Eastern Nilotic languages

Eastern Nilotic
Geographic distribution:	Southern Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya and northern Tanzania
Genetic classification:	Nilo-Saharan  Eastern Sudanic   Nilotic    Eastern Nilotic
Subdivisions:	Bari Teso-Lotuko-Maa

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.

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.

See also

• Western Nilotic languages
• Southern Nilotic languages

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

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