The Turkana are a Nilotic people from northwestern Kenya, near South Sudan, Uganda, and Ethiopia. The language, ŋaTurkana, is primarily spoken by the Turkana people of northwestern Kenya, and is part of the Eastern Nilotic branch. The language belongs to the Ateker cluster, a group of closely related languages that includes Karamojong, Jie, and Teso in Uganda, Toposa and Nyangatom in South Sudan, and Nyangatom across the Ethiopia-South Sudan border. Speakers of these languages share cultural and linguistic ties and are collectively referred to as the Ateker people. They use songs, proverbs, and stories to preserve their cultural heritage.
Voice of Turkana (ŋaTurkana)
Explore the voices of ŋaTurkana, the vibrant and expressive language of the Turkana people. Deeply rooted in oral tradition, ŋaTurkana is more than just a means of communication, it carries the values, identity, and worldview of one of Kenya’s largest pastoralist communities.
Overview
Sample Audio
Transcript: Habari, unaendeleaje? (Hello, how are you doing?)
Writing system
The Turkana language (ŋaTurkana) uses a Latin-based writing system developed with community input for literacy and translation. It adapts Roman letters to capture vowel length, tone, and nasal sounds. Tone is vital in speech but usually unmarked in everyday text for readability, while dictionaries and teaching materials may use diacritics for clarity
What’s Here Now
Urban Dialogue
Transcript: Habari, unaendeleaje? (Hello, how are you doing?)
Market Talk
Transcript: Habari, unaendeleaje? (Hello, how are you doing?)
Community Radio
Transcript: Habari, unaendeleaje? (Hello, how are you doing?)
Why It Matters
for AI
Turkana is under‑represented online; adding clear, community‑reviewed audio can help build tools for local broadcasting, education, and assistive technologies.
Speech Recognition
Speech recognition datasets teach AI systems to accurately understand and transcribe African languages. By training models on diverse accents and tones, we make voice technology more inclusive and effective for real-world communication.
Translation
Access high-quality Turkana translation datasets featuring paired text and voice samples. These resources support language research, model training, and cultural preservation. Sign in to request access or contribute your own translations.
Information Access
Information access datasets help AI systems bridge the language gap, making online knowledge, education, and public information available in African languages. They promote digital inclusion and empower communities through localized, AI-driven access to information.
Turkana Datasets
Turkana Corpus v1.0
Version: 1.0
Size: 2GB
License: CC-BY 4.0
DOI: 10.1234/swahili.001
Turkana Corpus v1.0
Version: 1.0
Size: 2GB
License: CC-BY 4.0
DOI: 10.1234/swahili.001