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Dinka language

Other Afro-Asiatic, Nilo-Saharan and Khoisan Languages

The Dinka language is the speech of the Dinka, a Nilotic people of South Sudan who call themselves Muonjang or Jieng. The Summer Institute of Linguistics lists it in a Nilo-Saharan sub-grouping that also includes Nuer, Luo, Shilluk and Anyuak, and its vocabulary shows considerable borrowing among these related languages, with a special relationship between Dinka and many languages of the Upper Nile. The Dinka divide into about twenty-five mutually independent tribal groups, and similarities in language and cultural norms, together with myths of common descent, sustain a collective identity across all of them.

Facts
Status
Living 1
Connections

In Family

Source Encyclopedia.com: Dinka
In the Other Atlases

Cases Where Used

Also in Society and Culture Atlas: used in this subject.

Source Encyclopedia.com (Encyclopedia of World Cultures): DinkaLanguage section
Quote, Language section
The Dinka language is most closely related to Nuer and Atuot; these languages comprise a subfamily within the larger classification of Nilotic.

Found In

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Glottolog: Glottolog languoid page: DinkaCountries
Quote, Countries
South Sudan [SS]
Sources
1. Encyclopedia.com: Dinka
Language section
Quote, Language section
It is estimated that the Dinka language has more than 400 words to refer to cattle alone-their movements, their diseases, and their variety in color and form.
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