Glottolog gusi1247 | ISO 639-3 guz | |
Native speakers 2.2 million (2009 census) Language family Niger–CongoAtlantic–CongoBenue–CongoBantoidBantuNortheast BantuGreat Lakes BantuLogooli–Kuria (E.40)Gusii | ||
The Gusii language (also known as Kisii or Ekegusii) is a Bantu language spoken in the Kisii district in western Kenya, whose headquarters is Kisii town, (between the Kavirondo Gulf of Lake Victoria and the border with Tanzania). It is spoken by the Gusii people, numbering about 2.0 million (SIL/Ethnologue 1994). A few Gusii people are bilingual in Luo.
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Vowels
Gusii has seven vowels. Vowel length is contrastive, i.e. the words 'bór' to miss and 'bóór' to say are distinguished by vowel length only.
Consonants
In the table below, orthographic symbols are included between brackets if they differ from the IPA symbols. Note especially the use of ‘y’ for IPA /j/, common in African orthographies. When symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a voiced consonant.
The following morphophonological alternations occur: