Our tongues are rare: the mysterious Dorobo language known as Omaiyo

The term “Dorobo”, taken from the Maa word iltorobo (“those without cattle”), is used to describe unrelated small hunter-gatherer communities of East Africa, many of which have integrated with larger pastoralist communities such as the Maasai. This report will describe a visit to the last speakers of an unclassified Dorobo language, known by linguists as Omaiyo, which was conducted in northern Tanzania in the summer of 2018.Note: This talk has not gone through a process of peer review, and findings should therefore be treated as preliminary and subject to change. Acknowledgement and citation: Griscom, Richard. 2020. Our tongues are rare: the mysterious Dorobo language known as Omaiyo. Talk given at the Rift Valley Network Webinar Series. 20/05/2020