Kupsabiny (Kupsapiiny)

Kupsabiny is a member of the Kalenjin group of Southern Nilotic languages. It is spoken by about 270,000 Sebei people in the districts of Kween, Kapchorwa, Bukwo in the Eastern Region of Uganda.

Kupsabiny is also known as Kupsapiiny, Sabiny or Sebei. It is closely related to Sabaot, which is spoken in nearby parts of Kenya. A way to write Kupsabiny with the Latin alphabet was introduced in 1975, and revised in 2010. The language is taught in primary schools and there are literacy campaigns to encourge the use of written Kupsabiny. The alphabet below is the current offical alphabet for Kupsabiny as promoted by the Kupsapiiny Language Development and Preservation Foundation [source].

Kupsabiny alphabet

Download an alphabet chart for Kupsabiny (Excel)
Details of the Kupsabiny alphabet (PDF) provided by Wolfram Siegel.

Notes

Kupsabiny has a vowel harmony system in which words contain either the vowels a, e, i [i], o and u [u], or ā, ē, i [ɪ/ə] ō, u [ʊ].
Kupsabiny has a high tone, a mid tone and a low tone. These are not usually indicated in writing.

Sample text

Yēē kāwokulum :ceemakeet yuu nyooto, kulupul ankucuut! Nyēē matyaa kupun :ceemakeetyeet, kuteepee ceerinkis kule, “Maam, keeyaam nee seepalee keelat keet nyēē tēē nyi tōkōl?” Kiŋeet yikyee :ceerinkis nyēē ki swokoosiin, kuwo sakaasta kwiimēn nyēē munāākunyōōr kiy nyēē kaam. Kuusoot ānukuwo ānnyo wokuye pēēko.

Source: Ceerinkis ākoo Ceemakeet (Lizard and Hyena).

Sample videos

Information about Kupsabiny | Numbers

Links

Information about Kupsabiny
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kupsabiny_language
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapiny
https://ncdc.go.ug/2024/08/26/ncdc-reviews-of-orthography-for-kupasbiny-language/
https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/kups1238
https://www.sil.org/resources/search/language/kpz

Nilotic languages

Acholi, Adhola, Alur, Anuak, Ateso, Bari, Belanda Bor, Datooga, Dholuo, Dinka, Dongotono, Kakwa, Karamojong, Keiyo, Kipsigis, Kuku, Kupsabiny, Lango (South Sudan), Lango (Uganda), Lopit, Lotuko, Maasai, Mandari, Markwet, Nandi, Nuer, Nyangatom, Nyepu, Terik, Toposa, Tugen, Turkana

Languages written with the Latin alphabet

Page created: 19.11.24. Last modified: 19.11.24

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