Turkana
/tɜːrˈkɑːnə/noun
A Nilotic people of northwestern Kenya and a member of that people, their language, or their region.
Did you know?Turkana is both an ethnonym and a language name, while the community’s own plural self-designation is commonly written as Ngiturkana.
Etymological Timeline
Precolonial period
Turkana
Ngiturkana
“The Turkana people; the community’s own plural self-designation.”
19th Century
Turkana
Turkana
“An established name used for the people and their language in regional interaction.”
19th Century
Swahili
Turkana
“A regional ethnonym adopted in Swahili and neighboring usage.”
Late 19th–Early 20th Century
English
Turkana
“The name recorded by colonial travelers and administrators for the people and their territory.”
Modern English
English
Turkana
“A proper noun referring to the people, their language, or northwestern Kenya’s Turkana region.”
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