Central Sudanic is a family of about sixty languages with roughly 15 million speakers across the Central African Republic, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, usually included within the proposed Nilo-Saharan phylum. Its largest branch, Sara-Bongo-Bagirmi, contains around 40 of the family's languages, alongside smaller branches including Mangbetu-Asoa, Mangbutu-Lese, Lendu and Moru-Madi, with the placement of a further Birri-Kresh group still uncertain; the family includes several languages spoken by Pygmy peoples, such as Efe and Asoa. Scholars differ on its internal shape: a 2023 classification by Roger Blench splits it into an Eastern (Lendu-Mangbetu) and Western (Bongo-Kresh) branch, while a 2016 study by George Starostin found stronger evidence for the Eastern grouping than the Western one.
Facts
RegionCentral African Republic, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda and Congo (DRC) 1 Speaker CountApproximate figure per the cited source's own infobox value. Proto-Language StatusAbout sixty languages, included in the proposed but unproven Nilo-Saharan family; half a dozen groups are generally accepted as valid, customarily divided into East and West branches, but Starostin (2016) finds support for the eastern branch while not for the western division, and the placement of poorly documented languages such as Sinyar-Formona and Mimi remains provisional. 1 Connections
Ancestor Of
Mangbutu-Lese is a branch of Central Sudanic (itself commonly placed within Nilo-Saharan), spoken in northeastern DR Congo; linked here to the direct Central Sudanic parent rather than the remoter Nilo-Saharan ancestor.
Sara-Bongo-Bagirmi is a major branch of Central Sudanic, spoken across Chad, the Central African Republic and South Sudan.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Central Sudanic Languages
Wikimedia FoundationIntroduction, second sentence
Central Sudanic languages are spoken in the Central African Republic, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda, and Congo (DRC).
Classification section, first two sentences
Half a dozen groups of Central Sudanic languages are generally accepted as valid. They are customarily divided into East and West branches.
Infobox, Native speakers field
ca. 15 million
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