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Eastern Sudanic languages

 

 
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Eastern Sudanic languages
 
 
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The Eastern Sudanic languages form a family of languages spoken from Northern Sudan
Sudan

Sudan is a country in northeastern Africa. It is the largest in the African continent and the Arab World, and List of countries and outlying territories by total area by area....
 to northern Tanzania
Tanzania

Tanzania , officially the United Republic of Tanzania , is a country in East Africa that is bordered by Kenya and Uganda on the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the west, and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique on the south....
, usually considered a subfamily of Nilo-Saharan
Nilo-Saharan languages

The Nilo-Saharan languages are a hypothetical group of African languages spoken mainly in the upper parts of the Chari River and Nile rivers , including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributaries of Nile meet....
, following Joseph Greenberg
Joseph Greenberg

Joseph Harold Greenberg was a prominent and controversial American linguistics, principally known for his work in two areas, linguistic typology and the genetic relationship of languages....
.

Nubian
Old Nubian language

Old Nubian is an ancient variety of the Nubian languages, spoken until about the 15th century AD. It is ancestral to modern-day Nobiin language and other Nubian languages spoken in Nubia....
 (and possibly Meroitic
Meroitic language

The Meroitic language was spoken in Meroe and the Sudan during the Meroitic period and went extinct about 400. It was written in two forms of the Meroitic alphabet: demotic, which was written with a stylus and was used for general record-keeping; and hieroglyphic, which was carved in stone or used for royal or religious documents....
) gives Eastern Sudanic some of the earliest written attestations of an African language. However, its largest branch by far is Nilotic
Nilotic languages

The Nilotic languages are a group of Eastern Sudanic languages spoken across a wide area between southern Sudan and Tanzania by the Nilotic peoples, particularly associated with cattle-herding....
, spread by extensive and comparatively recent conquests throughout East Africa
East Africa

East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN subregion, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
. Before the spread of Nilotic, Eastern Sudanic was centered in present-day Sudan
Sudan

Sudan is a country in northeastern Africa. It is the largest in the African continent and the Arab World, and List of countries and outlying territories by total area by area....
, though the name "East Sudanic" refers to the region of Sudan
Sudan (region)

The Sudan, from the Arabic language bil?d as-s?d?n or "land of the Black people" , is a geographic region stretching from West to Eastern Africa....
, not the country, contrasts with Central Sudanic
Central Sudanic languages

Central Sudanic is a grouping of about thirty languages of the Nilo-Saharan languages language family. Central Sudanic languages are spoken in the Central African Republic, Chad, Sudan, Uganda, and Democratic Republic of the Congo....
 and West Sudanic (modern Mande
Mande languages

The Mande languages are spoken in several countries in West Africa by the Mand? people and include Mandinka language, Soninke language, Bambara language, Bissa, Dioula, Kagoro, Bozo languages, Mende language, Susu language, Yacouba, Vai language, and Ligbi language....
, in the Niger-Congo family
Niger-Congo languages

The Niger?Congo languages constitute one of the world's major Language family, and Africa's largest in terms of geographical area, number of speakers, and number of distinct languages....
).

Lionel Bender
Lionel Bender

Lionel Bender may refer to:*Lionel Bender , American author and co-author of several books, publications and essays regarding African languages...
 (1980) proposes several Eastern Sudanic isoglosses, such as "mouth" *kutuk, "three" *(ko)TVS-(Vg), "fish" *ku-lug-ut, *kVl(t).

e are two recent classifications of East Sudanic languages.






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The Eastern Sudanic languages form a family of languages spoken from Northern Sudan
Sudan

Sudan is a country in northeastern Africa. It is the largest in the African continent and the Arab World, and List of countries and outlying territories by total area by area....
 to northern Tanzania
Tanzania

Tanzania , officially the United Republic of Tanzania , is a country in East Africa that is bordered by Kenya and Uganda on the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the west, and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique on the south....
, usually considered a subfamily of Nilo-Saharan
Nilo-Saharan languages

The Nilo-Saharan languages are a hypothetical group of African languages spoken mainly in the upper parts of the Chari River and Nile rivers , including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributaries of Nile meet....
, following Joseph Greenberg
Joseph Greenberg

Joseph Harold Greenberg was a prominent and controversial American linguistics, principally known for his work in two areas, linguistic typology and the genetic relationship of languages....
.

Nubian
Old Nubian language

Old Nubian is an ancient variety of the Nubian languages, spoken until about the 15th century AD. It is ancestral to modern-day Nobiin language and other Nubian languages spoken in Nubia....
 (and possibly Meroitic
Meroitic language

The Meroitic language was spoken in Meroe and the Sudan during the Meroitic period and went extinct about 400. It was written in two forms of the Meroitic alphabet: demotic, which was written with a stylus and was used for general record-keeping; and hieroglyphic, which was carved in stone or used for royal or religious documents....
) gives Eastern Sudanic some of the earliest written attestations of an African language. However, its largest branch by far is Nilotic
Nilotic languages

The Nilotic languages are a group of Eastern Sudanic languages spoken across a wide area between southern Sudan and Tanzania by the Nilotic peoples, particularly associated with cattle-herding....
, spread by extensive and comparatively recent conquests throughout East Africa
East Africa

East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN subregion, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
. Before the spread of Nilotic, Eastern Sudanic was centered in present-day Sudan
Sudan

Sudan is a country in northeastern Africa. It is the largest in the African continent and the Arab World, and List of countries and outlying territories by total area by area....
, though the name "East Sudanic" refers to the region of Sudan
Sudan (region)

The Sudan, from the Arabic language bil?d as-s?d?n or "land of the Black people" , is a geographic region stretching from West to Eastern Africa....
, not the country, contrasts with Central Sudanic
Central Sudanic languages

Central Sudanic is a grouping of about thirty languages of the Nilo-Saharan languages language family. Central Sudanic languages are spoken in the Central African Republic, Chad, Sudan, Uganda, and Democratic Republic of the Congo....
 and West Sudanic (modern Mande
Mande languages

The Mande languages are spoken in several countries in West Africa by the Mand? people and include Mandinka language, Soninke language, Bambara language, Bissa, Dioula, Kagoro, Bozo languages, Mende language, Susu language, Yacouba, Vai language, and Ligbi language....
, in the Niger-Congo family
Niger-Congo languages

The Niger?Congo languages constitute one of the world's major Language family, and Africa's largest in terms of geographical area, number of speakers, and number of distinct languages....
).

Lionel Bender
Lionel Bender

Lionel Bender may refer to:*Lionel Bender , American author and co-author of several books, publications and essays regarding African languages...
 (1980) proposes several Eastern Sudanic isoglosses, such as "mouth" *kutuk, "three" *(ko)TVS-(Vg), "fish" *ku-lug-ut, *kVl(t).

Internal classification

There are two recent classifications of East Sudanic languages. The one followed by other historical linguists is Bender 2000.

Bender 2000 Bender assigns the languages into two branches, depending on whether the 1sg pronoun
Pronoun

In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun with or without a Determiner , such as Wiktionary:you and Wiktionary:they in English language....
 ("I") has a /k/ or an /n/:

Ehret 2001 [1989] Ehret calls the family "Eastern Sahelian", and idiosyncratically adds the Kuliak languages
Kuliak languages

The Kuliak languages?Ik language, Soo language, and Nyang'i language?are spoken by small relict communities in the mountains of northeastern Uganda....
 and Berta
Berta language

The Berta language is spoken by the group of the same name in Sudan and Ethiopia, and is generally classified as a branch of Nilo-Saharan languages....
, which Bender assigns to higher-level branches of Nilo-Saharan, and reassigns Nyima
Nyima languages

The Nyima languages are a pair of languages of Sudan spoken by the Nyimang that are part of the Eastern Sudanic languages of Nilo-Saharan languages....
 to the southern branch. No evidence has been published for any of these assignments.

Sources


  • Bender, M. Lionel. 2000. "Nilo-Saharan". In Bernd Heine
    Bernd Heine

    Bernd Heine is a German linguistics and specialist in African studies.From 1978 to 2004 Heine held the chair for African Studies at the University of Cologne, Germany....
     and Derek Nurse, eds., African Languages: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press.
  • Bender, M. Lionel. 1981. "Some Nilo-Saharan isoglosses". ed. Thilo Schadeberg, M. L. Bender, Nilo-Saharan: Proceedings of the First Nilo-Saharan Linguistics Colloquium, Leiden, Sept. 8-10, 1980. Dordrecht: Foris Publications.
  • Ehret, Christopher. 2001. A historical-comparative reconstruction of Nilo-Saharan. Köln: Rudiger Köppe.