Kupsabiny language

Kupsabiny (Sabiny), or Sebei, is a Kalenjin language a Southern Nilotic language of eastern Uganda.

Kupsabiny
Sabiny
Native to	Uganda
Region	Kween District, Kapchorwa District and Bukwo District
Ethnicity	Sebei
Native speakers	270,000 (2014 census)[1]
Language family	Nilo-Saharan? Eastern Sudanic Nilotic Southern Nilotic Kalenjin Elgon Kupsabiny
Writing system	Latin script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	kpz
Glottolog	kups1238

Classification

Kupsabiny and a dozen other languages form the Southern Nilotic branch of the Nilotic family. The closest relative of Kupsabiny is Sabaot, spoken across the border in Kenya.^[2]

Speakers

There are about 360,000 people in the world who currently speak the language, most of them being native speakers. The number of speakers is currently growing and the language is considered developing.^[3] Although the language is spoken primarily by Sebei people, it is taught in many primary schools and even beyond to boost communication levels.

Language

The language Kupsabiny of the sebei is solely spoken in Uganda. The native speakers of the language are the Sebei people, an ethnic group who live in Uganda. Kupsabiny is a Nilotic language; along with many other languages of the Nilotic peoples. The language is highly tonal. There are 9 vowels and 14 consonants. The language is written with Latin script since 1975 (revised in 2010). Kupsabiny is taught in primary schools and is backed by literacy campaigns to help aid with communication across Uganda.^[1]

Phonology

13 consonants are in Sebei (Kupsabiny):

	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar
Nasal	m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Plosive	p	t	c	k
Fricative		s
Lateral		l
Rhotic		ɾ
Approximant	w		j

There are a variety of consonant allophones in Sebei (Kupsabiny):

	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal/ Postalveolar	Velar
Nasal	m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Plosive	p, [b]	t, [tʰ, d]	c, [tʃ, tʃʼ, dʒ]	k, [kʰ, ɡ]
Fricative		s, [ʃ, z]
Lateral		l
Rhotic		ɾ, [r]
Approximant	w		j

Sebei (Kupsabiny) has 6 vowels:

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid	e		o
			ɔ
Low		a

Vowels with short and long vowel allophones listed in brackets are below:

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
	[ɪ]		[ʊ]
Mid	e		[ɤ]	o
	[ɛ]		[ʌ]	ɔ
Low	[æ]
	a	[ä]

Tone is marked as high, mid, or low.^[4]

References

1. Kupsabiny at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
2. Distefano, John Albert (1985). The precolonial history of the Kalenjin of Kenya: a methodological comparison of linguistic and oral traditional evidence.
3. "Where on earth do they speak Kupsabiny?". www.verbix.com. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
4. O'Brien, Richard; Cuypers, Wim A.M. (1975). A descriptive sketch of the grammar of Sebei. Washington, D. C.: Georgetown University Press.