Pokomo language

Pokomo
Kipfokomo
Native toKenya
RegionTana River District
EthnicityPokomo
Native speakers
95,000 (2009 census)[1]
Dialects
  • Gwano
  • Kinakomba
  • Malalulu
  • Ndera
  • Ndura
  • Zubaki
Language codes
ISO 639-3pkb
Glottologpoko1261
E.71[2]

Pokomo (Kipfokomo) is a Bantu language spoken primarily along the East African coast near the Tana River in the Tana River District by the Pokomo people of Kenya. The Kipfokomo language originated from the Kingozi language, which is also the ancestor of Swahili. Pokomos are the only tribe in the world that speak "Kingozi" and sometimes are referred to as wangozi because they used to wear skins (Ngozi). All adult speakers of Pokomo are bilingual in Swahili, the lingua franca of much of East Africa.

There is high of lexical similarity between other languages like Mvita (63%), Amu (61%), Mrima (60%), Kigiryama (59%), Chidigo (58%) or Bajun (57%).

Phonology

Consonants[3]
Bilabial Labiodental Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive p b t̪ d̪ t d k g
Affricate ts dz tʃ dʒ
Implosive ɓ ɗ ʄ
Fricative ɸ β f v ð s z ʃ ɣ h
Nasal m n ɲ
Trill r̥ r
Approximant w l j
Vowels[3]
Front Central Back
High i iː u uː
Mid e eː o oː
Low a aː

Pokomo does not have phonemic tone.[3]

References

  1. ^ Pokomo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. ^ a b c Ipu, Hyslop P. (1982). A phonological description of the sounds of Lower Kipfokomo (MA thesis). University of Nairobi.
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