Markwet language
This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2024) |
| Markwet | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Kenya |
| Ethnicity | Marakwet |
Native speakers | 180,000 (2009 census)[1] |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | enb |
| Glottolog | mark1255 |
| ELP | Lua error in Module:Endangered_Languages_Project at line 21: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
Markwet (Markweeta) is a Kalenjin language of Kenya. The regional terms Endo and Sambirir (or the clan name Talai) have been used for northern and southern Markweta, but they are not distinct dialects. The unmarked word order is Verb–subject–object.
Phonology
[edit | edit source]Vowels
[edit | edit source]Markweta has five basic vowels: /a, e, i, o, u/. All vowels have variants based on tongue root position and length, for a total of 20 distinct vowel phonemes.
The vowels /o:/ and /a:/ are both pronounced like /ɔ:/, and can only be distinguished by looking at affixes.[2]
Consonants
[edit | edit source]Markweta has 13 consonants:
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ |
| Plosive | p | t | c | k |
| Fricative | s | |||
| Approximant | l | j | w | |
| Trill | r |
Morphology
[edit | edit source]Markweta has gender. Gender is realized as a prefix added primarily for person nouns and animal names, but sometimes inanimate objects.
The prefixes kaa- and kii- are used to indicate nominalization.
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Markwet at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
Lua error in Module:Authority_control at line 153: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).