Meru language

Meru
Kimîîru
Spoken in	Kenya
Region	Mount Kenya and Eastern Province
Native speakers	1.95 million  (no date)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Bantu Northeast Bantu Meru
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Variously: mer – Meru thk – Tharaka mws – Mwimbi-Muthambi

Meru is the language spoken by the Meru people (Ameru) who live on the Eastern and Northern slopes of Mount Kenya, Kenya, Africa and on the Nyambene ranges. They settled in this area after centuries of migration from the north.

Tradition

Meru people are said to have originated on an island called Mboa where they were held captive by the red people or nguuntune (red-clothed). Their masters were cruel to them and a plan of escape was made.

This exodus was accomplished by parting the Red Sea using a rod given to the leader by God. They crossed the sea in groups which later gave rise to different clans that are present today among the Meru people.

There have been several studies by scholars and historians to try to establish the location of this island with some suggesting that it could be Lamu on the Indian Ocean or the ancient Meroe civilization on the river Nile which sometimes is referred to as an island. Even more intriguing^{[says who?]} is the fact that no one knows where the people of ancient Meroe are today, and the linguistic resemblance in the name 'Meru' and 'Meroe' of these people. However no conclusive research has established the exact location of Mboa to this date^[when?] and it still remains a mystery. By 2009 it has 12 districts.^{[clarification needed]}

Meru language

The Meru people are a fairly homogeneous community but all share a common ancestry. They speak the same language, Kimeru, but there are some slight regional differences, in accent and local words. The community comprises the following sub-divisions; from the north to south:

• Igembe
• Tigania (Tiania)- (whose language and culture are closely related to the Cushitic and Nilotic neighbouring communities)
• Imenti
• Tharaka
• Igoji
• Mwimbi
• Muthambi
• Chuka

The Meru language is similar to its surrounding neighbors, the Kikuyu and Embu could have possibly adopted parts of Meru.

References

• Rubanza, Yunus I. (2008). Kimeru: Msamiati wa Kimeru-Kiswahili-Kiingereza na Kiingereza-Kimeru-Kiswahili / Meru-Swahili-English and English-Meru-Swahili Lexicon. ISBN 9987-691-19-6.

External links

• Ethnologue article on Meru
• PanAfrican L10n page on Meru
• "page on Meru History

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