On this page/Sur cette page... (hide)
Nandi, Kipsigis, Terik, Keiyo, Tugen, Cherangany
Nandi and Kipsigis, are two of the many languages found under the increasingly popular cover term "Kalenjin" (often used for the southern subgroup of Nilotic). (Webbook)
"The present name for the dialect cluster gained prominense in the late 1940s and the early 1950s, when several Nandi-speaking peoples united to assume the common name 'Kalenjin', a Nandi expression meaning I say (to you). Due to this effort, the peoples were transformed into a major ethnic group in Kenya. The adoption of the name Kalenjin also involved a standardization of the different dialects." (Wikipedia)
Ethnologue lists the classification as: Nilo-Saharan, Eastern Sudanic, Nilotic, Southern, Kalenjin, Nandi-Markweta, Nandi
Rift Valley Province, Kenya. (Nandi is spoken in Nandi, North Nyanza, and Kericho Districts; Kipsigis in Kericho District.) (Webbook)
2,458,123 (1989 census). Population includes 471,459 Kipsigis, 261,969 Nandi, 110,908 Keiyo, 130,249 Tugen (1980 Heine and Möhlig) (Ethnologue)
Kalenjinis a cluster of closely related dialects spoken in Western Kenya and the Rift Valley by about 12% of Kenya's population. (Wikipedia)
Rottland (personal communication, 1983) has remarked that the problem with "the term Kalenjin [is that it] implies the existence of a standard, or at least a variant which is understood throughout the area. Both are false." One limited survey has been carried out by van Otterloo (n.d.) [that indicates seven different dialects]. Heine (1980) notes 12 dialects in Kalenjin. (Webbook)
According to Ethnologue:
Kalenjin has been used in the police, army, and to some extent "in the Game Department" (Whiteley 1974). It is broadcast over the Voice of Kenya. (Webbook)
Literacy rate (according to Ethnologue):
Nandi and Kipsigis have standardized orthographies. (Webbook)
[This is apparently a simple Latin alphabet but with diacritics in Nandi?]
Samples on the "Language museum" site:
Most Latin fonts would probably suffice. [verify]
Kanenjin Online has some Kalenjin content: http://www.kalenjin.net/
None known of.
The apparent diversity of dialects might complicate localisation efforts, and the low literacy rates in it do not promise an automatic market. On the other hand, if the use of Kalenjin in broadcast media indicates a standard or emerging standard, something might be tried based on it.
Note the divergent opinions on a standard Kalanjin from the Webbook, which date from the 1980s and earlier, and the more recent (but not as clearly referenced) Wikipedia article on "Kalenjin language."
Dwyer, David (1997), Webbook of African Languages, http://www.isp.msu.edu/AfrLang/hiermenu.html (page on "Kalenjin (Nandi/Kipsigis)," http://www.isp.msu.edu/AfrLang/Kalenjin_root.html )
SIL International, Ethnologue: Languages of the World, "Kalenjin," http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=kln
SIL International, "ISO 639 Code Tables," http://www.sil.org/iso639-3/codes.asp
U.S. Library of Congress, "ISO 639.2: Codes for the Representation of Names of Languages: Alpha-3 codes arranged alphabetically by the English name of language," http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/English_list.php
Wikipedia, Kalenjin language, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalenjin_language
______, "Kalenjin languages," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalenjin_languages
______, "Kipsigis language," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kipsigis_language
______, "Tugen language," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tugen_language
