Central Sudanic languages
| Central Sudanic | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution: | CAR, Chad, South Sudan, Uganda, Congo (DRC), Cameroon |
| Linguistic classification: |
Nilo-Saharan?
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| Subdivisions: |
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| Ethnologue code: | 17-718 |
| ISO 639-5: | csu |
Central Sudanic is a family of about sixty languages which have been included in the proposed Nilo-Saharan language family. Central Sudanic languages are spoken in the Central African Republic, Chad, South Sudan, Uganda, Congo (DRC), and Cameroon. They include the Pygmy languages Efé and Asoa.
Blench (2011) suggests that Central Sudanic influenced the development of the noun-class system characteristic of the Niger–Congo languages.
Classification
About six groups of Central Sudanic languages are generally accepted as valid, but their interrelationships are not clear. They are customarily divided into East and West branches, though this has not been demonstrated. Eastern Central Sudanic languages (not to be confused with Eastern Sudanic languages) include such languages as Lendu, Mangbetu, and Lugbara, and are concentrated in the northeast corner of DR Congo. The western division includes Bongo–Bagirmi and Kresh, and are scattered across Chad, the CAR, and South Sudan.
| Central Sudanic |
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Starostin (2011) notes that the poorly attested language Mimi of Decorse is suggestive of Central Sudanic, though he provisionally treats it as an isolate.
References
- Roger Blench. 2011. "Can Sino-Tibetan and Austroasiatic help us understand the evolution of Niger-Congo noun classes?", CALL 41, Leiden.
- Starostin, George. On Mimi, Journal of Language Relationship, v. 6, 2011, pp. 115–140.