Waata
Waata is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Kenya, by about 12.6 thousand people. Glottolog rates it threatened.
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The Waata language is a dialect of Orma or otherwise Southern Oromo spoken by the Waata people of Kenya.
On 5 July 2025, after a thirteen year translation project, the New Testament of the Bible was published in Waata. The translation was overseen by Wycliffe Bible Translators and Bible Translation and Literacy. The launch of the New Testament took place at the Mapimo Vocational Training Center in Gongonie, Kilifi County. Work has begun on the Old Testament in the Waata language.
The Jesus Film was launched in 2018 of the language.
From Wikipedia · Waata language · CC BY-SA 4.0
Words in Waata
| Meaning | Word | Romanization |
|---|---|---|
| person | nama* | |
| name | maka* | |
| eye | ila* | |
| ear | gura* | |
| nose | funani* | |
| tooth | ilkani* | |
| tongue | arawa* | |
| hand | harka* | |
| blood | diga* | |
| bone | lefeti* | |
| skin | kokoro* | |
| knee | jilba* | |
| breast | horma* | |
| liver | tiru* | |
| water | binsu* | |
| fire | abida* | |
| sun | adu* | |
| star | urji* | |
| stone | dakaCi* | |
| mountain | kuwisa* | |
| tree | muka* | |
| leaf | kola* | |
| night | halkani* | |
| dog | sere* | |
| fish | kurtumi* | |
| louse | anjirani* | |
| one | toko* | |
| two | lama* | |
| I | ana* | |
| you | si* |
* in the simplified ASJP transcription
Most similar languages
Vocabulary
- OrmaAfro-Asiatic79% alike
- Eastern OromoAfro-Asiatic69% alike
- Borana-Arsi-Guji OromoAfro-Asiatic67% alike
- OromoAfro-Asiatic51% alike
- DirashaAfro-Asiatic26% alike
- BurjiAfro-Asiatic25% alike
Vocabulary compares 40 basic words (ASJP); grammar compares 195 features (Grambank). Similar is not always related.
Nearby languages
Elsewhere
Glottolog · waat1238 · Wikipedia (English) · Ethnologue · ssn