The maasai vocabulary is the backbone for learning. A book to specifically help bridge the gap between the study of the language in the classroom and its use to accomplish joblike. This dictionary of englishtomaa the language of maasai peoples of kenya and tanzania was written and compiled by charles richmond. Help us in creating the largest english masai dictionary online. The maasai maasai a traditional tribe undergoing change the maasai are traditional, seminomadic pastoralists in east africa. An average native person who speaks maasai uses only a very small number of vocabulary on a daily basis. Maasai is a language spoken by about 800,000 people in east africa, mostly in. Maasai is an eastern nilotic language spoken in southern kenya and northern tanzania by the maasai people, numbering about 800,000. The maasai has received the most written recognition of all the tribes of this region of africa and prove to be very interesting to study. The following links lead to a brief description of the maa language.
The maasai, masai or maa language is a member of the east niolitic branch of the. Fsi french language learning courses programs audio dvd. Johnstons vocabulary and notes on the masai language, contained in. This means that you can actually speak the language to a certain acceptable level simply by visiting the above pages. Maasai 101 learn maasai online for free 101 languages. The dictionary was developed from 1935 until 1951 while charles lived in the back country of kenya colony, east africa as a subject of the king of england. His stay there began as a captain in the kings african. A list of basic italian words and phrases translated into english.
Language is not only a study of language and culture, but ultimately on. An introduction to maa the language of the maasai and samburu. Maasai is a widely spoken language in kenya and tanzania, with at. The students to do not benefit from the language gap between primary and secondary school. Clay and sons, cambridge university press warehouse, ave maria lane.
Glosbe is a collaborative project and every one can add and remove translations. A list of basic french words and phrases translated into english. Maa maasai, samburu language project university of oregon. In the 1550s they moved down along the nile from sudan and egypt and brought with them knowledge on agriculture and cattle breeding. There is a fairly brief tutorial that gives you basic information about the language and gets you started. Maasai translation services english to maasai translations. Peace corps maasai language lessons we made using the peace corps maasai language lessons material easier to use and more effective. Maasai is essentially a linguistic term, referring to speakers of this eastern sudanic language usually called maa of the nilosaharan family. This migrational wave experienced a peak during the 18th century. You can now read the ebook in the pane on the left, listen to the audio pane to the right and practice your pronunciation use on the pronunciation tool tab on right all at the same time. The maasai people used to rely on meat, milk and blood from cattle, but only on special occasions they are now dependant on food produced in other areas the modern world is a positive thing in this situation as it provides them with food, enough that the maasai people are not starving to death as often as before. Rinderpest, an animal disease, killed almost all their cattle and many wild animals. The maasai, samburu and camus people are historically related and all refer to their language as maa, although they acknowledge mutual cultural and economic differences. Maa is spoken by the maasai tribes as well as the samburu and datoga tribes, to name but a few.
It is closely related to the other maa varieties samburu or sampur, the language of the samburu people of central kenya, chamus, spoken south and southeast of lake baringo sometimes regarded as a dialect of samburu. Maasai is a widely spoken language in kenya and tanzania, with at least 5. There are around 17 different groups of maasai, and they each speak their own dialect of maa. Maasai phrases quick online learning language learning. Most maasai also speak swahili, the lingua franca of east africa. Maasai is taught in schools to some extent, though the languages of instruction are swahili and english. No matter your age or experience, a plethora of tools and resources are available to get you started or help you improve your language skills. At the end of your monthly term, you will be automatically renewed at the promotional monthly subscription rate until the end of the promo period, unless you elect to change or cancel your subscription. At live lingua we believe that everybody should be able to learn another language. Except for some elders living in rural areas, most maasai people speak the official languages of kenya and tanzania, swahili and english. Omniglot the online encyclopedia of writing systems and. The following are some sentences in maasai, and the english translations in. Maasai life is a fun way to introduce africantribal culture to your students. An introduction to maa the language of the maasai and.
Therefore memorizing them will give you a 70% boost in the language. It is spoken by approximately 500,000 maasai, samburu, camus in kenya, and about 500,000 arusa, kisonko and ilparakuyo people in. Maasai english dictionary an excellent basic dictionary of maasai by doris l. Theres never been a better time to learn a language. Learn maasai quick online learning language learning. Below we picked expressions that a new learner will find useful. Growing up maasai on the african savanna by joseph lemasolai lekuton.
Top resources for learning maasai 101 languages resources. Maasai language lessons we made using the maasai language lessons material easier to use and more effective. A list of basic portuguese words and phrases translated into english. This is why we have made available these free us peace corps maasai resources for you to use. Fsi thai basic course volume 1 student text author.
Maa belongs to a language family that is not related to either of. The maasai are called maasai after their particular speech, maa. The term maasai refers to one who speaks the maa language. You are bound to have contact with maasai and samburu people as they often reside close to famous game reserves. The national language is tanzania is swahili, so overall the county does not gain from teaching students in a language different from the national language. This is just a taster of the maasai language, known as kimaasai or maa. See the big 5 in the wild, marvel at the great pyramids in egypt, and discover the. Students will discover the specific duties that girls and boys have within the tribe. Basic maasai grammar a very basic grammar of maasai by doris payne. Maasais speak maa, a nilotic ethnic language from their origin in. A glimpse into the culture of the maasai the maasai sometimes spelled masai people compose one of the many diverse tribes of africa, occupying much of southern kenya and northern tanzania. You can follow this by looking at the library reference for a full description of pythons many libraries and the language reference for a complete though somewhat dry explanation of pythons syntax. This means that each of the seven basic vowel sounds above comes with a short version and a long version.
Here are 5 things you need to know to get a clearer picture of these fascinating people. It makes our dictionary english masai real, as it is created by native speakers people, that uses language for every day. The maasai speak maa, a language that they brought with them on their southern migration. Below we picked 70% of the most commonly used words. When i was able to say a few words or sentences fairly correctly, i used them to. Smallpox and starvation took a devestating toll on the people, killing between onehalf and twothirds of the population. Language an introduction to the study of speech edward sapir the noted linguist and anthropologist edward sapir wrote this work to show language in relation to other fundamental intereststhe problem of thought, the nature of the historical process, race, culture, art.
The benefit if students do make it through the language obstacle of secondary school. Maasai is a widely spoken language in kenya and tanzania, with at least 5 million speakers. Maasai culture is unique and their customs are sometimes thought of as controversial. It is said to be one of the twelve great languages of the east africa. They are a smaller tribe, accounting for only about 0. Learn maasai with these useful resources from around the web. Largerthanlife trips await in africa and the middle east.
The maasai people reside in both kenya and tanzania, living along the border of the two countries. The origins of maa have been traced to the east of presentday juba in southern sudan. People, language, land, history, government, economy, religion, holidays and festivals, art, food, entertainment and leisure, practical tips. It is closely related to the other maa varieties samburu or sampur, the language. It is said to be one of the twelve great languages of the. We are trying to aquire the basics of everyday conversation. Agreement patterns in maasai and the syntax of possessive dps. The maasai, masai or maa language is a member of the east niolitic branch of the nilosaharan language family spoken by about 900,000 people in southern kenya and northern tanzania. The maasai are a nilotic speaking people living in the great rift valley of kenya and tanzania. This effort ofcollecting and collating various kenyan language proverbs from the social media has started with proverbs from the maasai people. The maasai wander in bands throughout the year and subsist almost entirely on the meat, blood, and milk of their herds.
Maasai is an eastern nilotic language spoken in kenya and tanzania by about 900000 people. The maasai phrases are helpful because they are used daily. Maasai tribe masai people of kenya history and culture. A guide to alphabets and languages, with useful foreign phrases, tips on learning languages, language related links, multilingual texts, and much more. This lesson also addresses housing, clothing styles, lion hunts, diet and other relevant facts. Traditionally they have been associated with keeping large herds of cattle, sheep and goats. Read the maasai ebooks online, listen to the maasai audios and practice your maasai pronunciation with our online recorder or download the files to use whenever you want. Enjoy the maasai phrases by learning only the most commonly used expressions and sentences. We gathered the most important topics such as vocabulary phrases grammar and flashcards so that you only learn.
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