Dahalo language

Dahalo
numma guhooni
Native toKenya
RegionCoast Province
EthnicityDahalo people
Native speakers
580 (2019)
Language codes
ISO 639-3dal
Glottologdaha1245
ELPDahalo
Dahalo is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010)

Dahalo is an endangered Cushitic language spoken by around 500600 Dahalo people on the coast of Kenya, near the mouth of the Tana River. Dahalo is unusual among the world's languages in using all four airstream mechanisms found in human language: clicks, implosives, ejectives, and pulmonic consonants.

While the language is known primarily as "Dahalo" to linguists, the term itself is an exonym supposedly used by Aweer speakers that itself essentially means “stupid” or “worthless.” The speakers themselves refer to the language as numma guhooni.