Nilo-Saharan languages
The Nilo-Saharan languages are a group of African languages spoken mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers, including Nubia. Roughly 11 million people spoke Nilo-Saharan languages as of 1987, according to Merritt Ruhlen's estimate.
According to Joseph H. Greenberg as modified by Lionel Bender (and adopted by the Ethnologue), they are classified into the following branches:
- Berta language
- Central Sudanic languages
- Eastern Sudanic languages (including Nubian languages and Nilotic languages)
- Komuz languages
- Kunama language
- Maban languages
- Saharan languages (including Kanuri language)
- Songhay languages
- Fur languages (including Fur language)
The Ethnologue, following Anbessa Tefera and Peter Unseth, consider the Shabo language to be Nilo-Saharan, but otherwise unclassified. It is sometimes considered a language isolate.
Some linguists, including Roger Blench, consider the Kadu languages (also called Kadugli languages or Tumtum) to be Nilo-Saharan, while others follow Greenberg in classing them as Kordofanian languages.
External links
- Ethnologue (http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=12)
- Roger Blench (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/roger_blench/Language%20data/NS%20language%20list.pdf)
ar:لغات نيلية صحراوية es:Lenguas nilo-saharianas
Categories: Nilo-Saharan languages