The Kwavi language is the language or dialect of Maasai spoken by the Kwavi or Parakuyo (aka Baraguyu) sub-tribe of the Maasai in Tanzania. It is listed by the Ethnologue as unclassified[1] (http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=CKG), but this appears to be an accidental omission. A variety of sources confirm that it is Maasai, or at least a dialect thereof.
According to Hurskainen (1994), "The Parakuyo (earlier also called Ilparakuyo, Baraguyu, Kwavi, Lumbwa, and Iloikop) are a Maa-speaking ethnic group scatttered over a large area in the northeastern and central parts of Tanzania", while Beidelman (1960) confirms that "Kwavi" and "Baraguyu" are indeed synonymous. Legère (2002) says, while discussing inconsistencies in the SIL reports on which the Ethnologue entries are based, that "Baraguyu is included under Maasai dialects, while Kwavi and Parakuyo (which is an alternative form of Baraguyu) are claimed to be unclassified", and the Ethnologue itself notes that "Kwavi may be a dialect (of Maasai)."[2] (http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=MET)
Linguasphere lists it as a member of the Maasai-Ongamo chain[3] (http://www.linguasphere.net/secure/ip/pdf/zones/04.pdf), and a "peripheral" Maasai community, and Jouni Maho lists it as East Nilotic[4] (http://www.african.gu.se/tanzania/weblinks.html).
Bibliography
T.O. Beidelman. "The Baraguyu", in Tanganyika notes and records, 1960, no. 55, p. 244-278.
Arvi Hurskainen. "Plant taxonomy of the Parakuyo (Tanzania)" in Nordic Journal of African Studies, 1994, vol. 3, no. 2, p. 117-162
Karsten Legère. 2002. The "Languages of Tanzania" Project: background, resources and perspectives (http://www.african.gu.se/aa/pdfs/aa02legere.pdf). Africa and Asia, No. 2, 2002.
Kwavi is the dialect of Maasai spoken by the Kwavi or Parakuyo (aka Baraguyu) sub-tribe of the Maasai in Tanzania.
It was formerly listed as "unclassified" by the Ethnologue, which corrected this mistake in the 15th edition by incorporating it in Maasai.
According to Hurskainen (1994), "The Parakuyo (earlier also called Ilparakuyo, Baraguyu, Kwavi, Lumbwa, and Iloikop) are a Maa -speaking ethnic group scatttered over a large area in the northeastern and central parts of Tanzania ", while Beidelman (1960) confirms that "Kwavi" and "Baraguyu" are synonymous.
Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics), a Christian linguistic service organization which studies lesser-known languages primarily to provide the speakers with native language biblical texts.
The Ethnologue contains statistics for 6,912 languages in the 15th edition, released in 2005 (up from 6,809 in the 14th edition, released 2000) and gives the number of speakers, location, dialects, linguistic affiliations, availability of the Bible, etc. It is currently the most comprehensive existing language inventory, along with the Linguasphere Register.
The neutrality of Ethnologue as a scientific institution is sometimes disputed, particularly in areas of language classification associated with the Bible and Abrahamic religion.
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