Nubian languages

Nile Nubian languages are spoken chiefly along the Nile in southern Egypt and northern Sudan. Other Nubian languages are spoken farther afield, including Hill Nubian in the Nuba Mountains and Midob in Darfur; Birgid was formerly spoken in western Sudan. Migration and urbanization have also produced Nubian-speaking communities in major Egyptian and Sudanese cities and in diaspora settings. ==Number of speakers==

Estimates for the Nubian languages vary by source and by how dialects and bilingual speakers are counted. A frequently cited estimate (reported in 1980, based on late-1970s figures) gives a total of about 200,000–1,000,000 speakers for the Nubian languages as a whole. ==History==

Medieval Nubia (6th–15th century) Old Nubian translation of the Investiture of the Archangel Michael (9th–10th century), found at Qasr Ibrim. Old Nubian is the best-attested earlier Nubian language. It is preserved in manuscripts and inscriptions dating roughly from the 8th to the 15th centuries CE. Surviving texts include Christian religious works (such as homilies and prayers) and documentary material (including legal and administrative texts) associated with the medieval Nubian states of the Nile Valley. Old Nubian was written in a slanted uncial variety of the Coptic alphabet, with additional letters and conventions adapted to Nubian phonology. Descriptions also note characters associated with the Meroitic writing tradition and the use of digraphs in some environments. Relocation away from riverine villages is often discussed as a factor accelerating language shift in some settings. ==Current-day Nubian languages==

Nubian languages are often grouped by geography and shared innovations. Commonly cited languages and groups include: • Nobiin (also historically labeled “Mahas” and “Fadicca/Fiadicca”): spoken chiefly along the Nile in southern Egypt and northern Sudan and in diaspora communities. • Kenzi (Mattokki) and Dongolawi (Andaandi): closely related Nile Nubian languages spoken in Egypt (Kenzi) and Sudan (Dongolawi), respectively. • Midob (Meidob): a Western Nubian language spoken primarily in North Darfur, with additional speakers in Sudanese urban centers. • Birgid: an extinct Nubian language formerly spoken in western Sudan. • Hill (Kordofan) Nubian: a set of related Nubian languages spoken in parts of the northern Nuba Mountains; documentation varies by language, and Haraza is known only from wordlists. ==Phonology and typology==

Comparative descriptions report SOV as the basic word order across Nubian languages, with postpositions and relatively complex verbal morphology. Tone is described for several Nubian languages (including Mahas/Nobiin, Dongolawi, Hill Nubian and Midob), while stress rather than tone is described for Kenzi in the same overview. ==Classification==

tribe is depicted as being related to Nobiin, although there is also evidence that it was related or identical to Dongolawi. Earlier reference works often divided Nubian into three branches (Northern/Nile, Central, and Western) and sometimes included Hill Nubian under Central. Recent work proposes alternative internal subgroupings and differs on the role of contact versus inheritance in explaining similarities among Nile Nubian varieties. Upper-level affiliation Glottolog treats Nubian as a primary family and states that no conclusive, methodologically sound basis has been presented for assigning it to Eastern Sudanic or to an alleged full or partial Nilo-Saharan grouping. One simplified representation (terminology varies between authors) is: • Nubian • Nile Nubian • Old Nubian • Nobiin • Kenzi–Dongolawi • Dongolawi • Kenzi • Western Nubian • Birgid • Midob–Hill Nubian • Midob • Hill (Kordofan) Nubian Other classifications differ, especially in the internal segmentation of Hill Nubian and in how “Central” and “Western” groupings are defined. ==Writing systems and orthography==

Old Nubian used a Coptic-derived alphabet with additions and orthographic conventions adapted to Nubian phonology. Because conventions differ by language, author and intended audience, Nubian dictionaries and textbooks typically state the orthography they follow. Selected letters and correspondences (illustrative) The table below lists commonly cited Old Nubian / Coptic-derived characters, a typical scholarly romanization, and example Arabic-script renderings used in some modern publications. Not all letters have a stable Arabic-script equivalent, and values may differ across Nubian languages and orthographic systems. ;Notes • Old Nubian orthography includes additional conventions (such as digraphs) and edition-specific transliteration practices. • Arabic-script spellings may use extended letters (e.g., ) and diacritics; practices differ by language and author. ==Latin-based orthography (common conventions in modern descriptions)==

Latin-based spellings used in descriptive work commonly represent vowel length and consonant length by doubling, and mark tone with diacritics where tone is written. A published sketch of Nobiin tone summarizes transcription conventions used in work based on Werner’s grammar, including tone marking with acute, grave and circumflex diacritics and length marking by doubling. ==Research and documentation==

Scholarly study of Nubian languages began in the 19th century and now includes comparative reconstruction, descriptive grammars and dictionaries, and sociolinguistic work on multilingualism and language shift. Researchers associated with Nubian description and classification include Lepsius, Reinisch, Meinhof, Thelwall, Bechhaus-Gerst, Rilly and others. ==References==