The Kadu languages, also known as Kadugli–Krongo or Tumtum, are a small

language family A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The term "family" reflects the tree model of language origination in hist ...

of the

Kordofanian The Kordofanian languages are a geographic grouping of five language groups spoken in the Nuba Mountains of the Kurdufan, Sudan: Talodi–Heiban languages, Lafofa languages, Rashad languages, Katla languages and Kadu languages. The first four g ...

geographic grouping, once included in Niger–Congo. However, since Thilo Schadeberg (1981), Kadu is widely seen as

Nilo-Saharan The Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed family of African languages spoken by some 50–60 million people, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers, including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributaries of the Nile meet. T ...

. 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 In most classifications, the Eastern Sudanic languages are a group of nine families of languages that may constitute a branch of the Nilo-Saharan language family. Eastern Sudanic languages are spoken from southern Egypt to northern Tanzania. Nub ...

. Like the

Nilotic The Nilotic peoples are people indigenous to the Nile Valley who speak Nilotic languages. They inhabit South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. Among these are the Burun-sp ...

Surmic The Surmic languages are a branch of the Eastern Sudanic language family. Today, the various peoples who speak Surmic languages make their living in a variety of ways, including nomadic herders, settled farmers, and slash and burn farmers. Th ...

, and

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, . are a group of lan ...

, Kadu languages have verb-initial word order. However, most other

languages of the Nuba Mountains The Nuba Mountains, located in the West Kordofan and South Kordofan states in the south of Sudan, are inhabited by a diverse set of populations (collectively known as Nuba peoples) speaking various languages not closely related to one another. T ...

, Darfur, and the Sudan-Ethiopia border region have verb-final word order.

Branches

There are three branches: *Western: Tulishi, Keiga, Kanga *Central:

Kadugli Kaduqli or Kadugli ( ar, كادوقلي ' Sudanese pronunciation: ) is the capital city of South Kordofan State, Sudan. It is located south of El-Obeid, at the northern edge of the White Nile plain in the Nuba Mountains. It contains H ...

(incl. Miri, Katcha) *Eastern: Krongo, Tumtum

Classification

Hall & Hall (2004), based on Schadeberg (1987), classify the languages as follows. Dafalla (2000) compares 179 cognates in Kadugli, Kamda, Kanga, Katcha, Keiga, Kufa, Miri, Shororo-Kursi, and Tulishi. Dafalla's (2000) results are similarly to those of Schadeberg (1989).

Reconstructions

Some Kadu quasi-reconstructions by Blench (2006):

Comparative vocabulary

Sample basic vocabulary for Kadu languages:Schadeberg, Thilo. 1994. Comparative Kadu Wordlists. ''Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere'' 40:11-48. University of Cologne.

Numerals

Comparison of numerals in individual languages:

Notes and references

*Dafalla, Rihab Yahia. 2000. ''A Phonological Comparison of the Katcha Kadugli Language Groups in the Nuba Mountains''. M.A. Dissertation, University of Khartoum. * Schadeberg, Thilo C. 1981
"The Classification of the Kadugli Language Group"
''Nilo-Saharan'', ed. by T. C. Schadeberg and M.

Lionel Bender Marvin Lionel Bender (August 18, 1934 – February 19, 2008) was an American linguist. Life Bender was born August 18, 1934, in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. He travelled throughout the world, particularly in Northeast Africa, and was an accompli ...

, pp. 291–305. Dordrecht: Foris Publications. {{Authority control * Language families

Classification

Branches

Classification

Reconstructions

Comparative vocabulary

Numerals

See also

Further reading

Notes and references