Also Known As:
Olusuba
Dialects & Varieties
- Kaksingri
- Wiregi
- Ungoe
- Mfangano
- Gwasi
- Muhuru
- Suna
Language shift among the Suba of Kenya
Rottland, Franz and Duncan Okoth okombo. 1992. "Language Shift Among the Suba of Kenya." In Language death: factual and theoretical explorations with special reference to East Africa, edited by Matthias Brenzinger. 273-283. Mouton de Gruyter.
Threatened
60 percent certain, based on the evidence available
Speaker Number Trends
Speaker Number Trend 2
A majority of community members speak the language. Speaker numbers are gradually decreasing.
2
Domains of Use
Domain Of Use 3
Used mainly in the home and/or with family, but remains the primary language of these domains for many community members.
3
Speakers
Native or fluent speakers:
No results found.
Second-language speakers and learners
No results found.
Semi-speakers or rememberers
No results found.
Children:
No results found.
Young adults
No results found.
Older adults
No results found.
Elders
No results found.
Ethnic or community population
59668
Year information was gathered
No results found.
Comments on speakers
"Multilingualism is predominant in the sample. Only fifteen persons were monolinguals (2 in Suba, 13 in Dholuo), almost 20%% were bilingual and the rest claimed to know three or more languages [...] Asked to arrange four given languages in order of prestige the majority were in favour of the following order: 1st Suba, 2nd Kiswahili, 3rd Dholuo, 4th English... What is particularly surprising in this ranking is the low position of Dholuo which is in marked contrast to its high frequency of usage."
Location and Context
Countries
Kenya
Location Description
South Nyanza Province: Rusinga, Mfangano, Gwassi, Kaksingiri, Suna West, Suna East, Muhuru Peninsula, and adjacent territory in South Kadem.
Government Support
No results found.
Institutional Support
No results found.
Speakers' Attitude
Positive
Other Languages Used By The Community
Dholuo; Swahili; English
Number of Other Language Speakers:
99%%
Domains of Other Languages:
None
Writing Systems
Standard orthography:
No results found.
Writing system:
No results found.
Other writing systems used:
No results text.
Comments on writing systems:
No results found.
Recent Resources
A closer look at how the Suba people practiced their religion.
Noun classification in the Suba language.
The wikipedia page for the Suba language. Refers only to the variety spoken in Tanzania.