Abanyala ba Kakamega

"An ENGO is never complete without an ENGO-KHO," that is what the Abanyala ba Kakamega say to emphasise the importance of chicken in a home. Just like other subtribes of the Luhya, engokho is the word used to refer to chicken among Abanyala ba Kakamega. The Abanyala and other Abaluhya tribes share a lot about chicken. Why? They are of one  cultural sion. It is narrated that the eighteen subtribes of Luhya had a common cultural ancestry where the indigenous chicken was at the centre of many cultural activities.  This documentation is about engokho- the indigenous chicken. Among the Abanyala ba Kakamega, the word has both sigular and plural connotation. Females and chicken eating. Traditionally, taboos had it that a chicken was a preserve for men. Though it can be claimed that it was due to the greedy nature of men and fear that women would end up prefering to eat chicken products daily, there were deeper cultural reasons as it will be seen in this documentation.  In...

The art of making metallic tools is as old among the Abanyala. The presence of many non borrowed names for metal products in Olunyala is a pointer to a fact that Abanyala embraced the art of working on metals to produce various items at early stage. The skill of making these items was called okhwichanya . The men who possessed the skills were called Abechanyi . At times, due to the special use of some metallic items in designated cultural ceremonies, the blacksmith was selected and ordained. Those ordaining the person could sing the following song to pass on the position to the heir of the skills: Soloist: Omukuba muambe (Be possessed by the bellow) Chorus: Hamba omukuba (Be possessed)  Soloist: Omukuba muambe (Be possessed) Chorus: Hamba omukuba omukuba muambe hamba omukuba. (Posses the bellow and let the bellow possess you) The blessed metal's workshop was called echumbi . The major source of smouldering fire was logs from a tree called omulaha which were picked by a man....

In Olunyala (K), there are many words written in the same way but with two or more different pronunciations and meanings. The change in pronunciation can be due to three factors: Olunyala syllable stress,  Olunyala vowel lengthening,  Olunyala tone shifts- according to Ochwaya-Oluoch (2013) A Study of the Phonology and Morphology of Lunyala,  she says: "The Olunyala tone is primarily used for making both grammatical and lexical distinctions. She says it is quite common to find lexical minimal pairs differentiated by tone alone. Thus tone is both phonemically and lexically distinctive." Hovever, she gave a few words to illustrate this. The following is a comprehensive list of the words. Abachi 1. The cowardly. Abachi bahindira. 2. Those to go. Abachi ba amachi bali? Abakesi 1. Those with wisdom:  Abakakesi ba sisamuye. 2. Those making it to walk: Abakesi ba eng'ombe mbabo. 3. Those harvesting: Abakesi benukhire. Abaka 1. Is skinning. Abaka embusi nje an...

Olunyala (K) is a dialect of Luhya language spoken by the Abanyala in Kakamega. It is internationally coded as ISO 939-3 nle. Unlike English or Kiswahili, Olunyala ( K) has a number of intensifying ideophones or intensifying particles. These are ideophones or particles which combine with adjectives, nouns and verbs to intensify their meanings. A) Main intensifying ideophones in Olunyala (K) ~mwikho ti (titititi)- to be of  real blood or very close relative. Example: Natecho senge wange titititi- Natecho is my real aunt. ~mulina te (tetetete) To relate cordially or with close affection. ~nyingi muno (munomunomuno)- to be of extreme quantity. Example: Abanyala bangi munomunomunomuno- Abanyala are extremely many. ~khale khale (khalekhalekhale)- to be of extreme past. Example: Nambirifuma kechulisise omusango omukhale khalekhalekhale- Namburifuma ha reminded us of a crime of extreme past. ~yakha ng'a- extremely new. Example: Endika embiakha ng'a ng'a ng'a ng...

The Olunyala (K), the language by Abanyala ba Kakamega, is very rich in idiomatic expressions and phrasal verbs. The following is a comprehensive list of these. The verb form 'to be" has been used making all the verbs herein to start with the prefix 'okh~'. Okhu abasa khu muya wa esiole- to have ugali meal. Okhuba esiswa sya khungira- to be free for any person to make use of but without picking to go with it. A common resource for all. Okhuba khombe'ngesi- to bebe extremely alert. Okhuaba sichie- to cry for help but nobody comes. Okhuababa mu siirima- to try finding a solution to a problem by guessing. Okhuacha enyungu (amalwa)- [brew almost breaking the pot]- to be earger to  pertake a meal and yet being delayed by talks. Okhuamba esoni- to be ashamed. Okhuambia ekhira- to bring a curse, especially to the young children, due to elicit sexual activity. Okhuambia okwa endaha- to cause a great problem which people fear coming around to help. They only ad...