Masaba language

Masaba
Masaba
Lumasaba
Native to	Uganda
Region	Eastern Uganda, south of the Kupsabiny, Bugisu Province
Ethnicity	Masaba, Luhya
Native speakers	2.7 million (2002 & 2009 censuses)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu Northeast Bantu Great Lakes Bantu Masaba–Luhya (J.30) Masaba; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Dialects	Gisu; Kisu; Bukusu; Syan; Tachoni; Dadiri; Buya;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Variously:; myx – Masaba (Gisu, Kisu, Dadiri, Buya); bxk – Bukusu (Tachoni); lts – Tachoni
Glottolog	masa1299 Masaaba; buku1249 Bukusu; tach1242 Tachoni
Guthrie code	JE.31

Masaba (Lumasaaba), sometimes known as Gisu (Lugisu) after one of its dialects, is a Bantu language spoken by more than two million people in East Africa. The Gisu dialect in eastern Uganda is mutually intelligible with Bukusu, spoken by ethnic Luhya in western Kenya. Masaba is the local name of Mount Elgon and the name of the son of the ancestor of the Gisu tribe. Like other Bantu languages, Lumasaba nouns are divided into several sets of noun classes. These are similar to the genders in Germanic and Romance languages, except that instead of the usual two or three, there are around eighteen different noun classes. The language has a quite complex verb morphology.

^ Masaba (Gisu, Kisu, Dadiri, Buya) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Bukusu (Tachoni) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Tachoni at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online

[e18-1] Masaba (Gisu, Kisu, Dadiri, Buya) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Bukusu (Tachoni) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Tachoni at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[Guthrie-2] Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online

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