| Talodi–Heiban | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution: |
Nuba Hills, Sudan |
| Linguistic classification: | Niger–Congo
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| Subdivisions: | |
The Talodi–Heiban languages are two relatively closely related[1] language families of the erstwhile Kordofanian branch of Niger–Congo posited by Joseph Greenberg (1963): Talodi, also called Talodi–Masakin, and Heiban, also called Koalib or Koalib–Moro.
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 Katla languages (another putative branch of Kordofanian) have no trace of ever having had such a system, whereas 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. He concludes that the Kordofanian languages do not form a genealogical group, but that Talodi–Heiban is core Niger–Congo whereas Katla and Rashad form a peripheral branch (or perhaps branches) along the lines of Mande. The Kadu languages may be Nilo-Saharan.
Lafofa (Tegem), sometimes classified as a divergent Talodi language, has a different set of cognates with other Niger–Congo and has been placed in its own branch.
| Talodi–Heiban |
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