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). They are generally divided into two groups, Kalenjin and Omotik-Datooga, although there is some uncertainty as to the internal coherence of the Kalenjin branch. Southern Nilotic languages appear to have been influenced considerably by Cushitic (Afro-Asiatic) languages. Mount Elgon is an extinct volcano on the border of Uganda and Kenya. ... The Kalenjin languages are a group of twelve related Southern Nilotic languages spoken in Kenya, eastern Uganda and northern Tanzania. ... The Cushitic languages are a subgroup of the Afro-Asiatic languages phylum, named after the Biblical figure Cush by analogy with Semitic. ... Map showing the distribution of Afro-Asiatic languages The Afro-Asiatic languages are a language family of about 240 languages and 285 million people widespread throughout North Africa, East Africa, the Sahel, and Southwest Asia. ...
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...
References
Rottland, Franz (1982) Die Südnilotischen Sprachen: Beschreibung, Vergleichung und Rekonstruktion (Kölner Beiträge zur Afrikanistik vol. 7). Berlin: Dietrich Reimer.
On the north this group is bounded by the non-Bantu languages of the Masai, Mbugu and Taturu, and on the south by the Ruaha river.
Ci-subiya is the dominant language of South-West Zambezia, along a portion of the Zambezi river south of Barotseland, and in the lands lying between the Zambezi and the Chobe-Linyante river.
Se-suto is the language of Basutoland; Se-rolon, Se-mangwato, of the Eastern Kalahri; Se-kololo is the court language of Barotseland; Ci-venda and Se-pedi or Peli are the principal dialects of the Transvaal.
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