Kordofanian languages: Difference between revisions

Kordofanian
Kordofanian
Geographic; distribution	Kordofan
Linguistic classification	Niger-Congo Kordofanian;
Subdivisions	Kadu languages; Talodi languages; Katla languages; Heiban languages; Rashad languages;

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The Kordofanian languages are a geographic grouping of languages spoken in the Nuba hills of Kordofan Province, Sudan. In 1963 Joseph Greenberg added them to the Niger-Congo family, creating his Niger-Kordofanian proposal. The Kordofanian languages have not been shown to be more distantly related than other branches of Niger-Congo, however, nor have they been shown to constitute a valid group, and today they are usually included in Niger-Congo proper. Since Schadeberg 1981c, the "Tumtum" or Kadu branch is now widely seen as Nilo-Saharan. The remaining languages form four clearly valid groups:

the Heiban languages, also called Koalib or Koalib-Moro: Ko, Warnang, Rere, Otoro, Logol, Heiban (Ebang), Laro, Shwai (Shirumba), Tiro, Moro
the Talodi languages, also called Talodi-Masakin or Lafofa: Tegem, Lafofa, El Amira, Nding, Talodi (Jomang), Tocho, Acheron, Lumun, Torona, Ngile, Dagik (Dengebu)
the Rashad languages, also called Tegali-Tagoi: Rashad, Tegali, Tumali, Moreb, Tagoi, Turjuk, Tingal, Tukum, Turum
the Katla languages: Katla, Tima

Roger Blench notes that the Talodi languages have the prototypical noun-class system of core Niger-Congo, but that the Katla languages have no trace of ever having had such a system, while some of the Rashad and Kadu languages appear to have acquired noun classes as part of a Sprachbund. He concludes that the Kordofanian languages do not form a genealogical group, but that Talodi is core Niger-Congo whereas Katla is a peripheral branch along the lines of Mande.

Bibliography

Herman Bell. 1995. The Nuba Mountains: Who Spoke What in 1976?. Being a study of the published results from a major project of the Institute of African and Asian Studies: the Language Survey of the Nuba Mountains.
Roger Blench. Unpublished. Kordofanian and Niger-Congo: an evaluation of the evidence.
P. A. and D. N. MacDiarmid. 1931. "The languages of the Nuba Mountains." Sudan Notes and Records 14: 149-162.
Carl Meinhof. 1915-1919. "Sprachstudien im egyptischen Sudan". Zeitschrift für Kolonialsprachen 9-9. "1. Tagoy." 6: 164-161. "2. Tumale". 6:182-205. "11. Tegele." 7:110-131. "12. Rashad." 7:132.
Thilo C. Schadeberg. 1981a. A survey of Kordofanian. SUGIA Beiheft 1-2. Hamburg:Helmut Buske Verlag.
Thilo C. Schadeberg. 1981b. "Das Kordofanische". Die Sprachen Afrikas. Band 1: Niger-Kordofanisch, ed. by Bernt Heine, T. C. Schadeberg, Ekkehard Wolff, pp. 117-28 SUGIA Beiheft 1-2. Hamburg:Helmut Buske Verlag.
Thilo C. Schadeberg. 1981c. "The classification of the Kadugli language group". Nilo-Saharan, ed. by T. C. Schadeberg and M. Lionel Bender, pp. 291-305. Dordrecht: Foris Publications.
Brenda Z. Seligmann. 1910-11. "Note on the language of the Nubas of Southern Kordofan." Zeitschrift für Kolonialsprachen 1:167-188.
Roland C. Stevenson. 1956-57. "A survey of the phonetics and grammatical structure of the Nuba Mountains languages, with particular reference to Otoro, Katcha, and Nyimang." Afrika und Übersee 40:73-84, 93-115; 41:27-65, 117-152, 171-196.
A. N. Tucker and M. A. Bryan. 1956. The Non-Bantu Languages of North-Eastern Africa. (Handbook of African Languages, Part III.) Oxford University Press: London.
A. N. Tucker and M. A. Bryan. 1966. Linguistic Analyses/The Non-Bantu Languages of North-Eastern Africa. (Handbook of African Languages.) Oxford University Press: London.
Lorenz Tutschek. 1848. "Über die Tumale-Sprache." Gelehrte Anzeigen, herausgegeben von Mitgliedern der k. bayer. Akademie der Wissenschaften. Nrs. 91-93; Spalten 729-52. (=Bulletin der königl. Akademie der Wissenschaften. Nrs. 29-31.)
Lorenz Tutschek. 1848-50. "On the Tumali language". Proceedings of the Philological Society for 1846-47 and 1847-48. Vol 3:239-54. Proceedings of the Philological Society for 1848-49 and 1849-50. Vol. 4:138-9.

External links

Katcha-English Dictionary (one of the Kadu languages)
The Nuba Mountains Homepage

Template:Niger-Congo-speaking nations

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
   |familycolor=Niger-Congo
   |fam1=[[Niger-Congo languages|Niger-Congo]]
+  |child1=[[Kadu languages]]
+  |child2=[[Talodi languages]]
+  |child3=[[Katla languages]]
+  |child4=[[Heiban languages]]
+  |child5=[[Rashad languages]]
 }}
-Several '''Kordofanian languages''' are spoken in the [[Nuba]] hills of [[Kordofan]], in [[Sudan]]. In 1963 they were grouped together with the [[Niger-Congo languages]] by [[Joseph Greenberg]], forming the [[Niger-Kordofanian languages]]. The Kordofanian languages have not been determined to be more distantly related to Niger-Congo than some other branches, however, and today they are usually subsumed under Niger-Congo and considered one of the first families to branch off, along with [[Mande languages|Mande]]. The "Tumtum" or [[Kadu languages]] were formerly considered Kordofanian, but are now normally excluded (since [[Thilo C. Schadeberg|Schadeberg]] 1981c), and widely seen as [[Nilo-Saharan languages|Nilo-Saharan]].  They are divided into four subgroups:
+The '''Kordofanian languages''' are a geographic grouping of languages spoken in the [[Nuba]] hills of [[Kordofan]] Province, [[Sudan]]. In 1963 [[Joseph Greenberg]] added them to the [[Niger-Congo languages|Niger-Congo family]], creating his [[Niger-Kordofanian languages|Niger-Kordofanian]] proposal. The Kordofanian languages have not been shown to be more distantly related than other branches of Niger-Congo, however, nor have they been shown to constitute a valid group, and today they are usually included in Niger-Congo proper. Since [[Thilo C. Schadeberg|Schadeberg]] 1981c, the "Tumtum" or Kadu branch is now widely seen as [[Nilo-Saharan languages|Nilo-Saharan]]. The remaining languages form four clearly valid groups:
-* [[Heiban languages]] (also called Koalib, Koalib-Moro) ([[Ko language|Ko]], [[Warnang language|Warnang]], [[Rere language|Rere]], [[Otoro language|Otoro]], [[Logol language|Logol]], [[Heiban language|Heiban]] (Ebang), [[Laro language|Laro]], [[Shwai language|Shwai]] (Shirumba), [[Tiro language|Tiro]], [[Moro language|Moro]])
+* the [[Heiban languages]], also called Koalib or Koalib-Moro: [[Ko language|Ko]], [[Warnang language|Warnang]], [[Rere language|Rere]], [[Otoro language|Otoro]], [[Logol language|Logol]], [[Heiban language|Heiban]] (Ebang), [[Laro language|Laro]], [[Shwai language|Shwai]] (Shirumba), [[Tiro language|Tiro]], [[Moro language|Moro]]
-* [[Talodi languages]] (also called Talodi-Masakin, Lafofa) ([[Tegem language|Tegem]], [[Lafofa language|Lafofa]], [[El Amira language|El Amira]], [[Nding language|Nding]], [[Talodi language|Talodi]] (Jomang), [[Tocho language|Tocho]], [[Acheron language|Acheron]], [[Lumun language|Lumun]], [[Torona language|Torona]], [[Ngile language|Ngile]], [[Dagik language|Dagik]] (Dengebu))
+* the [[Talodi languages]], also called Talodi-Masakin or Lafofa: [[Tegem language|Tegem]], [[Lafofa language|Lafofa]], [[El Amira language|El Amira]], [[Nding language|Nding]], [[Talodi language|Talodi]] (Jomang), [[Tocho language|Tocho]], [[Acheron language|Acheron]], [[Lumun language|Lumun]], [[Torona language|Torona]], [[Ngile language|Ngile]], [[Dagik language|Dagik]] (Dengebu)
-* [[Rashad languages]] ([[Tegali language|Tegali]]-[[Tagoi language|Tagoi]]) ([[Rashad language|Rashad]], [[Tegali language|Tegali]], [[Tumali language|Tumali]], [[Moreb language|Moreb]], [[Tagoi language|Tagoi]], [[Turjuk language|Turjuk]], [[Tingal language|Tingal]], [[Tukum language|Tukum]], [[Turum language|Turum]])
+* the [[Rashad languages]], also called Tegali-Tagoi: [[Rashad language|Rashad]], [[Tegali language|Tegali]], [[Tumali language|Tumali]], [[Moreb language|Moreb]], [[Tagoi language|Tagoi]], [[Turjuk language|Turjuk]], [[Tingal language|Tingal]], [[Tukum language|Tukum]], [[Turum language|Turum]]
-* [[Katla languages]] ([[Katla language|Katla]], [[Tima language|Tima]])
+* the [[Katla languages]]: [[Katla language|Katla]], [[Tima language|Tima]]
+[[Roger Blench]] notes that the Talodi languages have the prototypical [[noun class|noun-class]] system of core Niger-Congo, but that the Katla languages have no trace of ever having had such a system, while some of the Rashad and Kadu languages appear to have acquired noun classes as part of a [[Sprachbund]]. He concludes that the Kordofanian languages do not form a genealogical group, but that Talodi is core Niger-Congo whereas Katla is a peripheral branch along the lines of [[Mande languages|Mande]].
-Ethnically, their speakers form part of the "[[Nuba]]".
 ==Bibliography==