21034 Mbugu 1000-9999 "The Mbugu people are identified by two distinct language varieties, KiMbugu cha ndani ['inside language'] and KiMbugu cha kawaida [a Swahili phrase that means the 'usual language'] (Dimendaal 1989:29). Ethnically, outsiders refer to speakers of both forms as WaMbugu (Swahili) or Mbugu (English). Insiders use Ma’a as the name of the cha ndani variety. They might also refer to those who speak this variety as Ma’a. The Ma’a speakers themselves refer to the speech of their kin who do not speak Ma’a as either KiMbugu cha kawaida or else KiPare since it is so much like the language of their Pare neighbors. In addition to this division of the ethnic group, there exists another large segment of people who are Mbugu ethnically but who no longer speak either form of their ancestral language... Cha kawaida speakers comprise between 60 percent and 65 percent of the Mbugu population... my estimate is that the cha ndani speakers are close to 35 percent or 40 percent of those that claim to be ethnic Mbugu." Mbugu/Ma'a project On ~7,000 1000-9999