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Language Information By Source

Dahalo: an endangered language
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Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

<400

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

Almost all

More about speakers

"Dahalo is a language spoken in the Lamu district of Coast Province, Kenya, by a few hundred people of all ages [...] Concerning the actual number of Dahalo speakers, it is calculated in "a few hundreds" by Ehret (1980: 12), about 500 (followed by a question mark) by Sasse (1981: 199), while Zaborski "could estimate about 280 of them, though the upper limit may be about 400" (1987: 223-234). The same estimate of "less than 400" is made by Art Rilling of the Kenya Working Group of the Summer Institute of Linguistics... (Rilling 1986: 5). We think that the figure of 400 cannot greatly exceed the truth."

Year of info

1992

Location and Context

Countries

Coast Province, Kenya

Coordinates

-2.167909, 40.716019

Location description

Lamu District of the Coast Province, Kenya.

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

Indifferent

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

Lamu District of the Coast Province, Kenya.

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

Swahili

Domains of other languages

Counting; Praying; Working

More on context

"Informants repeatedly told us that, while in the olden days there were Dahalo who did not master Swahili, today everybody can at least understand it. As a matter of fact, all the Dahalo we met were bilingual, while nobody had a good command of any other language. In particular, English - Kenya's official language - was totally unknown [...] None of [the Dahalo] had learnt to read, and even the hypothesis of written material in Dahalo seems to have been largely misunderstood: 'They seemed personally disinterested though not opposed to the development of mother tongue materials.' (Rilling 1986: 15)"

Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

200-400

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

1992

Location and Context

Countries

Kenya

Coordinates

No data

Location description

"Lamu District of Coast Province." An area above the Tana River, bordered by Mokowe, Witu, and Kipini.

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

"Lamu District of Coast Province." An area above the Tana River, bordered by Mokowe, Witu, and Kipini.

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

Swahili; Aweera; Pokomo

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

No data

Native Speakers Worldwide

No data

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

3000

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

2007

Location and Context

Countries

Kenya

Coordinates

No data

Location description

"Near the mouth of the Tana River along the Kenyan coast"

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

"Near the mouth of the Tana River along the Kenyan coast"

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

Swahili

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

"Dahalo people are bilingual in Swahili, which is becoming their primary language."

Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

400

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

2010

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

-2.2625,40.7537

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

400

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

400

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

2009

Location and Context

Countries

Kenya;

Coordinates

No data

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

No data

Native Speakers Worldwide

No data

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

2005

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

-2.33333333333,40.5

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

400

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

No data

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Media Resources

No resources

No resources

No resources

No resources

Filter By

No programs

  1. Are the African Pygmies an Ethnographic Fiction?
    Roger Blench. 1999. "Are the African Pygmies An Ethnographic Fiction?" In Central African Hunter-Gatherers in a Multidisciplinary Perspective: Challenging Elusiveness, edited by Karen Biesboruck et al. 41-60. Netherlands: Research School of Asian, African and Amerindian Studies (CNWS), Universiteit Leiden.
  2. A Grammatical Sketch of Dahalo
    Tosco, Mauro. 1991. "A Grammatical Sketch of Dahalo." Helmut Buske Verlag.
  3. Reconstruction of Dahalo history through evidence from loanwords
    Nurse, D. 1986. "Reconstruction of Dahalo History Through Evidence From Loanwords." In Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika, 7 , no. 2: 267-305.
  4. Phonetic structures of Dahalo
    Maddieson, Ian, Sinisa Spajic, Bonny Sands and Peter Ladefoged. 1993. "Phonetic Structures of Dahalo." In Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere, 36: 5-53.
  5. Reconstruction of Dahalo History Through Evidence from Loanwords
    Nurse, Derek. 1986. "Reconstruction of Dahalo History Through Evidence From Loanwords." In Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika, 7 , no. 2: 267-305.
  6. Dahalo Lexis and its Sources
    Ehret, C., E. D. Elderkin and D. Nurse. 1989. "Dahalo Lexis and Its Sources." In Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere, 18: 5-49.
  7. Language Contraction versus other Types of Contact-induced Change
    Gerrit Jan Dimmendaal. 1998. "Language Contraction Versus Other Types of Contact-induced Change." In Endangered Languages in Africa, edited by Matthias Brenzinger. 71-117. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe.
  8. Einige Notizen über die Sprache der Sanye (Kenya)
    Dammann, E. 1949-1950. "Einige Notizen Über Die Sprache Der Sanye (Kenya)." In Zeitschrift für Eingeborenensprachen, XXXV: 227-234.
  9. Sanye and Boni
    Tucker, A. N. 1969. "Sanye and Boni." In Wort und Religion: Kalima na Dini: Studien zur Afrikanistik, Missionswissenschaft, Religionswissenschaft Ernst Dammann zum 65.~Geburtstag, edited by Hans-Jürgen Greschat und Herrmann Jungraithmayr. 66-81. Stuttgart: Evangelischer Missionsverlag.
  10. A Grammatical Sketch of Dahalo including texts and a glossary
    Tosco, Mauro. 1991. "A Grammatical Sketch of Dahalo Including Texts and a Glossary." Hamburg: Helmut Buske.
  11. Hunters of the Northern East African Coast: Origins and Historical Processes
    Stiles, D. 1981. "Hunters of the Northern East African Coast: Origins and Historical Processes." In Africa, 51: 848-862.
  12. Endangered Languages Catalogue Project. Compiled by research teams at University of Hawai'i Mānoa and Institute for Language Information and Technology (LINGUIST List) at Eastern Michigan University
    2012. "Endangered Languages Catalogue Project. Compiled By Research Teams At University of Hawai'i Mānoa and Institute For Language Information and Technology (LINGUIST List) At Eastern Michigan University."
  13. The Waata, Hunter-gatherers of northern Kenya
    Bashuna, Ali Balla. 1993. "The Waata, Hunter-gatherers of Northern Kenya." In Kenya Past and Present, 25: 36-39.
  14. Linguistic survey of the Northern Bantu borderland
    D. Forde. 1956. "Linguistic Survey of the Northern Bantu Borderland." Oxford University Press.
  15. Dahalo: an endangered language
    Mauro Tosco. 1992. "Dahalo: An Endangered Language." In Language death: factual and theoretical explorations with special reference to East Africa, edited by Matthias Brenzinger. 137-155. Mouton de Gruyter.
  16. A survey on language death in Africa
    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.
  17. The World Atlas of Language Structures
    2005. "The World Atlas of Language Structures." edited by Bernard Comrie et al. Oxford University Press.
  18. World Oral Literature Project
    "World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.
    http://www.oralliterature.org
  19. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)
    Lewis, M. Paul (ed.). 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16 edn. http://www.ethnologue.com/home.asp. (15 February, 2011.)
    http://www.ethnologue.com/
  20. Africa
    Dimmendaal, Gerrit J. and F. K. Erhard Voeltz. 2007. "Africa." In Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages, edited by Christopher Moseley. Routledge.
  21. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger
    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.)
    http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas