Rendille language

Rendille (also known as Rendile, Randile) is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken by the Rendille people inhabiting northern Kenya. It is part of the family's Cushitic branch.^[2]

Rendille
Afi Renꞌdille
Native to	Kenya
Region	Eastern Province
Ethnicity	Rendille
Native speakers	96,000 (2019 census)[1]
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Cushitic Lowland East Rendille–Boni[1] Rendille
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	rel
Glottolog	rend1243

The Ariaal sub-group of the Rendille, who are of mixed Nilotic and Cushitic descent, speak the Nilo-Saharan Samburu language of the Samburu Nilotes, near whom they live.^[2][3]

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Dental/ alveolar	Retroflex	Post-alv./ Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Pharyngeal	Glottal
Nasal		m	n̪		ɲ	ŋ
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless		t̪		tɕ	k	(q)		ʔ
	voiced	b	d̪	ɖ	dʑ	g
Fricative		f	s			x		ħ ~ ʕ	h
Lateral			l
Trill			r
Glide		w			j

• /tɕ/ can be heard as [ɕ] by some speakers.
• Some speakers always pronounce /x/ as a uvular stop [q].
• [ʕ] can be heard as a free variant of /ħ/, or when /ħ/ is heard in intervocalic position.
• Voiced sounds become voiceless when in word-final position.
• /b/ can be pronounced as [p] when preceding /ħ/, or as a fricative [β] in intervocalic position.
• /r/ can also freely be devoiced as [r̥] in word-initial position, and is always heard as devoiced in word-final position.
• /d̪/ can freely be heard as an affricate [d̪ð], and can also be heard as a fricative [ð] in intervocalic position.
• /x/ can also be heard as an affricate [qχ] when following nasal sounds.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i iː		u uː
Mid	e eː		o oː
Open		a aː

• Vowels /i, u, e, o/ are commonly heard as lax [ɪ, ʊ, ɛ, ɔ].