Endangered Languages Project

ALSO KNOWN AS		Olusuba
CLASSIFICATION		Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Benue-Congo, Southern Bantoid
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		sxb
VARIANTS & DIALECTS		Kaksingri Wiregi Ungoe Mfangano Gwasi Muhuru Suna
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search

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Information from: “Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)” . M. Paul Lewis · SIL International

At risk

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
174,000
Native speakers worldwide

DATE OF INFO: 2007

PLACES: Kenya; Tanzania;

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: "Kenya: Lake Victoria east shore; Mfangano and Rusinga islands."

At risk

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
100,000
Native speakers worldwide

Severely endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

DOMAINS OF USE
SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS
TRANSMISSION
SPEAKER ATTITUDE: positive
GOVERNMENT SUPPORT: Some governmental education support
INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT: Various non-governmental organizations
OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY
LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS: "In 1995, the government of Kenya, some non-governmental organizations and the Suba people themselves tried to revive both the Suba culture and language. [...] the government initiated the Olusuba language project [...] THe measures put in place included introducing Suba-as-subject in primary school, revivalist initiatives in the form of cultural festivals, sports, a vernacular radio service, and a language panel [...] The Bible translation and Literacy (BTL) together with the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) have also been involved in the literacy, translation and documentation programs in the language."

PLACES: Kenya

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: "Presently, the Abasuba are settled on the Northern Eastern shores of the Lake Victoria, Mfangano and Rusinga Islands."

>2,200
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
"The Government of Kenya’s population census, conducted in 1999, indicates that the number of monolingual speakers is 2,200."

DATE OF INFO: 1999

MORE ON VITALITY

"The reported number of Suba varies from source to source, but it is clear that over the last half a century, many Olusuba speakers have become multilingual (Olusuba, English, Kiswahili, Luo) or bilingual (Olusuba, Luo). Over time, many began abandoning Olusuba and adopting the Luo language Dholuo as their language of choice, some losing the ability to speak their native language. "

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

English
Swahili
Luo

PLACES: Kenya

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: "The Suba people are currently settled on the northeastern shore of Lake Victoria, Mfangano Island, and Rusinga Island, Kenya."

Ethnic population
76668

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY
LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS: "Luo is spoken as a second language by most people with the exception of a few older persons, in particular old women."

Threatened

60 percent certain, based on the evidence available
10,000-99,999
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
59668
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
"The observations made here are restricted to the Kenyan situation, although the Suba/Luo settlement area extends across the border into Tanzania... In Kenya, there were according to the 1979 Population Census 59.668 Suba (Abasuba) [...] 88.1%% [in a survey] claimed competence in Suba (99.1%% in Dholuo). We assume, however, that such competence must be ranged on a a wide scale since only half of the sample claimed to have learned Suba as their first language. This relatively low figure may be partly due to a misunderstanding of the question."

DATE OF INFO: 1979

DOMAINS OF USE

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

MORE ON VITALITY

"Ayot (1977) makes it clear... that the process of assimilation [with the Luo] was relatively slow before colonial factors entered into it."

SPEAKER ATTITUDE

Positive

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Dholuo; Swahili; English

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS

"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."

PLACES: Kenya

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: South Nyanza Province: Rusinga, Mfangano, Gwassi, Kaksingiri, Suna West, Suna East, Muhuru Peninsula, and adjacent territory in South Kadem.

Contributions to the sociology of language, #64			1992	Language shift among the Suba of Kenya	Language death: factual and theoretical explorations with special reference to East Africa	273-283	The people in question are bilingual in Luo (West Nilotic) and Suba JE403.	Brenzinger, Matthias	Mouton de Gruyter			Berlin & New York			Rottland, Franz and Okoth Okombo, Duncan	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.	EBALL	59668		1979	10000-99999	"The observations made here are restricted to the Kenyan situation, although the Suba/Luo settlement area extends across the border into Tanzania... In Kenya, there were according to the 1979 Population Census 59.668 Suba (Abasuba) [...] 88.1%% [in a survey] claimed competence in Suba (99.1%% in Dholuo). We assume, however, that such competence must be ranged on a a wide scale since only half of the sample claimed to have learned Suba as their first language. This relatively low figure may be partly due to a misunderstanding of the question."	Dholuo; Swahili; English		Positive	"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."		99%%	Threatened (60 percent certain, based on the evidence available)		"Ayot (1977) makes it clear... that the process of assimilation [with the Luo] was relatively slow before colonial factors entered into it."	13	12	Kenya	South Nyanza Province: Rusinga, Mfangano, Gwassi, Kaksingiri, Suna West, Suna East, Muhuru Peninsula, and adjacent territory in South Kadem.
	16		2009	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)				M. Paul Lewis	SIL International			Dallas, TX		http://www.ethnologue.com/		Lewis, M. Paul (ed.). 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16 edn. http://www.ethnologue.com/home.asp. (15 February, 2011.)	ll_pub		174,000	2007	100000								At risk (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)					Kenya; Tanzania;	"Kenya: Lake Victoria east shore; Mfangano and Rusinga islands."
		2	2010	A Case of a Mother Tongue and Another Mother Tongue in School: Efforts at Revitalization of Olusuba Language of Kenya		267-291			Association of Third World Studies, Inc.	Journal of Third World Studies	27				John Ogone Obiero	John Ogone Obiero. "A Case of a Mother Tongue and Another Mother Tongue in School: Efforts At Revitalization of Olusuba Language of Kenya." In Journal of Third World Studies, 27: 267-291. Association of Third World Studies, Inc..							Dholuo, Swahili, English	Some governmental education support	positive	"In 1995, the government of Kenya, some non-governmental organizations and the Suba people themselves tried to revive both the Suba culture and language. [...] the government initiated the Olusuba language project [...] THe measures put in place included introducing Suba-as-subject in primary school, revivalist initiatives in the form of cultural festivals, sports, a vernacular radio service, and a language panel [...] The Bible translation and Literacy (BTL) together with the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) have also been involved in the literacy, translation and documentation programs in the language."	Various non-governmental organizations		Severely Endangered (80 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	14		12	14	Kenya	"Presently, the Abasuba are settled on the Northern Eastern shores of the Lake Victoria, Mfangano and Rusinga Islands."	-0.433956,34.007964
			2010	Living on Borrowed Time; Giving a Lifeline to the Olusuba Language of Kenya through Orature (ELF Grant Abstract)									Endangered Language Fund	http://www.endangeredlanguagefund.org/ll_projects_2010.php	Daniel Ochieng Orwenjo	Daniel Ochieng Orwenjo. 2010. "Living On Borrowed Time; Giving a Lifeline To the Olusuba Language of Kenya Through Orature (ELF Grant Abstract)." Online: http://www.endangeredlanguagefund.org/ll_projects_2010.php.			>2,200	1999		"The Government of Kenya’s population census, conducted in 1999, indicates that the number of monolingual speakers is 2,200."	English, Swahili, Luo					Many			"The reported number of Suba varies from source to source, but it is clear that over the last half a century, many Olusuba speakers have become multilingual (Olusuba, English, Kiswahili, Luo) or bilingual (Olusuba, Luo). Over time, many began abandoning Olusuba and adopting the Luo language Dholuo as their language of choice, some losing the ability to speak their native language. "			Kenya	"The Suba people are currently settled on the northeastern shore of Lake Victoria, Mfangano Island, and Rusinga Island, Kenya."
	3rd		2010	Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger					UNESCO Publishing			Paris		http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas	Christopher Moseley (ed.)	Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas. (03 June, 2011.)	ll_pub		100,000		100000								At risk (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)							-.9942, 34.519
Contributions to the sociology of language, #64			1992	A survey on language death in Africa	Language death: factual and theoretical explorations with special reference to East Africa	402		Brenzinger, Matthias	Mouton de Gruyter			Berlin & New York			Sommer, Gabriele	Gabriele Sommer. 1992. "A Survey On Language Death in Africa." In Language death: factual and theoretical explorations with special reference to East Africa, edited by Matthias Brenzinger. 402. Mouton de Gruyter.	EBALL	76668					Luo			"Luo is spoken as a second language by most people with the exception of a few older persons, in particular old women."

Suba

Language metadata

Language information by source

At risk

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

174,000

At risk

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

100,000

Severely endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

>2,200

Threatened

60 percent certain, based on the evidence available

10,000-99,999

Discussion

Suba

Language metadata

Language information by source

At risk

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

174,000

At risk

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

100,000

Severely endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

>2,200

Threatened

60 percent certain, based on the evidence available

10,000-99,999

Discussion

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Sources of information

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