Kuria is a Bantu language spoken by the Kuria people of Northern Tanzania, with some speakers also residing in Kenya.
Maho (2009) treats the Simbiti, Hacha, Surwa, and Sweta varieties as distinct languages.
Alphabet
| Kuria alphabet (Kenya)123 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uppercase | A | B | Ch | E | Ë | G | H | I | K | M | N | Nd | Ny | Ng' | O | Ö | R | Rr | S | T | U | W | Y | ||||
| Lowercase | a | b | ch | e | ë | g | h | i | k | m | n | nd | ny | ng' | o | ö | r | rr | s | t | u | w | y | ||||
| IPA Symbol | a | β | t͡ʃ | e | ɛ | ɣ | h | i | k | m | n | n͡d | ɲ | ŋ | o | ɔ | ɾ | r | s | t | u | w | j | ||||
Phonology
Consonants
Kuria consonant phonemes4| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | t | k | |||
| Fricative | β | s | ɣ | h | |
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |
| Trill | r | ||||
| Flap | ɾ | ||||
| Glide | j | ||||
| Prenasalized Stops | m͡b | n͡d | ŋ͡g | ||
| Affricates | t͡ʃ |
Vowels
Kuria vowels5| Advanced Tongue Root (+ATR) | -ATR | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front | Central | Back | Front | Central | Back | |
| Close | i | u | ||||
| Close-Mid | e | o | ||||
| Open-Mid | ɛ | ɔ | ||||
| Open | a | |||||
All vowels contrast length, and can be either short or long.
Bibliography
- Jelle Cammenga, Igikuria phonology and morphology : a Bantu language of South-West Kenya and North-West Tanzania, Köppe, Köln, 2004, 351 p. ISBN 3896450298 (revised text of a thesis)
- S. M. Muniko, B. Muita oMagige and M. J. Ruel (ed.), Kuria-English dictionary, LIT, Hambourg, 1996, 137 p. ISBN 3825829510
- W. H. Whiteley, The structure of the Kuria verbal and its position in the sentence, University of London, 1955, 161 p. (thesis)
- Phebe Yoder, Tata na Baba = Father and Mother : a first Kuria reader, Musoma Press, Musoma, Tanganyika, 1949, 44 p.
References
Rhonda L. Hartell, ed. 1993. The Alphabets of Africa. Dakar: UNESCO and Summer Institute of Linguistics ↩
Nyauma, Shem (2014). "A Phonological Reconstruction Of Ekegusii And Egekuria Nouns: A Comparative Analysis" (PDF). Masters Thesis, University of Nairobi. http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/bitstream/handle/11295/99544/Nyauma_A%20Phonological%20Reconstruction%20of%20Ekegusii%20and%20Egekuria%20Nouns-a%20Comparative%20Analysis.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y ↩
Hartell, Rhonda, ed. (1993). Alphabets of Africa. UNESCO Regional Office in Dakar (BREDA). p. 186. ISBN 92-9091-020-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ignored ISBN errors (link) 92-9091-020-3 ↩
Nyauma, Shem (2014). "A Phonological Reconstruction Of Ekegusii And Egekuria Nouns: A Comparative Analysis" (PDF). Masters Thesis, University of Nairobi. http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/bitstream/handle/11295/99544/Nyauma_A%20Phonological%20Reconstruction%20of%20Ekegusii%20and%20Egekuria%20Nouns-a%20Comparative%20Analysis.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y ↩
Nyauma, Shem (2014). "A Phonological Reconstruction Of Ekegusii And Egekuria Nouns: A Comparative Analysis" (PDF). Masters Thesis, University of Nairobi. http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/bitstream/handle/11295/99544/Nyauma_A%20Phonological%20Reconstruction%20of%20Ekegusii%20and%20Egekuria%20Nouns-a%20Comparative%20Analysis.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y ↩