The calendar of Babukusu

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In one of my recent researches, I found that Babukusu of Uganda have distanced themselves from their Bagisu brothers and established their own kingdom under the leadership of His Royal Majesty Joseph Kanyaanya Wash. They have also come up with their own calendar, which shows that the current year of the Babukusu is 1470. Above is the calendar with pictures of the Umukhungu (the Babukusu of Kenya would call him 'Omukhongo') and all the clans of Babukusu, including the six clans that live in Kenya (Kikayi, Silikwa, Mwalie, Neala, Malaba, Nabayi Luso). What is evident is the influence of other languages on Lubukusu. It's very clear that the Lubukusu of Uganda has been highly influenced by the Gishu language spoken in Uganda while the Lubukusu spoken in Kenya is equally influenced by other Luhya dialects. For example, the Babukusu of Uganda refer to the month of May as 'Nanzala', the 'nza' morpheme being typical of the Gishu language.  The Babukusu of Kenya refer to the same month as 'Nanjala'. The morpheme 'nja', I am tempted to conclude, maybe from the original Lubukusu dialect since all the other Luhya dialects use the 'nza' that's used by the Bagisu/Bagishu. 


                                                   

Wanda the Teacher.

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