Ongamo language
| Ngas | |
|---|---|
| Ongamo | |
| Native to | Tanzania |
| Ethnicity | Ngas people |
|
Native speakers
|
probably extinct (2012) |
|
Nilo-Saharan?
|
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | ngas1238 |
Ongamo, or Ngas, is probably extinct Eastern Nilotic language of Tanzania. It is closely related to the Maa languages, but more distantly than they are to each other. Ongamo has 60% of lexical similarity with Maasai, Samburu, and Camus. Speakers have shifted to Chagga, a dominant regional Bantu language.
An expansion of Ngas speakers onto the plains north of Mount Kilimanjaro occurred in the 12th century. The language was mutually intelligible with Proto-Maasai during that period. Vocabulary retention from this time attests to the cultivation of sorghum and elusine by the Ngas. Subsequent immigration of Bantu-speaking Chagga over the next five centuries considerably reduced the extent and viability of the Ngasa language.
Ngasa profile on the Endangered Languages Project
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Wikipedia