East Nyanza languages
| East Nyanza | |
|---|---|
| Gusii-Kuria | |
| Geographic distribution | Mara Region, Migori County, Kisii County, Nyamira County, Mfangano Island |
| Linguistic classification | Niger–Congo? |
| Proto-language | Proto-East Nyanza[1] |
| Subdivisions |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | east2750 |
The East Nyanza languages form a subgroup of the Great Lakes Bantu languages spoken in Kenya and Tanzania.
History
[edit]Proto-East Nyanza speakers migrated into the Mara region in 100 AD and subsequently split into the Suguti and Mara branches around 300 AD. As the early East Nyanza speakers migrated into the Mara Region (and later, western kenya), they encountered Southern Cushitic and Kuliak peoples, whom they absorbed and were culturally influenced by. They were later also influenced by a now-extinct branch of southern Nilotic people who were migrating into the Mara Region from the north at the same time as the East Nyanza peoples. The early East Nyanza peoples were matrilineal, which aided them in absorbing Kuliak, Cushitic, and Nilotic males into their societies.[2][3][4]
Classification
[edit]The East Nyanza languages are classified within the Glottolog database as follows:[5]
References
[edit]- ^ A Green Place, a Good Place: Agrarian Change, Gender, and Social Identity in the Great Lakes Region to the 15th Century. Boydell & Brewer, Limited. 1998. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-85255-681-8.
- ^ A Green Place, a Good Place: Agrarian Change, Gender, and Social Identity in the Great Lakes Region to the 15th Century. Boydell & Brewer, Limited. 1998. pp. 46, 100–101. ISBN 978-0-85255-681-8.
- ^ An African Classical Age: Eastern and Southern Africa in World History, 1000 B.C. to A.D. 400. pp. 195–196.
- ^ Telling Our Own Stories: Local Histories from South Mara, Tanzania. pp. 10, 12–13, 307.
- ^ https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/east2750