The Nilotic languages are a small language family of East Africa, spoken by roughly 31 million people across about 39 languages. They fall within the Eastern Sudanic branch of the proposed Nilo-Saharan family and split into Eastern, Southern and Western groups, including Turkana and Maasai, Kalenjin and Datooga, and Luo, Nuer and Dinka. Speakers are found across Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, and the family's name comes from the Nile River.
Facts
RegionEast and Northeast Africa: between Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania 1 Speaker CountApproximate figure per the cited source's own infobox, attributed there to Ethnologue. Proto-Language StatusOver 200 Proto-Nilotic lexical roots have been reconstructed (Dimmendaal 1988), and Joseph Greenberg divided the family into three subgroups, Eastern, Southern and Western Nilotic, on largely geographic rather than strictly genealogical grounds. 1 Nilotic
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Source Encyclopedia.com: Dinka
Source Encyclopedia.com: Nuer
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Sources
1. Wikipedia: Nilotic languages
WikipediaIntroduction, first sentence
The Nilotic languages are languages spoken across wide areas between Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania by the Nilotic peoples.
Reconstruction section
Over 200 Proto-Nilotic lexical roots have been reconstructed by Dimmendaal (1988).
Infobox: speakers
million
View the Source Wikidata: Nilotic
Wikidata Q513408, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Encyclopedia.com: Dinka
Includes: Dinka language, Language sectionQuote, Includes: Dinka language, Language section
The Dinka language is most closely related to Nuer and Atuot; these languages comprise a subfamily within the larger classification of Nilotic.
Encyclopedia.com: Nuer
Includes: Nuer language, Language sectionQuote, Includes: Nuer language, Language section
The Nuer language is a Nilotic language closely related to the speech of the Dinka and Atwot.
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