The Kadu languages, also known as Kadugli–Krongo or Tumtum, are a small

language family A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family. The term ''family'' is a metaphor borrowed from biology, with the tree model used in historical linguistics ...

of the Kordofanian geographic grouping, once included in Niger–Congo. However, since Thilo Schadeberg (1981), Kadu is widely seen as

Nilo-Saharan The Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed family of around 210 African languages spoken by somewhere around 70 million speakers, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers, including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributari ...

. Evidence for a Niger-Congo affiliation is rejected, and a Nilo-Saharan relationship is controversial. A conservative classification would treat the Kadu languages as an independent family.

Classification

Blench (2006) notes that Kadu languages share similarities with multiple African language phyla, including Niger-Congo and Nilo-Saharan, suggesting a complex history of linguistic convergence and contact. However, more recently, Blench states that Kadu is almost certainly Nilo-Saharan, with its closest relationship being with Eastern Sudanic. Like the

Nilotic The Nilotic peoples are peoples Indigenous people of Africa, indigenous to South Sudan and the Nile Valley who speak Nilotic languages. They inhabit South Sudan and the Gambela Region of Ethiopia, while also being a large minority in Kenya, Uga ...

Surmic The Surmic languages are a branch of the Eastern Sudanic language family. Today, the various peoples who speak Surmic languages make their living in a variety of ways, including nomadic herders, settled farmers, and slash and burn farmers. Th ...

, and

Kuliak The Kuliak languages, also called the Rub languages,Ehret, Christopher (2001) ''A Historical-Comparative Reconstruction of Nilo-Saharan'' (SUGIA, Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika: Beihefte 12), Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, . or Nyangiyan lan ...

languages, Kadu languages have verb-initial word order. However, most other

languages of the Nuba Mountains The Nuba Mountains, located in the West Kordofan and South Kordofan states in the south of Sudan, are inhabited by a diverse set of populations (collectively known as Nuba peoples) speaking various languages not closely related to one another. ...

, Darfur, and the Sudan-Ethiopia border region have verb-final word order.

Branches

There are three branches: *Kadu **Western: Tulishi, Keiga, Kanga **Central: Kadugli (incl. Miri, Katcha) **Eastern: Krongo, Tumtum

Classification

Hall & Hall (2004), based on Schadeberg (1987), classify the languages as follows. Dafalla (2000) compares 179 cognates in Kadugli, Kamda, Kanga, Katcha, Keiga, Kufa, Miri, Shororo-Kursi, and Tulishi. Dafalla's (2000) results are similarly to those of Schadeberg (1989).

Reconstructions

Some Kadu quasi-reconstructions by Blench (2006):

Comparative vocabulary

Sample basic vocabulary for Kadu languages:Schadeberg, Thilo. 1994. Comparative Kadu Wordlists. ''Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere'' 40:11–48. University of Cologne.

Numerals

Comparison of numerals in individual languages:

Notes and references

*Dafalla, Rihab Yahia. 2000. ''A Phonological Comparison of the Katcha Kadugli Language Groups in the Nuba Mountains''. M.A. Dissertation, University of Khartoum. * Schadeberg, Thilo C. 1981
"The Classification of the Kadugli Language Group"
''Nilo-Saharan'', ed. by T. C. Schadeberg and M.

Lionel Bender Marvin Lionel Bender (August 18, 1934 – February 19, 2008) was an American linguist. Life Bender was born August 18, 1934, in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. He travelled throughout the world, particularly in Northeast Africa, and was an accompli ...

, pp. 291–305. Dordrecht: Foris Publications. {{Authority control * Language families

Classification

Branches

Classification

Reconstructions

Comparative vocabulary

Numerals

See also

Further reading

Notes and references