Kipsigis (or Kipsikii, Kipsikiis) is part of the Kenyan Kalenjin dialect cluster,[1] It is spoken mainly in Kericho and Bomet counties in Kenya. The Kipsigis people are the most numerous tribe of the Kalenjin in Kenya, accounting for 60% of all Kalenjin speakers. Kipsigis is closely related to Nandi, Keiyo (Keyo, Elgeyo), South Tugen (Tuken), and Cherangany.
| Kipsigis | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Kenya |
| Ethnicity | Kipsigis |
Native speakers | 1.9 million (2009 census)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | sgc |
| Glottolog | kips1239 |
The Kipsigis territory is bordered to the south and southeast by the Maasai. To the west, Gusii (a Bantu language) is spoken. To the north-east, other Kalenjin people are found, mainly the Nandi. East from the Kipsigis, in the Mau forests, live some Okiek speaking tribes.
The Kipsigis language has two lengths of vowel sounds. When spoken, a single vowel has a short sound of that vowel whereas the duplication of a vowel indicates an elongated sound of that vowel. Most common nouns in the Kipsigis language end with a consonant when a common noun ends with a vowel; it will either be an a or o. Proper nouns such as names of places and people can end in any vowel.
Phonology edit
Consonants edit
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ |
| Stop | p | t | (c) | k |
| Affricate | tʃ | |||
| Fricative | s | |||
| Rhotic | r | |||
| Lateral | l | |||
| Approximant | j | w |
- /r/ can be heard as either a trill [r] or a tap [ɾ].
- /tʃ/ may also be realized as a palatal stop [c].
- /k/ may also have a voiced allophone [ɡ], as well as become spirantized as a voiced fricative [ɣ].[2]
Vowels edit
| +ATR | -ATR | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front | Back | Front | Back | |
| Close | i iː | u uː | i̙ i̙ː | u̙ u̙ː |
| Mid | e eː | o oː | e̙ e̙ː | o̙ o̙ː |
| Open | a aː | a̙ a̙ː | ||
Double vowels edit
Usually, the pronunciation of a double vowel does not mean a repetition of that vowel sound but rather an elongation of that particular vowel sound. An exception to that generalization shows up with the double ee.
Normally, the elongated vowel sounds follow the Latin vowel sounds. A few examples are given in the table below
| Vowel | As Kipsigis | As in English |
|---|---|---|
| aa | Kaap | mama, mark, margin, sharp |
| ii | Asiis | piece, peace, freeze, sneeze |
| oo | igoondiit
roopta |
gone
robe |
| uu | piyuut | root, boot |
The sound of the double ee may vary in pronunciation. For example:
| As in Kipsigis | As in English |
|---|---|
| akweet 'flock' | wet |
| beek 'water' | bake |
| meet 'death' | for this word, there are two sounds, as in lay-ette |
Pronunciation of ng' and ng edit
ng' has the sound of ng at the end of the English word sing.
ng, without the apostrophe, is pronounced as two separate syllables: n and g – as in the English word anger.
Aap edit
The Kipsigis word -aap is an integral part of the Kipsigis language with an equivocated status and usage as the English conjunction of. -aap, usually used as a cervix of a word with an hyphen implicates the subject matter with a possessive relation.
See also edit
Notes edit
- ^ See Kalenjin languages and Nandi–Markweta languages for a clarification of the Nandi/Kalenjin nomenclature.
References edit
- ^ Kipsigis at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Kouneli, Maria (2019). The Syntax of Number and Modification: An Investigation of the Kipsigis DP. New York University.