Akie language
| Akie | |
|---|---|
| Akiek, Mosiro | |
| kuuti táá akie | |
| Native to | Tanzania |
| Region | Manyara Region |
| Ethnicity | Akie |
Native speakers | <200 (2015)[1][2] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mwy (retired)[3][4] |
| Glottolog | mosi1247 |
Akie (Mosiro, Nandi, "(N)dorobo",[5] Akie: kuuti táá akie 'mouth of the Akie people'[2][6]) is a Kalenjin language spoken in Tanzania. It is a moribund endangered language, with only a few elders who speak it. The Akie people have adopted Maasai and Swahili, and it was reported in 1981 that younger generations are becoming less fluent in Akie.[7] No more than 200 people speak Akie as of 2015.[1]
Dialects
[edit]There is no dialectal variation in Akie.[2]
Phonology
[edit]Consonants
[edit]| Labial | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | plain | p | t | c ⟨ch⟩ | k | ||
| geminated | tː ⟨tt⟩ | cː ⟨cch⟩ | kː ⟨kk⟩ | ||||
| implosive | ɓ ⟨b⟩ | ɗ ⟨d⟩ | ʄ ⟨j⟩ | ɠ ⟨g⟩ | |||
| Fricative | (f) | s | ʃ ⟨sh⟩ | ||||
| Nasal | plain | m | n | ɲ ⟨ny⟩ | ŋ ⟨ng'⟩ | ||
| geminated | mː ⟨mm⟩ | nː ⟨nn⟩ | |||||
| Tap/Flap | ɾ ⟨r⟩ | ɽ ⟨rr⟩ | |||||
| Lateral | plain | l | |||||
| geminated | lː ⟨ll⟩ | ||||||
| Approximant | plain | w | j ⟨y⟩ | ||||
| geminated | ⁱj ⟨yy⟩ | ||||||
Geminated consonants /tː/, /cː/, /kː/, /mː/, /nː/ are not always distinguished by all speakers. /p/ is often realized as [ɸ], and also as [β] between vowels, but also as its basic value of [p] in all positions. Voiceless stops are typically realized as weak fortis consonants, however after nasals and intervocalically, they are voiced. [f] is only found in loanwords.[2]
Vowels
[edit]| +ATR | -ATR | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front | Central | Back | Front | Central | Back | |
| Close | i | u | ɪ | ʊ | ||
| Mid | e | o | ɛ | ɔ | ||
| Open | a | |||||
Vowel length is distinctive.[2]
References
[edit]- 1 2 Heine, Bernd; König, Christa; Legère, Karsten (2014), "What does it mean to be an endangered language? The state of Akie, a Tanzanian language", Current Research in African Studies: Papers in Honour of Mwalimu Dr. Eugeniusz Rzewuski, Warsaw: Dom Wydawniczy Elipsa, pp. 107–122, retrieved 2026-04-07
- 1 2 3 4 5 Heine, Bernd; König, Christa; Legère, Karsten (2015). The Akie Language of Tanzania: A Sketch of Discourse Grammar (PDF). Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa.
- ↑ "Change Request Documentation: 2016-029". SIL International.
- ↑ Legère, Karsten (2016-08-31). "Change Request Number: 2016-029" (PDF). SIL International.
Mosiro is known among the current Akie community in Tanzania as a clan name, and not as a linguistic variety mentioned by Maguire in his Il-Torobo 1948 paper, If this language variety has ever existed, it must have been some 80 years ago, but today Mosiro should only be retained as a clan name within the Akie ethnic group.
- ↑ "Glottolog 5.3 - Akie". glottolog.org. Retrieved 2026-04-07.
- ↑ König, Christa; Heine, Bernd; Legère, Karsten (2024-05-15). "Akie as a Language Island". Journal of Language Contact. 16 (2–3): 198–215. doi:10.1163/19552629-01602004. ISSN 1877-4091.
- ↑ "UNESCO Communication and Information: Akie". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
Further reading
[edit]- Legère, Karsten; König, Christa (2013), Akie: A heavily endangered hunter‐gatherers’ language in Central Tanzania (PDF)