The Nuba Mountains, Sudan

The Nuba Mountain Languages

Nuba Mountain Language Studies

1st International Conference on the Nuba Mountain Languages, Leiden, September 2-4, 2011

Edited by: Thilo C. Schadeberg, Roger M. Blench. With an introduction by: Thilo C. Schadeberg, Roger M. Blench. With contributions by: Ashraf Kamal Abdelhay, Farrell Ackerman, Thomas Kuku Alaki, Suzan Alamin, Abeer Bashir, Roger M. Blench, Jade Comfort, Ines Fiedler, Leoma Gilley, Gumma Ibrahim Gulfan, Harald Hammarström, Birgit Hellwig, Ali Ibrahim, Enrico Ille, Khaleel Ismail, Angelika Jakobi, Peter Jenks, Khalifa Jabreldar Khalifa, Stefano Manfredi, Leif O. Manger, John Moore, Abdel Rahim Hamid Mugaddam, Angelo Ngaloka Naser, Russell Norton, Nicolas Quint, Sharon Rose, Thilo C. Schadeberg, Gertrud Schneider-Blum, Mariam Sharif, Heleen Smits, John Vanderelst. Series edited by: Roger M. Blench.

Series: KWEF Kay Williamson Educational Foundation – African Languages Monographs Volume 6

This book is the outcome of the 1st International Conference on the Nuba Mountains Languages, held in Leiden, September 2-4, 2011. It contains 32 original contributions and constitutes an important leap forward in the linguistic exploration of this complex area. Additional papers not presented were commissioned to provide a more complete overview of the area, thereby contributing to pioneer studies of previously poorly researched languages.

The Nuba Mountains are seen as a well circumscribed geographical and cultural area by its inhabitants and outsiders alike. They are almost entirely located in the centre of the State of South Kordofan within the Republic of the Sudan. The term Nuba Mountain languages refers to the forty-plus languages indigenous to this area, which can uncontroversially be assigned to ten linguistic (genetic) groups, with the addition of regional varieties of Arabic. The papers in this volume include at least one language from each of the ten indigenous groups of the Nuba Mountains. They cover a wide range of topics, with a focus on descriptive linguistics, although particular contributions may not easily fit into the traditional linguistic categories of syntax – morphology – phonology.

CONTENTS

Thilo C. Schadeberg / Roger M. Blench: The Nuba Mountain languages – an introduction

HEIBAN

Sharon Rose: The morphological structure of the Moro verb

Peter Jenks: Noun phrases in Moro

Farrell Ackerman / John Moore: Objects in Moro

Angelo Ngaloka Naser: Moro literacy education and language development

Nicolas Quint: Integration of borrowed nouns in Koalib, a noun class language

Thilo C. Schadeberg: Comparative constructions in Ebang (Heiban)

Mariam Sharif: Production and protection of knowledge – language use, herbal medicine and health education in Heiban Locality

TALODI

John Vanderelst: Personal pronouns in Dagik (Talodi, Kordofanian)

Thomas Kuku Alaki / Russell Norton: Tocho phonology and orthography

Russell Norton: The Acheron vowel system – a participatory approach

Heleen Smits: The locative-applicative suffix in Lumun

KATLA

Birgit Hellwig: Verbal morphology in Katla

Suzan Alamin: Tima adjectives

Abeer Bashir: Conditions on feature specification in Tima

Gertrud Schneider-Blum: Personal pronouns in Tima

Abdelrahim Hamid Mugaddam / Ashraf Kamal Abdelhay: Exploring the sociolinguistic profile of Tima in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan

RASHAD

Thilo C. Schadeberg: Rashad survey data

LAFOFA

Leif O. Manger: Seligman on the Lafofa – social organisation and some terminology

NUBIAN

Ali Ibrahim / Angelika Jakobi: Relative clauses in Taglennaa (Kordofan Nubian)

Gumma Ibrahim Gulfan: Converbs in Taglennaa (Kordofan Nubian)

Jade Comfort: Converbs in Uncunwee (Kordofan Nubian)

Khaleel Ismail: The noun in Tabag (Kordofan Nubian)

Khalifa Jabreldar Khalifa: Dilling – an endangered Nubian language

Angelika Jakobi: Nubian kinship terms

NYIMANG

Ines Fiedler: Complex predicates in Ama

DAJU

Suzan Alamin: Verbs in Laggori

Stefano Manfredi: Arabic borrowings in Laggori (Eastern Daju)

TEMEIN

Roger M. Blench: Introduction to the Temein languages

KADU

Leoma Gilley: Katcha noun morphology

GENERAL

Enrico Ille: Some linguistic expressions related to agricultural annual cycles in the Nuba Mountains (Miri, Krongo, Moro, Tira, Abol)

Harald Hammarström: Noun class parallels in Kordofanian and Niger-Congo – evidence of genealogical inheritance?

Roger M. Blench: Splitting up Kordofanian

The proceedings volume of the third conference on the Nuba Mountain languages has been published by us, too, see the link below, as well as further books on Kordofanian languages and cultures:

Accompanying material:

• Nuba Mountain Language Studies – New Insights (ISBN 978-3-89645-767-7)

Cross-reference:

• A Grammar of Dagik (ISBN 978-3-89645-566-6)
• A Grammar of Kordofanian Julut (ISBN 978-3-89645-771-4)
• A Tima-English Dictionary (ISBN 978-3-89645-901-5)
• Nayayirak tamaa dumurik – Speak Tima! (ISBN 978-3-89645-413-3)
• The Nominal and Verbal Morphology of Tima (ISBN 978-3-89645-559-8)
• The Phonology of Koalib (ISBN 978-3-89645-552-9)
• The Tima of the Nuba Mountains (Sudan) (ISBN 978-3-89645-898-8)
• Tira and Otoro (ISBN 978-3-89645-173-6)

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