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Masai

Masai is a Nilotic language spoken in Tanzania and Kenya.

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Masai · 3.1°S 36.5°E

Maasai (previously spelled Masai) or Maa (English: MAH-sye; autonym: ɔl Maa) is an Eastern Nilotic language spoken in Southern Kenya and Northern Tanzania by the Maasai people, numbering about 1.5 million. It is closely related to the other Maa varieties: Samburu (or Sampur), the language of the Samburu people of central Kenya, Chamus, spoken south and southeast of Lake Baringo (sometimes regarded as a dialect of Samburu); and Parakuyu of Tanzania. The Maasai, Samburu, il-Chamus and Parakuyu peoples are historically related and all refer to their language as ɔl Maa. Properly speaking, "Maa" refers to the language and the culture and "Maasai" refers to the people "who speak Maa".

From Wikipedia · Maasai language · CC BY-SA 4.0

Written down

Iyiolo iltung’anak pooki naa ketoiwuoki naa kenare enkishui o sipat. Naa kenare nikiyanyit irkulikae enaa ilalashera.

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR in Unicode).

Words in Masai

MeaningWordRomanization
womanenkitok
nameenkarna
eyeengogu
earenkiook
noseenkume
headelukunya
waterenkare
moonolapa
starolakira
skyenkai
treeolcani
dogoldia
onenabo
milkkule
hellosopa
houseenkaji

Most similar languages

Vocabulary

Grammar

Vocabulary compares 40 basic words (ASJP); grammar compares 195 features (Grambank). Similar is not always related.

Nearby languages

Elsewhere

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Glottolog · masa1300 · Wikipedia (English) · Ethnologue · mas