| Astaboran
Northern Eastern Sudanic
|
|
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution: |
Sudan, Eritrea, Chad, Nubia |
| Genetic classification: |
Nilo-Saharan Eastern Sudanic Astaboran |
| Subdivisions: |
? Meroitic (extinct)
|
The Astaboran (per Ehret), Northern Eastern Sudanic, or Eastern k Sudanic languages form one of two primary divisions of the Eastern Sudanic languages. They are characterized by having a /k/ in the pronoun "I/me", as opposed to the Kir-Abbaian (Southern) languages, which have an /n/.
The most famous Astaboran language is Nubian. Ehret posits that the Taman and Nubian languages are particularly close, but his classification and methodology have been rejected by other historical linguists. Assuming a Nilo-Saharan connection, the ancient Meroitic language appears on limited evidence to be closest to languages of this group such as Nyima and Nubian.
References
- M. L. Bender, 2000. "Nilo-Saharan". In Bernd Heine and Derek Nurse, eds., African Languages: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press.
- Christopher Ehret, 2001. A historical-comparative reconstruction of Nilo-Saharan. Köln: Rudiger Köppe.
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