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Doba Language
Doba is a Central Sudanic language of Chad. It is traditionally considered three languages, because it is spoken by three ethnicities with separate identities, the Bedjond, the Mango, and the Gor. However, all have a high degree of mutual intelligibility In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. It is sometimes used as an ..., and so by that standard are a single language. Doba is the name of the town which is the center of the Mango people, and is used by linguists as a cover term for the three dialects. The number of speakers is uncertain, as the latest figure for the Bedjond, 36,000, dates from 1969. Figures for the Gor (87,000) and Mango (52,000) date from 2006. Bedjond is also spelled ''Bediondo'' and ''Bejondo,'' and is also known as ''Bediondo Mbai, Mbay Bejondo,'' and ''Nangnda''. Dialects ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chad
Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon to the southwest, Nigeria to the southwest (at Lake Chad), and Niger to the west. Chad has a population of 16 million, of which 1.6 million live in the capital and largest city of N'Djamena. Chad has several regions: a desert zone in the north, an arid Sahelian belt in the centre and a more fertile Sudanian Savanna zone in the south. Lake Chad, after which the country is named, is the second-largest wetland in Africa. Chad's official languages are Arabic and French. It is home to over 200 different ethnic and linguistic groups. Islam (55.1%) and Christianity (41.1%) are the main religions practiced in Chad. Beginning in the 7th millennium BC, human populations moved into the Chadian basin in great numbe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Central Sudanic
Central Sudanic is a family of about sixty languages that have been included in the proposed Nilo-Saharan language family. Central Sudanic languages are spoken in the Central African Republic, Chad, South Sudan, Uganda, Congo (DRC), Nigeria and Cameroon. They include the pygmy languages Efé and Asoa. Blench (2011) suggests that Central Sudanic influenced the development of the noun-class system characteristic of the Atlantic–Congo languages. Urheimat The homeland of Proto-Central Sudanic is thought to be within the Bahr el Ghazal. Classification Half a dozen groups of Central Sudanic languages are generally accepted as valid. They are customarily divided into East and West branches. Starostin (2016) Starostin (2016)George Starostin (2016) ''The Nilo-Saharan hypothesis tested through lexicostatistics: current state of affairs'' finds support for Eastern Central Sudanic (Lendu, Mangbetu, Lugbara, etc., concentrated in the northeast corner of DR Congo) but not for the wes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bongo–Bagirmi Languages
The Bongo–Bagirmi or Sara–Bongo–Bagirmi languages are the major branch of the Central Sudanic language family with about forty languages. Principal groups include Bagirmi languages such as Naba and the Sara languages. They are spoken across CAR, Chad, South Sudan, and adjacent countries. Languages The Bongo–Bagirmi languages are for the most part poorly studied, and there is little agreement as to their internal classification. The table below is taken from Lionel Bender, as summarized in Blench (2000). * Bongo–Baka *Kara (= '' Tar Gula'' ?) *'' Sinyar (Shemya)'' ? * Bagirmi *Sara *'' Doba (Bedjond, Gor, Mango)'' * Kaba *Vale *'' Birri'' (likely to be closer to Kresh) *'' Fongoro (Formona)'' ? *'' Yulu (Yulu–Binga)'' Sinyar and Fongoro may not be Bongo–Bagirmi or even Central Sudanic languages. Classification Boyeldieu (2006)Boyeldieu, Pascal. 2006. Présentation des langues Sara-Bongo-Baguirmiennes'. Paris: CNRS-LLACAN (online version). classifies the Sara-Bon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sara Languages
The Sara languages comprise over a dozen Bongo–Bagirmi languages spoken mainly in Chad; a few are also spoken in the north of the Central African Republic. They are members of the Central Sudanic language family. Greenberg (1966) treats all varieties as dialects of a Sara language, whereas Tucker and Bryan (1966) consider the Sara to be a dialect cluster of several languages. Most members of the different Sara languages/dialects consider their speech form distinct languages, but there is currently insufficient language information to determine which speech varieties need to be considered distinct languages, and which are dialects of other languages. The most populous variety of Sara proper is Ngambay (Sara Ngambay), a major trade language of southern Chad, with about a million speakers, though Sar (Sara Madjingay) is the lingua franca of Sarh. Names The term "Sara Languages", sometimes called "Sara Proper Languages", is distinct from the so-called "Sara Kaba Languages". The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Central Sudanic Languages
Central Sudanic is a family of about sixty languages that have been included in the proposed Nilo-Saharan language family. Central Sudanic languages are spoken in the Central African Republic, Chad, South Sudan, Uganda, Congo (DRC), Nigeria and Cameroon. They include the pygmy languages Efé and Asoa. Blench (2011) suggests that Central Sudanic influenced the development of the noun-class system characteristic of the Atlantic–Congo languages. Urheimat The homeland of Proto-Central Sudanic is thought to be within the Bahr el Ghazal. Classification Half a dozen groups of Central Sudanic languages are generally accepted as valid. They are customarily divided into East and West branches. Starostin (2016) Starostin (2016)George Starostin (2016) ''The Nilo-Saharan hypothesis tested through lexicostatistics: current state of affairs'' finds support for Eastern Central Sudanic (Lendu, Mangbetu, Lugbara, etc., concentrated in the northeast corner of DR Congo) but not for the west ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mutual Intelligibility
In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. It is sometimes used as an important criterion for distinguishing languages from dialects, although sociolinguistic factors are often also used. Intelligibility between languages can be asymmetric, with speakers of one understanding more of the other than speakers of the other understanding the first. When it is relatively symmetric, it is characterized as "mutual". It exists in differing degrees among many related or geographically proximate languages of the world, often in the context of a dialect continuum. Intelligibility Factors An individual's achievement of moderate proficiency or understanding in a language (called L2) other than their first language (L1) typically requires considerable time and effort through study and practical application if the two l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |