The Burun languages are a branch of the
Nilotic languages
The Nilotic languages are a group of related languages spoken across a wide area between South Sudan and Tanzania by the Nilotic peoples.
Etymology
The word Nilotic means of or relating to the Nile River or to the Nile region of Africa.
Dem ...
. They include:
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North Burun (Maiak, Kurmuk, Burun proper)
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South Burun (Mabaan, Ulu, Jumjum)
The languages were first described by
Edward E. Evans-Pritchard in 1932. They are a
dialect chain
A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated varie ...
, close enough for some mutual intelligibility between neighboring varieties.
Most classifications include the family within the
Western Nilotic
The Western Nilotic languages are one of the three primary branches of the Nilotic languages, along with the Eastern Nilotic languages and Southern Nilotic languages; Themselves belonging to the Eastern Sudanic subfamily of Nilo-Saharan. The abo ...
branch, these include
Starostin (2015),
Hammarström et al. (2016) and
Bender (2000).
Blench (2012) classifies the family as a primary branch of
Nilotic
The Nilotic peoples are people indigenous to the Nile Valley who speak Nilotic languages. They inhabit South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. Among these are the Burun-sp ...
.
Nilo-Saharan list
(Blench 2012)
References
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