Northern Eastern Sudanic languages

Language family
Northern Eastern Sudanic
Astaboran
(undemonstrated)
Geographic
distribution
Sudan, Eritrea, Egypt, Chad
Linguistic classificationNilo-Saharan?
  • Eastern Sudanic
    • Northern Eastern Sudanic
Subdivisions
  • Nubian
  • Nara
  • Taman
  • Nyima
  • Meroitic?
GlottologNone

The Northern Eastern Sudanic, Eastern k Sudanic, Ek Sudanic, NNT or Astaboran languages may form a primary division of the proposed Eastern Sudanic family. They are characterised by having a /k/ in the first person singular pronoun "I/me", as opposed to the Southern Eastern Sudanic languages, which have an /n/. Nyima has yet to be conclusively linked to the other languages, and would appear to be the closest relative of Ek Sudanic rather than Ek Sudanic proper.

The most well-known language of this group is Nubian. According to Claude Rilly, the ancient Meroitic language appears on limited evidence to be closely related to the languages of this group.

A reconstruction of Proto-Northern Eastern Sudanic has also been proposed by Rilly (2010).[1]

Internal classification

Rilly (2009:2)[2] provides the following internal structure for the Northern Eastern Sudanic languages.

  • Northern East Sudanic
    • Nyima: Nyimang, Afitti
    • Taman: Tama, Mararit
    • Nara-Nubian
      • Nara
      • Meroitic-Nubian
        • Meroitic
        • Nubian
          • Western Nubian
            • Birgid
            • Midob, Kordofan Nubian
          • Nile Nubian
            • Old Dongolawi, Kenuzi, Dongolawi
            • Old Nubian, Nobiin

External relationships

Based on morphological evidence such as tripartite number marking on nominals, Roger Blench (2021) suggests that the Maban languages may be closely related.[3]

See also

  • iconLinguistics portal
  • iconLanguages portal
  • List of Northern Eastern Sudanic reconstructions (Wiktionary)

References

  1. ^ Rilly, Claude (2010). Le méroïtique et sa famille linguistique (in French). Leuven: Peeters Publishers. pp. 347–349. ISBN 978-9042922372.
  2. ^ Rilly, Claude (June 4–7, 2009). From the Yellow Nile to the Blue Nile: The quest for water and the diffusion of Northern East Sudanic languages from the fourth to the first millennia BCE. ECAS 2009 (3rd European Conference on African Studies). Leipzig.{{cite conference}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  3. ^ Blench, Roger. 2021. The Maban languages and their place within Nilo-Saharan.
  • Bender, M. L. (2000). "Nilo-Saharan". In Heine, Bernd; Nurse, Derek (eds.). African Languages: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press.
  • Starostin, George (2015). "The Eastern Sudanic hypothesis tested through lexicostatistics: current state of affairs". Draft 1.0.
  • Starostin, George (2015). Jazyki Afriki. Opyt postrojenija leksikostatističeskoj klassifikacii. Tom II. Vostočnosudanskije jazyki Языки Африки. Опыт построения лексикостатистической классификации. Том II. Восточносуданские языки [The Languages of Africa. The experience of building a lexiostatistical classification.] (in Russian). Vol. II: The Eastern Sudanic Languages. Moscow: Languages of Slavic culture. ISBN 9785457890718.
  • v
  • t
  • e
Part of the proposed Nilo-Saharan language family
Northern k languages
Nubian
Hill Nubian
Nara
Nyima
Taman
Southern n languages
Surmic
North
Southeast
Southwest
Eastern Jebel
Temein
Daju
Eastern
Western
Nilotic
Large group listed below
Eastern
Bari
Teso–Turkana
Lotuko
Ongamo–Maa
Western
Dinka–Nuer
Luo
Northern
Southern
Burun
Southern
Kalenjin
Elgon
Nandi–Markweta
Okiek–Mosiro
Pökoot
Omotik–Datooga
Italics indicate extinct languages