Masaba (Lumasaaba), sometimes known as Gisu (Lugisu) after one of its dialects, is a Bantu language spoken by more than two million people in East Africa.
The Gisu dialect in eastern Uganda is mutually intelligible with Bukusu, spoken by ethnic Luhya in western Kenya.
Masaba is the local name of Mount Elgon and the name of the son of the ancestor of the Gisu tribe.
These are similar to the genders in Germanic and Romance languages, except that instead of the usual two or three, there are around eighteen different noun classes.
Bukusu is spoken in Kenya, separated from ethnic Masaba by Nilotic languages on the border.