Meru language

Meru
Meru
Kĩmĩĩrũ
Native to	Kenya
Region	Meru County and Tharaka Nithi County
Ethnicity	Ameru
Native speakers	2.0 million (2019 census)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu Northeast Bantu Thagiicu North Thagiicu Meru; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Dialects	Igembe; Igoji; Imenti; Miutini; Nuclear Meru; Tigania;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	; mer – Meru
Glottolog	meru1245 Meru
Guthrie code	E.53,531,54,541

Meru is a Bantu language spoken by the Meru people (Ameru) who live on the Eastern and Northern slopes of Mount Kenya and on the Nyambene ranges. They settled in this area after centuries of migration from the north.

The Meru people are a fairly homogeneous community and all share a common ancestry. They speak the same language, Kimeru, but there are some slight regional differences, in accent and local words. The community comprises the following subdivisions, from the north to south:

Igembe
Tigania (Tiania) (culture close to neighbouring Cushitic and Nilotic communities)
Imenti
Tharaka (Saraka)
Igoji
Mwimbi–Muthambi
Chuka (Gicuka) (marginal intelligibility with Meru proper and with Gikuyu.

As the Meru language is similar to its surrounding neighbors, the Kikuyu and Embu could have possibly adopted parts of Meru.

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