerly Yaaku) are a people living in the Mukogodo Division of the Laikipia District of Rift Valley Province, Kenya. ... The Camus (sometimes spelled Chamus or Tiamus, also known as Njemps), are a Maa people living south and southeast of Lake Baringo, Kenya. ... Samburu is the Eastern Nilotic, North Maa language spoken by the Samburu in the highlands of northern Kenya. ...

See also

• Western Nilotic languages
• Southern Nilotic languages

The Western Nilotic languages are one of the three primary branches of the Nilotic languages, themselves belonging to the Eastern Sudanic subfamily of Nilo-Saharan. ... The Southern Nilotic languages are spoken mainly in western Kenya and northern Tanzania (with one of them, Kupsabiny or Sapiny, being spoken on the Ugandan side of Mount Elgon). ...

Bibliography

• Rainer Vossen. The Eastern Nilotes: Linguistic and Historical Reconstructions. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag 1982. ISBN 3-496-000698-6.

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