Fur languages
Encyclopedia
The Fur or For languages constitute a small, closely related family which are a proposed member of the Nilo-Saharan
family. Fur
in western Sudan
had 500,000 speakers in 1983 (before the Darfur
crisis), and Amdang
(also called Mimi
) in eastern Chad
had 5,000 speakers.
Nilo-Saharan languages
The Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed family of African languages spoken by some 50 million people, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers , including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributaries of Nile meet...
family. Fur
Fur language
All sounds are spelt with their IPA symbols except for the following: j = , ñ = and y = . Arabic consonants are sometimes used in loanwords.The vowels are as in Latin: a e i o u...
in western Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
had 500,000 speakers in 1983 (before the Darfur
Darfur
Darfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...
crisis), and Amdang
Amdang language
Amdang Biltine is a language closely related to Fur spoken in Chad by about 5,000 people , while Ethnologue places the number in 2000 at 41,000. It is mainly spoken in Chad north of Biltine, and sporadically elsewhere in Ouaddaï...
(also called Mimi
Mimi language
Mimi is a name applied to several distinct and not particularly closely related Nilo-Saharan languages of the Wadai area of Chad, most commonly Amdang but also including two possibly Maban languages: Mimi of Nachtigal and Mimi of Decorse....
) in eastern Chad
Chad
Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...
had 5,000 speakers.