The Nandi languages, or Kalenjin proper, are a dialect cluster of the Kalenjin

Kalenjin languages

The Kalenjin languages are a group of twelve related Southern Nilotic languages spoken in Kenya, eastern Uganda and northern Tanzania. The term Kalenjin comes from a Nandi expression meaning 'I say '...

 branch of the Nilotic

Nilotic

Nilotic people or Nilotes, in its contemporary usage, refers to some ethnic groups mainly in South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and northern Tanzania, who speak Nilotic languages, a large sub-group of the Nilo-Saharan languages...

 language family.

In Kenya, where speakers make up 18% of the population, the name Kalenjin

Kalenjin

Kalenjin is an ethnic group of Nilotic origin living in the Great Rift Valley in western Kenya and eastern Uganda. The Kalenjin population is estimated at roughly 4.4 million. There are several smaller tribal groupings within the Kalenjin: Elgeyo, Endorois, Kipsigis, Marakwet, Nandi, Pokot,...

, a Nandi expression meaning "I say (to you)", gained prominence in the late 1940s and the early 1950s, when several Kalenjin-speaking peoples united under it. This ethnic consolidation created a major ethnic group in Kenya, and also involved a standardization of the Kenyan Kalenjin dialects. However, since outside Kenya the name Kalenjin has been extended to related languages such as Okiek of Tanzania and Elgon languages

Elgon languages

The Elgon languages are languages of the Southern Nilotic Kalenjin family spoken in the Mount Elgon area in western Kenya and eastern Uganda. According to the Ethnologue, there are two main Elgon languages: Kupsabiny and Sabaot...

 of Uganda, it is common in linguistic literature to refer to the languages of the Kenyan Kalenjin peoples as Nandi, after the principal variety.

Varieties

The Kenyan conception of Kalenjin includes Kipsigis

Kipsigis language

Kipsigis is part of the Kenyan Kalenjin dialect cluster, commonly called Nandi . It is spoken mainly in the Kericho district of the Rift Valley Province in Kenya. The Kipsigis people are the most numerous tribe of the Kalenjin in Kenya...

 and Terik

Terik language

Terik is a Kalenjin language of Kenya.The language of the Terik is closely related to the Elgon languages Pok and especially Bong'om. Part of the vocabulary is related exclusively to the Elgon languages, for example words like murwaket 'snail', puntet 'nail', and musempet 'sheep tail'...

 but not Markweta

Markweta language

Markweta is a Kalenjin language of Kenya. The regional terms Endo and Sambirir have been used for northern and southern Markweta, but they are not distinct dialects....

, which is as closely related, and excludes several hunter-gatherer ("Dorobo

Dorobo

Dorobo is a derogatory umbrella term for several unrelated hunter-gatherer groups of Kenya and Tanzania....

") peoples who are not ethnically Kalenjin. The ethnic Kenyan Kalenjin are the Nandi proper (Cemual), Terik (Nyang'ori), Kipsigis, Keiyo, South Tugen (Tuken), and Cherangany. The varieties linguistically classified as Nandi in Ethnologue 16 (2009) are:

• Nandi–Markweta
  • Kipsigis
    Kipsigis language
    Kipsigis is part of the Kenyan Kalenjin dialect cluster, commonly called Nandi . It is spoken mainly in the Kericho district of the Rift Valley Province in Kenya. The Kipsigis people are the most numerous tribe of the Kalenjin in Kenya...
    
    
  • Terik
    Terik language
    Terik is a Kalenjin language of Kenya.The language of the Terik is closely related to the Elgon languages Pok and especially Bong'om. Part of the vocabulary is related exclusively to the Elgon languages, for example words like murwaket 'snail', puntet 'nail', and musempet 'sheep tail'...
    
    
  • Markweta
    Markweta language
    Markweta is a Kalenjin language of Kenya. The regional terms Endo and Sambirir have been used for northern and southern Markweta, but they are not distinct dialects....
    
    
  • Nandi
    • Nandi (Cemual) (Kenya)
    • Keiyo (Kenya)
    • (North) Tugen
      Tugen language
      Tugen is the language spoken by the about 200 000 Tugen people of the broader Kalenjin group in Kenya. As a part of the Kalenjin dialect cluster, it is most closely related to such varieties as Kipsigis and Nandi....
      
       (Kenya)
    • Kisankasa  ("Dorobo", Tanzania)
    • Aramanik
      Aramanik language
      Aramanik is a Nilo-Saharan language spoken in the Arusha Region of Tanzania by 3,000 people. It is the primary language of the hunter-gatherer Aramanik, who have limited comprehension of other languages. The Aramanik are also called derogatory Dorobo ....
      
       ("Dorobo", Tanzania)
    • Mediak ("Dorobo", Tanzania)
    • Mosiro ("Dorobo", Tanzania) (considered a variety of Ogiek
      Ogiek language
      Ogiek is a Southern Nilotic language cluster of the Kalenjin family spoken or once spoken by the Ogiek peoples, scattered groups of hunter-gatherers in Southern Kenya and Northern Tanzania...
      
      by Rottland (1982) and Sommer (1992), but assimilated to Nandi)

The Lord's Prayer in Kalenjin

Kwandanyo ne mi kipsengwet,

Ingotililit kaineng'ung.

Ingonyo bounateng'ung.

Ingoyaak eng' ng'ony mageng'ung',

Ko u ye kiyaei eng' kipsengwet.

Konech rani amitwogikyok che bo ra.

Ak inyoiywech kaat lelutikyok,

ko u ye kinyochini kaat che lelwech.

Amemutech ole mi yomset,

ago soruech eng' ne ya.

Amu neng'ung' bounatet, ak kamuktaet, ak torornatet, agoi koigeny.

Amen.

External links

• Kalenjin–English Dictionary
• A Kalenjin website
• PanAfrican L10n page on Kalenjin