Eastern Sudanic languages
The
Eastern Sudanic languages form a family of languages spoken from southern
Egypt to northern
Tanzania, usually considered a subfamily of
Nilo-Saharan, following
Joseph Greenberg. Its members are:
*
Nubian*
Surmic*
Nara*
Eastern Jebel*
Nyimang*
Temein*
Taman*
Daju*
Nilotic*
KuliakTo these,
Christopher Ehret controversially adds
Berta. Other possible but unconfirmed members are
Meroitic and
Oropom.
Nubian (and possibly Meroitic) give Eastern Sudanic the earliest written attestations of any sub-Saharan African language; however, its largest branch by far is Nilotic, spread by extensive and comparatively recent conquests throughout
East Africa. Before the spread of Nilotic, Eastern Sudanic was centered in present-day
Sudan (although the name refers to the region of
Sudan, not the country, as opposed to
Central Sudanic.)
Lionel Bender (1980) proposes several Eastern Sudanic isoglosses, such as "mouth"
*kutuk, "three"
*(ko)TVS-(Vg), "fish"
*ku-lug-ut, *kVl(t).
Bender 1982 (as described by
Ruhlen 1987, and followed by the
Ethnologue):
* Eastern branch:
**
Nubian**
Surma**
Nara**
Eastern Jebel* Western branch:
**
Nyimang**
Temein**
Tama**
Daju*
Nilotic*
KuliakEhret 2001 (who terms them "Eastern Sahelian"):
*
Astaboran**
Nara**
Western Astaboran***
Nubian***
Taman*
Kir-Abbaian**
Jebel***
Eastern Jebel***
Berta**
Kir***
Nuba Mountains (ie Nyimang)
***
Daju***
Surma-Nilotic****
Surmic (ie Surma)
****
Nilotic*
Rub languages (ie Kuliak)
* M. L. Bender. "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. Foris: Dordrecht 1981.
