Dilling (also Delen, Warkimbe; autonym: ''Warki'') is a
Hill Nubian language spoken in the northwestern
Nuba Mountains
The Nuba Mountains ( ar, جبال النوبة), also referred to as the Nuba Hills, is an area located in South Kordofan, Sudan. The area is home to a group of indigenous ethnic groups known collectively as the Nuba peoples. In the Middle Ages ...
in the south of
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
. It is spoken by around 11,000 people in the town of Dilling and surrounding hills, including Kudur. ''Ethnologue'' reports that Dilling is
moribund
Moribund refers to a literal or figurative state near death.
Moribund may refer to:
* ''Moribund'' (album), a 2006 album by the Norwegian black metal band Koldbrann
* " Le Moribond", a song by Jacques Brel known in English as "Seasons in the Sun ...
, with only older adults speaking the language and not using it with their children. All speakers also use
Sudanese Arabic. The Dilling call themselves ''Warki'', while the Dilling speakers of Kudur call themselves ''Kwashe''.
Another ethnic minority that speak Dilling are the Debri people, a group of several thousands from
South Kurdufan
South Kordofan ( ar, جنوب كردفان ') is one of the 18 wilayat or states of Sudan. It has an area of 158,355 km² and an estimated population of approximately 1,100,000 people (2000).[Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...]
Dialects
Dilling has one dialect – Debri,
which is spoken on the mountain Gebel Debri, south of
Ghulfan.
References
Definitely endangered languages
Languages of Sudan
Nubian languages
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