muafrika:
I am.
And you could be right too. We speak different according to sub tribes.

pkjag:

You mean you are different i always thought the Luhyas were one tribe like the Gikuyu, although maybe it's Bukusu. I think the way you are different is like the way Kikuyu, kiMeru and kiEmbu are and to a small extent kiKamba, i can understand kiKamba up to about 70%, kiEmbu is just like Kikuyu but with a funny accent and kiMeru is like a really difficult Kikuyu dialect with a funny accent (like the kiamu dialect of kiswahili in Lamu) and i can understand it up to maybe 85%.

muafrika:
That's exactly it,
There are many of them too. Some experts have argued that some of the sub tribes are so different as to warrant a classification as a bona fide separate ethnic group. For example mine, it's closer and more related to Isukha, Tiriki and maragoli, while being starkly different from others like Bukusu. We also have different origins. The Tiriki for example is born out of a similar Kalenjin word Terige which is a Kalenjin clan or sth. The Sub tribe was founded by a Kalenjin. They live side by side at the border and their culture is more related compared to relation with other Luhyas.

pkjag:

You guys have heavily intermarried with the Kalenjins and the Luos, what about those on the Luo side, those who call the Luo shemeji, the Abasuba?

muafrika:
Those are part of the Luhya community too. They are so secluded from the rest of us in the Suba islands. These have intermarried a lot with the Luo, Same with the tachoni, and even other borderline Luhyas like Maragoli and Kabrass. I had some relatives with names like Otieno which makes me suspect that there is a Luo Element in Idakho (mine) too. In the Kaka mega area, Kalenjins make the greatest contribution to the mixture, in addition to other surrounding and founding tribelines.

pkjag:

So who are the real Luhyas, the really bantu ones, also do you all have a Nabongo? I also noticed that the Kisii are not that mixed like you are, i am not sure about that though, but i am really interested in the western bantus.

pkjag:
I also think so coz of their famous circumcision ceremonies which i do not see other Luhyas partake in. And do you have the same names as the Bukusu? Also how close is the Luhya language to Luganda?

muafrika:
Luganda is closer to Bukusu than the rest. But it is not so far from Luhya, generally.

pkjag:

What county are the Bukusu mostly concentrated in, also can you tell the difference btn u guys with just a name?

muafrika:

Not sure about distribution of the Bukusu between Kenya and Uganda.
Definitely. Names can Identify the different Luhya tribes. My name is not only unique to my subtribe but also to my clan. And you know clan relations are so strict and close that members of a clan are not allowed to intermarry.
You know bukusu names. Girls names start with "Na" while males start with "wa" for most of them. e.g Wamalwa, Wanjala, ....Nasimiyu...
The other tribes similarly have names unique to just them, and since the naming is patrilineal, it's quite easy to keep certain names within specific clans or tribes.

TonySpike:
Can any one tell me if the word "Olu" has any relative meaning in Bantu languages? I ask this because I see so many tribes around Uganda bearing names starting with "Olu"

pkjag:

Can you give an example, Uganda also has some Nilotes and they have many words and names starting with O, for Bantus, i can't say they are many, not that i know of, but the ones with words starting with Os, have had some contact with the Nilotes, I can say that most do not have names starting with O (At least the ones i am familiar with).

TonySpike:

I believe Luos from Kenya are also Nilotes. My research shows that Luos and Yorubas have almost 65% of their surnames starting with O's and A's. I suspect these language groups might have branched off from the same family at least two millennia ago...

pkjag:

Yes the Luos are the Os in East Africa, but i do not think they were ever in contact, they came from South Sudan like all Nilotes, also their looks are pretty distinct, they are dark and lean, with square jaws, and high cheek bones, but they have intermarried with the surrounding bantu tribes and that look is almost disappearing, they have also influenced the Luhyas and some Kisiis who are the few bantus with some O starting names. If they were ever in contact then maybe the Yorubas would have had to have been in the Sudan at some point.

TonySpike:

Yes, at your last sentence, I believe quite a number of Yoruba ancestors came from Sudan. This is unmistakenbly true in all entirety. I would also state further that Western Sudan seems to be the focal point. However, the use of O's and A's in Yoruba languages and names is quite widespread. Could there have been an ancient colonisation of some sort to warrant this? What is your opinion of this?

pkjag:

I thought all west africans have always been in west africa or the once forested Sahara, i also see that the Igbos have quite alot of Os and Chs, if they did come from Sudan then maybe they had contact, but they look so different so it might have been pre-B.C, avery long time ago.

somegirl1:

You're correct.
Many, if not the majority of, Igbo surnames begin with "O" and many, with "A".
"Ch" is more for first names.

pkjag:

What about this story i hear that the Igbos came from Israel is it true?

pkjag:

I thought all west africans have always been in west africa or the once forested Sahara, i also see that the Igbos have quite alot of Os and Chs, if they did come from Sudan then maybe they had contact, but they look so different so it might have been pre-B.C, avery long time ago.

pkjag:

What about this story i hear that the Igbos came from Israel is it true?

TonySpike:

I used the word colonisation earlier to state that I do indeed have the knowledge that there were indigenous population in this part of West Africa prior to the arrival of Sudanese population. I however believe that the population was meagre compared to the population of the Sudanese migrants that later came in waves. Yeah, all these things most have happened pre-A.D. (not B.C.). I would think roughly 1500-2000 B.C. since there are no archealogical evidences to point to this fact.
Now, let's go back to the Bantu topic. What religious similarities do Bantus have with ancient Egypt? Are there any identifiable practices?

TonySpike:

My opinion is that in ancient times - Sudan, Ethiopia, Egypt alongside the levant areas - did share some religious and cultural practices. Infact, there were numerous of them. It is very possible that some of these similarities came from migrants of that period and not directly from Israel.

pkjag:

Yes thanks for correcting its pre-AD, but where were the Nilotes before that, and i thought the Yoruba were yam farmers, west Sudan is a desert, the only fertile lands are near the Nile which is in the central and eastern parts of the greater Sudan region.

If i know my bantu tribes well, most are/were ancestral worshipers who mostly had monotheist tendencies, we do not have deities like you west africans, for example the Gikuyu, Meru, Embu and Akamba bantus in kenya believe that God lived in Mount Kenya and the Chagga of Tanzania believe that their God lived in Mt. Kilimanjaro. Though things might have been different for the initial bantus who were coming out of cameroon, it's impossible to know what they believed before they started meeting other tribes who influenced their way of life, but one thing that hasn't changed is farming.

Maybe but that must have been a very long time ago, besides they have distinct asian like features different from other afrcans due to their proximity to asia, so i think the asian element influenced them greatly.

pkjag:

Not the country but the counties, yes i've heard about the clan system, not sure if it's in my tribe but i'll find out.

pkjag:
So what you are saying is that there existed a civilization known as Kerma that predated even ancient khemet, i have seen many of this guy's posts is he an anthropoligist/archaeologist?

TonySpike:
Can any one tell me if the word "Olu" has any relative meaning in Bantu languages? I ask this because I see so many tribes around Uganda bearing names starting with "Olu"

muafrika:

Bungay County. They share it with the smaller tTeso community (Nilotes) who are also spread out between Kenya and Uganda.

muafrika:
That would definitely be a prefix for words in reference to an object for many bantu languages including mine.