Markwet language


Markweta is a Kalenjin language of Kenya. The regional terms Endo and Sambirir have been used for northern and southern Markweta, but they are not distinct dialects. The unnmarked word order is Verb–subject–object.

Phonology

Vowels

Markweta has five basic vowels: /a, e, i, o, u/. All vowels have variants based on tongue root position and length, for a total of 20 distinct vowel phonemes.
The vowels /o:/ and /a:/ are both pronounced like /ɔ:/, and can only be distinguished by looking at affixes.

Consonants

Markweta has 13 consonants:
BilabialAlveolarPalatalVelar
Stopptck
Fricatives
Nasalmnɲŋ
Approximantljw
Trillr

Morphology

Markweta has gender. Gender is realized as a prefix added primarily for person nouns and animal names, but sometimes inanimate objects.
The prefixes 'kaa-' and 'kii-' are used to indicate nominalization.