Maban languages

For the Western Nilotic language, see Mabaan language.
Maban
Geographic
distribution		Chad, Sudan, Central African Republic
Linguistic classificationNilo-Saharan?
  • (unclassified)
    • Maban
Proto-languageProto-Maban
Subdivisions
Language codes
Glottologmaba1274

The Maban languages are a small family of languages which have been included in the hypothetical Nilo-Saharan language family.

Maban languages are spoken in eastern Chad, the Central African Republic and western Sudan (Darfur).

Languages

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The Maban branch includes the following languages:

The languages attested in two word lists labelled "Mimi", collected by Decorse (Mimi-D) and Nachtigal (Mimi-N), have also been classified as Maban, though this has been contested. Mimi-N appears to have been remotely related to Maban proper, while Mimi-D appears to have not been Maban at all, with the similarities due to language contact with locally dominant Maba.

Blench (2021) gives the following classification:[1]

External relationships

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Based on morphological evidence such as tripartite number marking on nominals, Roger Blench (2021) suggests that the closest relatives of the Maban languages may be the Eastern Sudanic languages, especially the Taman languages, which form a branch within Northern Eastern Sudanic.

Maban also shares lexical similarities with the Fur languages, Saharan languages, and even Songhay languages, but generally has more lexical matches with Eastern Sudanic languages.[1] Lexical similarity may nonetheless be due to language contact, so that it constitutes less compelling evidence for genealogy than morphological similarity, for instance.

Glottolog considers Maban a small but separate language family.

Comparative vocabulary

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Blench (2021) posits the following consonants for proto-Maban:[1]

(p) b t d tʃ k ɡ
s (z) ʃ (h)
m n ɲ ŋ
w l r j

Vowels likely were ATR pairs, with at least *a *ɛ *e *i *ɔ *o *u and possibly *ɪ *ʊ, plus length.

There were likely two register tones plus the possibility of contour tones on long vowels.

Sample basic vocabulary for Maban languages:

Language eye ear nose tooth tongue mouth blood bone tree water eat name
Proto-Maban[1] *kàSì-k *dúrmì *sati-k; *sàdí-k / *sadi-ɲi *delemi-k *fàrí-ŋ *ta-k / *ta-si *-aɲɔ- *mílí-ik
Maba[2] kàʃì-k/-ñi koi-k boiñ sati-k delmi-k kan-a/-tu àríi kàñjí-k soŋgo-k inji -añ- mílí-i/-síi
Masalit[2] kóo-gí/-sí kwóyɛ̀ dúrmì kácìŋgi gélmèdì kánà fàríŋ kónjì síŋgì sá -iny- mirsi/-ldiŋ
Aiki[2] kàs-`k/-ò kàsá mùndú sàdí àdìyím yù-k pày/-ó; fáai jìŋg`r/jùŋgɔ̀rɔ̀ rí-k tà-k -ñɔ̀- mèek-í/-ú
Kibet[2] kàs/-u kàsá mùndù sàdí àd`lɛ́m yù-k fal/-u; ari njekedi/njùkùdú ri-k ta -ñɔ̀- m lk-i/-udɔ
Mimi of Nachtigal[3] kal kuyi hur ziːk mil ari kadʒi sun (< Fur?)
Mimi of Decorse[4] dyo feɾ fir ɲain ɲyo su engi ɲyam

Numerals

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Comparison of numerals in individual languages:[5]

Classification Language 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Maba Maba tɛ́ɡ, tɔ́ː mbàːr, mbíːr, mbùl kùŋàːl, káyáŋ àssàːl, ássíː tùːr, túːr sit̀tàːl, síttíː < Arabic sitta mɛ́ndrìː íyyáː ɔ̀ddɔ̀yí ɔ̀ttúɡ
Masalit Masalit (1) tíyóŋ mbárá káaŋ áás tóór ít̪í màrí àd̪á àyi ùt̪úk
Masalit Masalit (2) tîyom (without noun), tîle (with n.) mbara kaŋ as tur iti mâri aya adey ûtuk
Masalit Masalit (3) tyǒm (without noun), tíiilò (with n.) mbárá káaŋ ás túr ítí màrí àyá àdɛ́i ùtúk
Runga-Kibet Kibet doˈwai mbaʀ kʰasaŋˈɡal ʔaːtal tor ʔiˈsal mɪndɪrˈsɪʔ mbaːkʰl kʰaˈdɛijə juˈtʊk̚
Runga-Kibet Runga kʰanˈda mba kʰazaŋɡa attɛi tur izɛi mɪnˈdirsi mbɑkadeli kʰaddɛl jtuk̚

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Blench, Roger. 2021. The Maban languages and their place within Nilo-Saharan.
  2. ^ a b c d Edgar, John T. 1991. Maba-group Lexicon. (Sprache und Oralität in Afrika: Frankfurter Studien zur Afrikanistik, 13.) Berlin: Dietrich Reimer.
  3. ^ Lukas, Johannes & Otto Völckers. 1938. G. Nachtigal's Aufzeichnungen über die Sprache der Mimi in Wadai. Zeitschrift für Eingeborenensprachen 29. 145‒154.
  4. ^ Gaudefroy-Demombynes, Maurice. 1907. Document sur les Langues de l'Oubangui-Chari. In Actes du XVIe Congrès International des Orientalistes, Alger, 1905, Part II, 172-330. Paris: Ernest Leroux.
  5. ^ Chan, Eugene (2019). "The Nilo-Saharan Language Phylum". Numeral Systems of the World's Languages.
  • Calvain Mbernodji, Katharina Wolf. 2008. Une enquête sociolinguistique des parlers Kibet, Rounga, Daggal et Mourro du Tchad. SIL International.

Further reading

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  • Edgar, John T. 1991. Maba-group Lexicon. (Sprache und Oralität in Afrika: Frankfurter Studien zur Afrikanistik, 13.) Berlin: Dietrich Reimer.
  • Edgar, John. 1991. First Steps Towards Proto-Maba. African Languages and Cultures 4: 113-133.
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