Sara languages
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The Sara languages comprise over a dozen
Bongo–Bagirmi languages The Bongo–Bagirmi or Sara–Bongo–Bagirmi languages are the major branch of the Central Sudanic language family with about forty languages. Principal groups include Bagirmi languages such as Naba and the Sara languages. They are spoken ac ...
spoken mainly in
Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...
; a few are also spoken in the north of the
Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...
. They are members of the Central Sudanic language family. Greenberg (1966) treats all varieties as dialects of a Sara language, whereas Tucker and Bryan (1966) consider the Sara to be a dialect cluster of several languages. Most members of the different Sara languages/dialects consider their speech form distinct languages, but there is currently insufficient language information to determine which speech varieties need to be considered distinct languages, and which are dialects of other languages. The most populous variety of Sara proper is Ngambay (Sara Ngambay), a major
trade language A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...
of southern Chad, with about a million speakers, though
Sar SAR or Sar may refer to: Places * Sar (river), Galicia, Spain * Sar, Bahrain, a residential district * Sar, Iran (disambiguation), several places in Iran * Sar, Tibet, Tibet Autonomous Region of China * Šar Mountains, in southeastern Europe ...
(Sara Madjingay) is the
lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...
of Sarh.


Names

The term "Sara Languages", sometimes called "Sara Proper Languages", is distinct from the so-called "Sara Kaba Languages". The latter include Sara Dunjo, Kaba Deme and Kaba Na. The term Sara itself is confusing, as within this family there exists a language named
Sar SAR or Sar may refer to: Places * Sar (river), Galicia, Spain * Sar, Bahrain, a residential district * Sar, Iran (disambiguation), several places in Iran * Sar, Tibet, Tibet Autonomous Region of China * Šar Mountains, in southeastern Europe ...
, whose capital is Sarh. The term Kaba is likewise confusing. Kaba of Gore is not a Sara Kaba language, but rather a Sara language. Further, the Sara Kaba group includes a language named Sara Kaba


Languages

The Sara languages are: ;West Sara :* Ngambay :* Laka :*
Kabba Kabba is a city in Kogi State in mid west Nigeria. It lies near the Osse River, at the intersection of roads from Lokoja, Okene, Ogidi, Ado-Ekiti, and Egbe. The town is about 295 kilometers away from Abuja. It is 511 kilometers from Lagos. ...
:* Laka of Lau (spoken in Nigeria) ;Central Sara ( Doba) :* Bedjond :* Bebote :* Mango :* Gor ;East Sara :*
Sar SAR or Sar may refer to: Places * Sar (river), Galicia, Spain * Sar, Bahrain, a residential district * Sar, Iran (disambiguation), several places in Iran * Sar, Tibet, Tibet Autonomous Region of China * Šar Mountains, in southeastern Europe ...
:* Mbay :* Ngam :* Dagba :* Gulay :* Horo The inclusion of Gulay with the Eastern Sara Languages is based on lexical comparison. Phonologically and morphologically Gulay behaves more like a Central Sara Language.


Boyeldieu (2006)

Boyeldieu (2006)Boyeldieu, Pascal. 2006.
Présentation des langues Sara-Bongo-Baguirmiennes
'. Paris: CNRS-LLACAN (online version).
classifies the Sara languages as follows. ;Sara *Peripheral **Ndoka **Wad **Bagiro **Na **Tiye **Kulfa **Simé **'Dem *Central **Sar **Mbay **Ngambay **'Bedjond **Kaba P. *Others **Bulala **Beraku **Kenga **'Barma


Footnotes


References


Roger Blench (2012, ms)
*Greenberg, Joseph H. (1966) ''The Languages of Africa'' (2nd ed. with additions and corrections). Bloomington: Indiana University. *Keegan, John M. (2012) ''Sara Languages Lexicon: French - Sara Languages, English - Sara Languages'', Morkeg Books, Cuenca. * * * * *Tucker, A.N. and M.A. Bryan (1966) ''Linguistic Analyses: The Non-Bantu Languages of North-Eastern Africa''. Published for the International African Institute. London/New York/Cape Town: Oxford University Press.


External links


PanAfriL10n page on Sara
Bongo–Bagirmi languages Languages of Chad Sara people {{ns-lang-stub