Sonjo language
Encyclopedia
Sonjo is a Bantu
language spoken in northern Tanzania
, 30–40 miles west of Lake Natron
. Ethnolinguistically, it is a displaced member of Guthrie
’s E50 group, most other members of which are found in Central Kenya. Within that group, it is most closely related to Gikuyu
. The Sonjo
people number about 30,000 (2002 SIL); many of them are bilingual in Swahili
, the local language of education. Sonjo is largely undescribed.
The Sonjo
have lived for centuries as an isolated enclave in Maasai territory. They are known for their use of irrigation systems in agriculture, a rare trait which causes some historians to link them to the hitherto unexplained ruined irrigation systems of Engaruka
, 60 miles to the southeast. The term Sonjo is the name given to the people by the Maasai; they call themselves ba-temi and their language ke-temi or gi-temi. Apart from inevitable Maasai (Eastern Nilotic
) influence, Sonjo shows influence from Chaga (Bantu E40), various Southern Cushitic languages, and from Southern Nilotic
. The Southern Cushitic influence has been attributed to an ancestral Ma'a or Dahalo
community, while the Southern Nilotic traits most probably come from Datooga
.
Bantu languages
The Bantu languages constitute a traditional sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages. There are about 250 Bantu languages by the criterion of mutual intelligibility, though the distinction between language and dialect is often unclear, and Ethnologue counts 535 languages...
language spoken in northern Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
, 30–40 miles west of Lake Natron
Lake Natron
Lake Natron is a salt lake located in northern Tanzania, close to the Kenyan border, in the eastern branch of Africa's Great Rift Valley. The lake is fed by the Ewaso Ng'iro River but also by mineral-rich hot springs and is quite shallow, less than three meters deep, and varies in width depending...
. Ethnolinguistically, it is a displaced member of Guthrie
Malcolm Guthrie
Malcolm Guthrie , professor of Bantu languages, is known primarily for his classification of Bantu languages...
’s E50 group, most other members of which are found in Central Kenya. Within that group, it is most closely related to Gikuyu
Gikuyu language
Gikuyu or Kikuyu is a language of the Bantu family spoken primarily by the Kikuyu people of Kenya. Numbering about 6 million , they are the largest ethnic group in Kenya. Gikuyu is spoken in the area between Nyeri and Nairobi. Gikuyu is one of the five languages of the Thagichu subgroup of the...
. The Sonjo
Sonjo
The Sonjo are a people living in northern Tanzania, 30-40 miles west of Lake Natron, who have lived for centuries as an isolated enclave in Maasai territory. In 2002 the Sonjo population was estimated to number 30,000...
people number about 30,000 (2002 SIL); many of them are bilingual in Swahili
Swahili language
Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
, the local language of education. Sonjo is largely undescribed.
The Sonjo
Sonjo
The Sonjo are a people living in northern Tanzania, 30-40 miles west of Lake Natron, who have lived for centuries as an isolated enclave in Maasai territory. In 2002 the Sonjo population was estimated to number 30,000...
have lived for centuries as an isolated enclave in Maasai territory. They are known for their use of irrigation systems in agriculture, a rare trait which causes some historians to link them to the hitherto unexplained ruined irrigation systems of Engaruka
Engaruka
Engaruka is an abandoned system of ruins in the Great Rift Valley of northern Tanzania , famed for its irrigation and cultivation system. It is considered one of the most important Tanzanian archaeological sites.-Site:...
, 60 miles to the southeast. The term Sonjo is the name given to the people by the Maasai; they call themselves ba-temi and their language ke-temi or gi-temi. Apart from inevitable Maasai (Eastern Nilotic
Eastern Nilotic languages
The Eastern Nilotic languages are one of the three primary branches of the Nilotic languages, themselves belonging to the Eastern Sudanic subfamily of Nilo-Saharan; they are believed to have begun to diverge about 3,000 years ago, and have spread southwards from an original home in Equatoria in...
) influence, Sonjo shows influence from Chaga (Bantu E40), various Southern Cushitic languages, and from Southern Nilotic
Southern Nilotic languages
The Southern Nilotic languages are spoken mainly in western Kenya and northern Tanzania . They are generally divided into two groups, Kalenjin and Omotik–Datooga, although there is some uncertainty as to the internal coherence of the Kalenjin branch...
. The Southern Cushitic influence has been attributed to an ancestral Ma'a or Dahalo
Dahalo language
Dahalo is an endangered South Cushitic language spoken by at most 400 people on the Kenyan coast near the mouth of the Tana River. The Dahalo, former elephant hunters, are dispersed among Swahili and other Bantu peoples, with no villages of their own, and are bilingual in those languages...
community, while the Southern Nilotic traits most probably come from Datooga
Datooga language
The Datooga language is a Nilotic language, or actually a dialect cluster, of the Southern group. It is spoken by the Datooga people of the Great Rift Valley of Tanzania....
.