The Nubian languages are a language family spoken by Nubians in southern Egypt and northern Sudan. They are now concentrated mainly along the Nile and in several non-contiguous areas in Sudan, including parts of the Nuba Mountains and Darfur. Arabic–Nubian bilingualism is widespread, and language shift toward Arabic has been documented in a number of communities.

Nubian should not be confused with the various Nuba languages spoken in villages throughout the Nuba Mountains and parts of Darfur.

Geographic distribution

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.

History

Medieval Nubia (6th–15th century)

Old Nubian

thumb|A page from an [[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. 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

thumb|500px|Relations between Nubian languages as commonly presented in comparative overviews (genealogical relations and contact influence). The now extinct Nubian language ("Shaiqi") of the [[Shaigiya 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. Because conventions differ by language, author and intended audience, Nubian dictionaries and textbooks typically state the orthography they follow.

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Common conventions in Latin-based Nubian orthographies (illustrated with Nobiin conventions)

|-

! Feature

! Typical notation

! Example (as written)

! Notes

|-

| Vowel length

| doubled vowel letters

| aa, ee, ii, oo, uu

| Used in the Nobiin transcription conventions summarized by Dingemanse (following Werner).