|
Nilo-Saharan
The Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed family of around 210 African languages spoken by somewhere around 70 million speakers, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers, including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributaries of the Nile meet. The languages extend through 17 nations in the northern half of Africa: from Algeria to Benin in the west; from Libya to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the centre; and from Egypt to Tanzania in the east. As indicated by its hyphenated name, Nilo-Saharan is a family of the African interior, including the greater Nile Basin and the Central Sahara Desert. Eight of its proposed constituent divisions (excluding Kunama, Kuliak, and Songhay) are found in the modern countries of Sudan and South Sudan, through which the Nile River flows. In his book '' The Languages of Africa'' (1963), Joseph Greenberg named the group and argued it was a genetic family. It contained all the languages that were not included in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
African Languages
The number of languages natively spoken in Africa is variously estimated (depending on the delineation of language vs. dialect) at between 1,250 and 2,100, and by some counts at over 3,000. Nigeria alone has over 500 languages (according to SIL Ethnologue), one of the greatest concentrations of linguistic diversity in the world. The languages of Africa belong to many distinct language families, among which the largest are: * Niger–Congo, which include the large Atlantic-Congo and Bantu branches in West, Central, Southeast and Southern Africa. *Afroasiatic languages are spread throughout Western Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa and parts of the Sahel. * Saharan, Nilotic and Central Sudanic languages (previously grouped under the hypothetical Nilo-Saharan macro-family), are present in East Africa and Sahel. *Austronesian languages are spoken in Madagascar and parts of the Comoros. * Khoe–Kwadi languages are spoken mostly in Namibia and Botswana. *Indo-European ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kadu Languages
The Kadu languages, also known as Kadugli–Krongo or Tumtum, are a small language family of the Kordofanian languages, Kordofanian geographic grouping, once included in Niger–Congo. However, since Thilo C. Schadeberg, Thilo Schadeberg (1981), Kadu is widely seen as Nilo-Saharan. Evidence for a Niger-Congo affiliation is rejected, and a Nilo-Saharan relationship is controversial. A conservative classification would treat the Kadu languages as an independent family. Classification Blench (2006) notes that Kadu languages share similarities with multiple African language phyla, including Niger-Congo and Nilo-Saharan, suggesting a complex history of linguistic convergence and contact. However, more recently, Blench states that Kadu is almost certainly Nilo-Saharan, with its closest relationship being with Eastern Sudanic languages, Eastern Sudanic. Like the Nilotic languages, Nilotic, Surmic languages, Surmic, and Kuliak languages, Kuliak languages, Kadu languages have verb-initia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Songhai Languages
The Songhay, Songhai or Ayneha languages (, or ) are a group of closely related languages/dialects centred on the middle stretches of the Niger River in the West African countries of Mali, Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso and Nigeria. In particular, they are spoken in the cities of Timbuktu, Djenné, Niamey, Gao, Tillaberi, Dosso, Parakou, Kandi, Natitingou, Djougou, Malanville, Gorom-Gorom, In-Gall and Tabelbala. They have been widely used as a ''lingua franca'' in that region ever since the era of the Songhai Empire. In Mali, the government has officially adopted the dialect of Gao (east of Timbuktu) as the dialect to be used as a medium of primary education. Some Songhay languages have little to no mutual intelligibility between each other. For example, Koyraboro Senni, spoken in Gao, is unintelligible to speakers of Zarma in Niger, according to ''Ethnologue''. However, Songhoyboro Ciine, Zarma, and Dendi have high mutual intelligibility within Niger. For linguists, a m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eastern Sudanic Languages
In most classifications, the Eastern Sudanic languages are a group of nine families of languages that may constitute a branch of the Nilo-Saharan languages, Nilo-Saharan language family. Eastern Sudanic languages are spoken from southern Egypt to northern Tanzania. Old Nubian language, Nubian (and possibly Meroitic language, Meroitic) gives Eastern Sudanic some of the earliest written attestations of African languages. However, the largest branch by far is Nilotic languages, Nilotic, spread by extensive and comparatively recent conquests throughout East Africa. Before the spread of Nilotic, Eastern Sudanic was centered in present-day Sudan. The name "East Sudanic" refers to the eastern part of the Sudan (region), region of Sudan where the country of Sudan is located, and contrasts with Central Sudanic languages, Central Sudanic and Western Sudanic (modern Mande languages, Mande, in the Niger–Congo languages, Niger–Congo family). Lionel Bender (linguist), Lionel Bender (1980) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kuliak
The Kuliak languages, also called the Rub languages,Ehret, Christopher (2001) ''A Historical-Comparative Reconstruction of Nilo-Saharan'' (SUGIA, Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika: Beihefte 12), Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, . or Nyangiyan languages are a group of languages spoken by small relict communities in the mountainous Karamoja region of northeastern Uganda. Nyang'i and Soo are moribund, with a handful of elderly speakers. However, Ik is vigorous and growing. Word order in Kuliak languages is verb-initial.Beer, Sam, Amber McKinney, Lokiru Kosma 2009. ''The So Language: A Grammar Sketch''. m.s. Names The Kuliak languages are also called the Rub languages by Ehret (1981), since Ehret reconstructed "Rub" to mean 'person' in Proto-Kuliak. He suggests that "Kuliak" may actually be a derogatory term used by neighboring Nilotic-speaking peoples to disparage Kuliak speakers as "poor," hence his preference for using Rub instead. However, Kuliak continues to be the most w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bʼaga Languages
The Bʼaga languages, also known as Gumuz, form a small language family spoken along the border of Ethiopia and Sudan. They have been tentatively classified as closest to the Koman languages within the Nilo-Saharan languages, Nilo-Saharan language family.Gerrit Dimmendaal, Colleen Ahland & Angelika Jakobi (2019) Linguistic features and typologies in languages commonly referred to as 'Nilo-Saharan', ''Cambridge Handbook of African Linguistics'', p. 6–7 Languages There are four to five Bʼaga languages. Grammatical forms are distinct between Northern Gumuz and Southern Gumuz. Yaso language, Yaso is at least a divergent dialect, perhaps distinct enough to count as a separate language. Daatsʼiin language, Daatsʼiin, discovered in 2013, is closest to Southern Gumuz, while Kadallu language, Kadallu in Sudan is attested by only two short word lists. A comparative word list of Daatsʼiin, Northern Gumuz, and Southern Gumuz is available in Ahland & Kelly (2014). The internal classifi ... [...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, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda, Congo (DRC), Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of 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. Classification Half a dozen groups of Central Sudanic languages are generally accepted as valid. They are customarily divided into East and West branches. Blench (2023) Blench cites the following classification: Sinyar–Formona is sparsely documented and its plac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Koman Languages
The Koman languages are a small, close-knit family of languages located along the Ethiopia–Sudan border with about 50,000 speakers. They are conventionally classified as part of the Nilo-Saharan family. However, due to the paucity of evidence, many scholars treat it as an independent language family. Among scholars who do accept its inclusion within Nilo-Saharan, opinions vary as to their position within it. Koman languages in Ethiopia are in close contact with the Omotic Mao languages. In Ethiopia, some Koman-speaking groups also consider themselves to be ethnically Mao. Internal classification The Koman languages are: *Koman ** Uduk, or T’wampa, (formerly in South Sudan) — about 20,000 speakers, most at a large refugee camp at Bonga, near Gambela ** Kwama (Ethiopia) — about 15,000 speakers, mainly in Benishangul-Gumuz ** Komo (Sudan) — about 12,000 speakers mainly in An Nil al Azraq ** Opuuo (Opo), or Shita (Ethiopia) — spoken in 5 villages north of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saharan Languages
The Saharan languages are a small family of languages across parts of the eastern Sahara, extending from northwestern Sudan to southern Libya, north and central Chad, eastern Niger and northeastern Nigeria. Noted Saharan languages include Kanuri (9.5 million speakers, around Lake Chad in Chad, Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon), Daza (700,000 speakers, Chad), Teda (60,000 speakers, northern Chad), and Zaghawa (350,000 speakers, eastern Chad and Sudan). They have been classified as part of the hypothetical but controversial Nilo-Saharan family. A comparative word list of the Saharan languages has been compiled by Václav Blažek (2007). Internal classification * Saharan ** Eastern *** Berti † ( Sagato;Blench, Roger. m.s. Saharan and Songhay form a branch of Nilo-Saharan'. extinct) *** Zaghawa ( Beria) ** Western *** Kanuri **** Kanuri (Bilma, Manga, Tumari, Central) **** Kanembu ( Tarjumo) *** Tebu **** Daza **** Teda External classification Roger Blench argues that t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maban Languages
The Maban languages are a small family of languages which have been included in the hypothetical Nilo-Saharan languages, Nilo-Saharan language family. Maban languages are spoken in eastern Chad, the Central African Republic and western Sudan (Darfur). Languages The Maban branch includes the following languages: *Mimi of Nachtigal * Kenjeje language, Kenjeje (Yaali, Faranga) * Masalit: Surbakhal language, Surbakhal, Masalit language, Masalit * Aiki language, Aiki (Runga and Kibet, sometimes considered separate languages) * Mabang: Karanga language, Karanga, Marfa language, Marfa, Maba language, Maba The languages attested in two word lists labelled "Mimi language, Mimi", collected by Decorse (Mimi of Decorse, Mimi-D) and Nachtigal (Mimi of Nachtigal, Mimi-N), have also been classified as Maban, though this has been contested. Mimi-N appears to have been remotely related to Maban proper, while Mimi-D appears to have not been Maban at all, with the similarities due to language con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
