// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did the Kuria language say? It's a tongue-twister.

Kuria
Igikuria
Native to	Kenya, Tanzania
Ethnicity	Kuria people
Native speakers	690,000 (2005–2009)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu Northeast Bantu Great Lakes Bantu Logooli–Kuria (E.40) Kuria
Dialects	Kuria proper Simbiti Hacha Surwa Sweta
Writing system	Latin, Arabic
Language codes
ISO 639-3	kuj
Glottolog	kuri1259
Guthrie code	JE.43,431–434

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.

Phonology

Consonants

Kuria consonant phonemes

	Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Prenasalized plosive	ᵐb	ⁿd		ᵑg
Plosive/affricate		t	t͡ʃ	k
Fricative	β	s		ɣ	h
Approximant			j
Tap/flap		ɾ
Trill		r

Vowels

Kuria vowels

	Front		Back
	+ATR	-ATR	+ATR	-ATR
Close	i		u
Mid	e	ɛ	o	ɔ
Open	a

All vowels contrast length, and can be either short or long.

Alphabet

	Kuria alphabet (Kenya)
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

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.