The Kordofanian languages are a geographic grouping of five language groups spoken in the Nuba Mountains of the South Kordofan region of Sudan: Talodi–Heiban languages, Lafofa languages, Rashad languages, Katla languages and Kadu languages. The first four groups are sometimes regarded as branches of the hypothetical Niger–Congo family, whereas Kadu is now widely seen as a branch of the proposed Nilo-Saharan family. The Kordofanian languages may be the oldest group of languages in the region.
History 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, and they have not been shown to constitute a valid group. Today, the Kadu languages are excluded, and the others are usually included in Niger–Congo proper.
Roger Blench notes that the Talodi and Heiban families have the noun class systems characteristic of the Atlantic–Congo core of Niger–Congo but that the two Katla languages have no trace of ever having had such a system. However, the Kadu languages and some of the Rashad languages appear to have acquired noun classes as part of a Sprachbund rather than having inherited them. Blench concludes that Talodi and Heiban are core Niger–Congo whereas Katla and Rashad form a peripheral branch along the lines of Mande.
Heiban, Katloid, and Talodi are also grouped together in an automated computational analysis (ASJP 4) by Müller et al. (2013).Müller, André, Viveka Velupillai, Søren Wichmann, Cecil H. Brown, Eric W. Holman, Sebastian Sauppe, Pamela Brown, Harald Hammarström, Oleg Belyaev, Johann-Mattis List, Dik Bakker, Dmitri Egorov, Matthias Urban, Robert Mailhammer, Matthew S. Dryer, Evgenia Korovina, David Beck, Helen Geyer, Pattie Epps, Anthony Grant, and Pilar Valenzuela. 2013. ASJP World Language Trees of Lexical Similarity: Version 4 (October 2013). However, since the analysis was automatically generated, the grouping could be either due to mutual lexical borrowing or genetic inheritance.
Talodi–Heiban languages
The Heiban languages, also called Koalib or Koalib–Moro, and the Talodi languages, also called Talodi–Masakin, are part of the Talodi–Heiban group.Gerrit Dimmendaal, 2008. "Language Ecology and Linguistic Diversity on the African Continent", Language and Linguistics Compass 2/5:842.
Lafofa languages
Lafofa (Tegem) was for a time classified with Talodi, but appears to be a separate branch of Niger–Congo.
Rashad languages
The number of Rashad languages, also called Tegali–Tagoi, varies among descriptions, from two (Williamson & Blench 2000), three (Ethnologue), to eight (Blench ms). Tagoi has a noun-class system like the Atlantic–Congo languages, which is apparently borrowed, but Tegali does not.
Katla languages
The two Katla languages have no trace of ever having had a Niger–Congo-type noun-class system.
Kadu languages
Since the work of Thilo C. Schadeberg in 1981, the "Tumtum" or Kadu branch is now widely seen as Nilo-Saharan.
Reconstruction Quint (2020) suggests that Proto-Kordofanian can be reconstructed from the Heibanian, Talodian, Rashadian, Katloid, and Lafofa languages. His Proto-Kordofanian reconstructions are as follows:Quint, Nicolas (2020). In: Vossen, Rainer and Gerrit J. Dimmendaal (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of African Languages, 239-268. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gloss Proto-Kordofanian Talodian Heibanian Lafofa Katloid (Tima) Rashadian bark 1 (n.) *-mVk- *t-ə-mək Koalib kìmùukùl [kìmùugùl] Orig kìmbàkɔ́l bark 2 (n.) *k(V)VrE ~ *c(V)VrE c-iíri kúúr *g-ware beat / hit *-bV- *-gob- / *kə-bɔ *-bid̪- ...biŋ Orig bí(r) / pù(ró) belly *-VrVk ~ *-VɽVk *j-+-arag / *ca-rək *g-+-aare t̪-úur-i kúɽúún bite / eat *-CVk *-gVjog / *kə-ɟɔ *-iy- ...jiɛ *yɛk blood *(C)iCPV *ŋ-+-ittsug / *ŋ-ɪccʊk Katla ija ~ iya Rashad wiya breast *CVmiC *j-+-intsig / *c-ə-mmik Tima kɨ̀míndì *d-miɲ clothes *kErEC *k-ɛrɛt̪ *g-+-ered̪ Tagoi kɛr(ɛ́)w dry *-OndV *-an d̪o *-unDo *-uddi ear *kVnV *g-+-eenu / *k-ɛnu *g- / n-+-aani kɔ́.nɔ̀ Tagoi finin, Tegali (a)nuu elephant *-VŋV(C) *d-+-oŋor yuːŋi *(fV)ŋVn eye *?+-git *j-+-igg / *c-it Katla gɨgöt *y-ngid foot / leg *-AkA(C) *ts-+-agag Koalib káakà [káagà] l-ia-ga *d-ɛgɛn goat *Em(b)iT *w-+-emig / *u-mit ɛɛmi Tima címìd̪ *mbɨt green / wet *-iklV ~ *ijlV *-iigla b-ʊ́ɒji-lli Tagoi -ijilú, Tegali -rígɛ̂l hair *kaam ~ *gaam *d-+-ʊgaŋ / *NC-ŋən̪ Tima káàm *g-aam head *gaCDP ~ *CPaCDP *j-+-ats, *c-ac Katla gas *g-aj left (side) *-CVul- ~ *-CVur- *-gule / *-gulɛ *-awur kúlɪ *-awwir mud *-ElO Koalib kèlòo Tima k-ʌ́ʌ́lu Orig ŋí̧lɔ́ near *-Et̪t̪OC *-iddu / *-t̪t̪o-t Koalib kɛ́ttɔ̀k [kɛ́t̪t̪ɔ̀k] Tima mɛ̀t̪ɛ́n Tagoi gattɔŋ / tɔgɔt one *attV ~ *addV *-aDDe Tima àtíín Orig wàttá rain *kaw ~ *kal *k-abɪk *g-+-aw k-állɔ́-y *(y)au red *-OrdE *-oodeSchadeberg, Thilo C. 1981. A Survey of Kordofanian Vol 2: The Talodi Group. (Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika: Beiheft, 2.) Hamburg: Helmut Buske. 175pp. / *-d̪ɛ *-UUre Tima -rdí *-araw sheep *kACVAC *t̪ʊ-ŋgat̪ Koalib káaŋàl βaːŋi (k)áŋàl Orig kàgóy smoke (n.) *-uCLVBbV *g-+-ulu c-oor-í kʊ̀ʊ̀ɽʊ́n Tagoi k(ə)rək, Tegali tulɛ́ sun *-VCNV *j-+-iŋgi, *c-ə-ŋgi Ø-+*-aŋin kínèè *-aane tongue *-d̪Vŋl(V) ~ *-d̪VlVŋ(V) *d̪-+-(V)lVŋe / *tʊ-ləŋɛ d̪-+*-ŋela l-íáŋ-i kìlíŋíì *d-aŋil(-ag) vomit *-UdA ~ *-UwA -VddV / *uk-dɛ *-wey- lwâ-d̪aŋ... lwa -húwʌ̀ *VdVk
Lexical isoglosses Starostin (2018) lists the following common lexical isoglosses in the Kordofanian languages. Potential cognates are highlighted in bold.Starostin, George. 2018. Preliminary lexicostatistical analysis for languages of the Nuba Mountains. 13th Annual Sergei Starostin Memorial Conference on Comparative-Historical Linguistics (RSUH, March 22-23, 2018).
{| class="wikitable sortable" ! Proto-language ! eye ! bone ! egg ! tooth ! ear ! tongue ! head ! I ! thou |- ! Proto-Heiban | *=ey | *=uya | *=ɛɲɔ(ŋ) | *=iŋa-t̪ | *=ɛːni | *=ŋɛla | *=da | *(i)ɲ=i | *(u)ŋ=a |- ! Proto-Talodi | *=igi | *=umV | *=uwi(ŋ) | *=iɲi-t | *=ɛːnu | *=lʊŋɛ | *=âs | *ŋ=i | *(u)ŋ=a |- ! (Proto-)Lafofa | =î | =uami | =uwɛ- | =ɛːŋı | | liaŋi | =ay | ɲɛ- | ŋɔ- |- ! Proto-Katla-Tima | *=igi | *=uga | *=iwɔɲ | | *=ɔnɔ | *=liŋi | *=as | ɲɔŋ | ŋaŋ |- ! Proto-Rashad | *=i(ŋ)gə | *=uh | *iye (?) | *=iɲi-n | *=əni-n | *=ŋəla | *=as | *ŋ=i | *ŋ=ɔ |- ! Proto-Kadu | *=yV | *kuɓa | *sule | *=kini | *=ɛːsɔ | *ŋaɗɔ | *=at̪u | *aʔa | *oʔo
Comparative vocabulary Sample basic vocabulary of the Heiban, Talodi, Rashad, and Lafofa branches:
Note: In table cells with slashes, the singular form is given before the slash, while the plural form follows the slash.
Language eye ear nose tooth tongue mouth blood bone tree water eat name Proto-HeibanSchadeberg, Thilo C. 1981. A Survey of Kordofanian. Volume 1: The Heiban Group. Hamburg: Helmut Buske. *ay / g-,j- *-aani *-ad̪alo / g-,j-; g-,n- *-ŋad̪ / li-,j- *-ŋela; *-iŋla ? / D-,d- *-uuɲu *-win / ŋ- *-uya / li-,ŋu- (WC); *-uɲ / ʔ-,j- (E) *-aaɽe / gu-,j- (WC) *-aw / ŋ- *-id̪d̪- *-iriɲ / j- Proto-TalodiNorton, Russell, and Thomas Kuku Alaki. 2015. The Talodi Languages: A Comparative-Historical Analysis. Occasional papers in the study of Sudanese languages 11:31-161. *c-it / k- *k-ɛnu / 0- *k-ə-ɲɟɛ / 0-,n- *c-ə-ɲit / k- *tʊ̪ -ləŋɛ / ḷə- *t-̪ ɔn̪ / ḷ- *ŋ-ɪccʊk *c-ə-mma-ɲan̪ / m- *p-ɪda / k- *ŋ-ɪḷ,-ɪḷɪ *ḷə-ɡɔ *k-ə-ḷəŋan / 0- (or *...n̪) Proto-KatloidDimmendaal, Gerrit J. 2019 (in press). Reconstructing Katloid and deconstructing Kordofanian. In: Schneider-Blum et al. (eds.): Nuba Mountain Languages Studies 3. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe. *g-ɪgɛd̪ *-ɔnɔ *gɪ-lɛd̪ *-laŋɛd̪ *i-ju(u) *-ʌ-lV- TagoiSchadeberg, Thilo. 2013. Rashad survey data. In Roger Blench & Thilo Schadeberg (eds), Nuba Mountain Language Studies. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe. pp.325-345. yígət / ŋə́gət fənín / fənédit yídir / ŋə́dər tíɲən / ŋə́ɲən táŋə́lak / yáŋə́lágɒt kajər / hájɛrət ŋɔ́y kuh / huh kafɔ́ / hafɔ́ ŋay yɛk pəŋən / fəŋən Turjok íŋgət / ŋ̀gət fəniín / fəníínət indər / ŋəndər M. tiɲin / ŋiɲin taŋəlk / yaŋəlak ~ yaŋəlɒgɔt kiɲjɛr / siɲjɛr(g)ɔt ŋɔ́y kus / sus kafɔ / safɔ́ ŋaay pɛŋɛn / sɛŋɛn Tagom ŋgə́t̚ / ŋgə́de nu ~ nũũ / núun ~ anuun ndr̀ / ndr̀re ɲîn / ɲîne aŋa / aŋún ̩ɲjár / (a)ɲjáre óyá / óyo̍n uru / urûn lás / lásɛ ega yɛk ɛŋɛn / ɛŋɛnɛ́ɛn TegemBlench, Roger. 2016. Tegem-Amira: a previously unrecognised subgroup of Niger-Congo . ṭ-ì, ʤ-ì / m- kә́-ràŋ(ì) / a- ṭ-ɛ̀ɲ(ì) / k- l-iәŋ(ì) k-ɛɲi / ɛɲi ɲɪ̀ ṭ-uɔ̀m(ì) / m- kuwö(ì) / bɔɔ(ì) ɲìì kɪ́rɪ̀k ku-ruwә̀ŋ / a- El Amira lilaŋ / ɲimaŋ wimu t-aɲ / k- liŋ kiɲ ɲi tuwam kwa ɲi palith
Numerals Comparison of numerals in individual languages:
Classification Language 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Katla Katla ʈíʈʌ́k cík ʌ̀t̪ʌ́t̪ ʌ̀ɡʌ́lʌ̀m ɟɔ́ɡ͡bə́lɪ́n ɟɔ́lʈɪ́n ɟɔ́lɪ́k t̪ʌ́ŋɡɪ̀l ɟʌ́lbʌ̀ʈɪ́n ràk͡pác Katla Tima ʌt̪een / at̪ɪɪn iheek ihwʌy ihʌlʌm iduliin ɪntədakwalɔŋ ɪnt̪at̪ɪŋɛɛl ɪnt̪ɪŋɛrɛy int̪ʌhʌdʌkun ihedʌkún Rashad Tagoi (Orig) -wàttá / ùttá wùkkók wìttá wàrʊ̀m wʊ̧ràm ɲérér ʊ̀mʊ̀rɡʊ́ tùppá kʊ́mnàsá(n) kʊ́mán Rashad Tegali m̪t̪a rəkkʊ / rʊkkʊ d̪akt̪a / d̪at̪t̪a aːrəm ʊmmə ɲeˑɽe ʊmmərkʊ duˑpˑa fəŋɪsan fəŋən Heiban Warnang (Werni/Wernang) ŋɔ̀ʈʈɔ́r ŋèrccáccény ŋèrráttén ŋèlàmlàŋ ŋera ŋoʈʈor ŋera ŋoʈʈor ŋemabolo ŋoʈʈor (5+1?) ŋera ŋoʈʈor ŋemabolo ŋèrccáccény (5+2?) ŋelamlaaŋɔ (4 x 2 ?) ŋera ŋoʈʈor wanoe (1- ?) kiccukurrɐ Heiban Moro ɡónto lə́ɡə́tʃan lə́ɡɪ́tʃɪn márlon ðénə́ŋ ðénə́ŋ nəɡónto (5+ 1) ðénə́ŋ lə́ɡə́tʃan (5+ 2) ðénə́ŋ lə́ɡɪ́tʃan (5+ 3) ðénə́ŋ nəmárlon (5+ 4) rɛ́θ Heiban Tira kɛ̀nːɛ kɪ̀ɽɪcàn kɪ̀ɽɪcɪ́n maɬɽʊ̀ ðɛ́nɛ̀ ɽɪ̀cín ɽɪ̀cɪ̀n (3+3) maɬɽʊ kɪ̀ɽɪcɪ̀n (4+3) ɔ́bːɔ̀ ðɛ́nɛ̀ n̪maɬɽʊ̀ (5+4) ʊ́rːɪ̀ Heiban Laro kʷɛ̀tɛ̀ rɔ́m tə̀ɽìl kʷɔ̀ɾɔ̀ŋɔ́ tʊ̀dìní ɲə̀rlə̀l kʷɔ̀ɾátə̀ɾìl (4+3) ɗúbə̀ tʊ̀dìní kʷɔ̀ɾɔ̀ŋɔ́ (5+ 4) dí Heiban Otoro wɛ̀dɔ́ŋ kútèn t̪èɽel kɔ̀ɽɔŋ t̪ɔ̀ðːnɛ ɲɛ̄ɽɛl kɔ̀ɽɔ t̪eɽel (4+3) dúbə t̪ɔ́ðːnɛ́ kɔ̀ɽɔŋ (5+ 4) dìː Heiban Koalib (1) kwɛ́t:ɛ kwiɽín tɛjɪɾ kɔɽŋɔn tuðní ɲiɾlíl kunəðɗuβə ɗuβaβuŋa kunəðɗi ɗí Heiban Koalib (2) -ɛ̀t̪t̪ɛ̀ -iɽɐn tɔɔɽɔl twaɽŋan toðne ɲerlel ɗòvɔ̀kkwóɽɔ̀n ɗòvɔ̀kkwóppà kwúnɐ̀ttùrrí rúi Talodi Dagik j-ɜlːʊ j-ɛːɽa j-ɜt̪ːɜk̚ bɽandɔ si-s-ɜlːʊ (litː one hand) na-j-ɜlːʊ (5 + 1) na j-ɛːɽa (5 + 2) na j-ɜt̪ːɜk̚ (5 + 3) na bɽandɔ (5 + 4) n̪ipɽa Talodi Acheron bulluk weɽʌk wʌt̪t̪ʌk bɽando zəɡuŋ zulluk (lit: 'one hand') zəɡuŋ zulluk na bulluk (5 + 1) zəɡuŋ zulluk na weɽʌk (5 + 2) zəɡuŋ zulluk na wʌt̪t̪ʌk (5 + 3) zəɡuŋ zulluk na bɽando (5 + 4) ɡurruŋ Talodi Lumun cʊ́lʊ́kʊ̂ mɛ̀ɽá mɽaβʊ́ɾʊ̀k mɔ́ʲɔ̀ɽɪ̀n mʊ́ɣʊ́lʊ̀k mɽakʊ́ɾʊ̀k mɛ́ɽɛ̀ɽàβʊ́ɾʊ̂k ( 3) ? mámɔ̀ɾmɔ̀ɾ (2 x 4) ? mʊ́ɣʊ́lláʲɔ̀ɽɪ̀n (5 + 4) mɑ̀tul
See also Languages of the Nuba Mountains
References
Bibliography Herman Bell. 1995. The Nuba Mountains: Who Spoke What in 1976? (archive link ). 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. Does Kordofanian constitute a group and if not, where does its languages fit into Niger-Congo? Roger Blench. Unpublished. Kordofanian and Niger–Congo: new and revised lexical evidence . Roger Blench, 2011, Should Kordofanian be split up? , Nuba Hills Conference, Leiden 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 Bernd 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.