Kuria language

Kuria
Igikuria
Native toKenya, Tanzania
EthnicityKuria people
Native speakers
690,000 (2005–2009)
Dialects
  • Kuria proper
  • Simbiti
  • Hacha
  • Surwa
  • Sweta
Latin, Arabic
Language codes
ISO 639-3kuj
Glottologkuri1259
JE.43,431–434

Kuria is a Bantu language spoken by the Kuria people of Northern Tanzania, with some speakers also residing in Kenya.

Maho (2009) treats the Simbiti, Hacha, Surwa, and Sweta varieties as distinct languages.

Phonology

Consonants

Kuria consonant phonemes
Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Prenasalized plosive ᵐb ⁿd ᵑg
Plosive/affricate t t͡ʃ k
Fricative β s ɣ h
Approximant j
Tap/flap ɾ
Trill r

Vowels

Kuria vowels
Front Back
+ATR -ATR +ATR -ATR
Close i u
Mid e ɛ o ɔ
Open a

All vowels contrast length, and can be either short or long.

Alphabet

Kuria alphabet (Kenya)
Uppercase ABChEËGHIKMNNdNyNg'OÖRRrSTUWY
Lowercase abcheëghikmnndnyng'oörrrstuwy
IPA Symbol aβt͡ʃeɛɣhikmnn͡dɲŋoɔɾrstuwj

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Ethnologue entry for Kuria
  2. ↑ Kuria at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  3. ↑ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  4. 1 2 3 Nyauma, Shem (2014). "A Phonological Reconstruction Of Ekegusii And Egekuria Nouns: A Comparative Analysis" (PDF). Masters Thesis, University of Nairobi.
  5. ↑ Rhonda L. Hartell, ed. 1993. The Alphabets of Africa. Dakar: UNESCO and Summer Institute of Linguistics
  6. ↑ Hartell, Rhonda, ed. (1993). Alphabets of Africa. UNESCO Regional Office in Dakar (BREDA). p. 186. ISBN 92-9091-020-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ignored ISBN errors (link)