Nilo-Saharan languages

E8870
macro-family hypothesis proposed language family

Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed large and diverse family of African languages spoken mainly along the Nile Valley and across parts of central and eastern Africa.

Observed surface forms (7)

Surface form As subject As object
Nilo-Saharan 0 9
Nilo-Saharan language family 0 4
Nubian languages 0 2
Eastern Nilotic languages 0 1
Nilo-Saharan hypothesis 0 1
Nilo-Saharan languages area 0 1
Saharan languages 0 1

Statements (73)

Predicate Object
instanceOf macro-family hypothesis →
proposed language family →
continent Africa →
contrastedWith Afroasiatic languages →
Khoisan languages →
Niger-Congo languages →
estimatedSpeakers over 50 million →
geographicRange Great Lakes region of Africa →
Lake Chad basin →
Sahel →
surface form: Sahel region

White Nile →
surface form: Upper Nile region
hasAlternativeName Nilo-Saharian →
Nilo-Saharian phylum →
hasFeature rich case marking in some branches →
tone in many languages →
hasSubfamily Maban languages →
surface form: Berta language group

Central Sudanic languages →
Taman languages →
surface form: Daju languages

Nilo-Saharan languages self-linksurface differs →
surface form: Eastern Nilotic languages

Eastern Sudanic languages →
Fur languages →
Gumuz languages →
Kadu languages →
Koman languages →
Koman languages →
surface form: Kunama language group

Maban languages →
Nilotic languages →
Nubian languages →
Nyima languages →
Central Sudanic languages →
surface form: Saharan languages

Shabo language (proposed) →
Songhay languages →
Southern Nilotic languages →
Surmic languages →
Tama languages →
Taman languages →
Western Nilotic languages →
includesLanguage Dinka language →
Fur language →
Kalenjin languages →
Kanuri →
surface form: Kanuri language

Luo language →
Maasai language →
Nubian languages →
Nuer language →
Songhay languages →
Teso language →
morphologicalType agglutinative (in many languages) →
notUniversallyAcceptedBy historical linguists →
proposalDate 1963 →
proposedBy Joseph Greenberg →
recognizedBy Joseph Greenberg →
spokenIn Cameroon →
Central Africa →
Central African Republic →
Chad →
Democratic Republic of the Congo →
East Africa →
surface form: Eastern Africa

Eritrea →
Ethiopia →
Kenya →
Mali →
Niger →
Nile Valley →
South Sudan →
Sudan →
Tanzania →
Uganda →
status controversial classification →
typicalWordOrder SOV (in many branches) →
SVO (in some branches) →
usedBy numerous ethnic groups in the Nile-Sahel belt →
usedFor oral communication →

Referenced by (42)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Nilo-Saharian → alsoKnownAs → Nilo-Saharan languages →
this entity surface form: Nilo-Saharan language family
Nilo-Saharian phylum → alternativeName → Nilo-Saharan languages →
subject surface form: Nilo-Saharan phylum
this entity surface form: Nilo-Saharan language family
Nilo-Saharian phylum → alternativeName → Nilo-Saharan languages →
subject surface form: Nilo-Saharan phylum
this entity surface form: Nilo-Saharan
Nilo-Saharian → alternativeNameOf → Nilo-Saharan languages →
this entity surface form: Nilo-Saharan
Maasai language → branchOf → Nilo-Saharan languages →
Nobiin → family → Nilo-Saharan languages →
this entity surface form: Nilo-Saharan
Taman languages → geneticClassification → Nilo-Saharan languages →
this entity surface form: Nilo-Saharan language family
Northeast Africa → hasEthnoLinguisticRegion → Nilo-Saharan languages →
this entity surface form: Nilo-Saharan languages area
Nubia → hasLanguageFamily → Nilo-Saharan languages →
this entity surface form: Nubian languages
West Africa → hasLanguageFamily → Nilo-Saharan languages →
Africa → hasMajorLanguageFamily → Nilo-Saharan languages →
Nilo-Saharan languages → hasSubfamily → Nilo-Saharan languages self-linksurface differs →
this entity surface form: Eastern Nilotic languages
Sudanese Arabic → influencedBy → Nilo-Saharan languages →
Sudanese → languageAssociated → Nilo-Saharan languages →
Daza → languageFamily → Nilo-Saharan languages →
Dinka language → languageFamily → Nilo-Saharan languages →
this entity surface form: Nilo-Saharan
East Africa → languageFamily → Nilo-Saharan languages →
Fur language → languageFamily → Nilo-Saharan languages →
this entity surface form: Nilo-Saharan
Kanuri → languageFamily → Nilo-Saharan languages →
Nubians → languageFamily → Nilo-Saharan languages →
this entity surface form: Nubian languages
Nubians → languageFamily → Nilo-Saharan languages →
Nuer language → languageFamily → Nilo-Saharan languages →
this entity surface form: Nilo-Saharan
Songhai people → languageFamily → Nilo-Saharan languages →
Tebu → languageFamily → Nilo-Saharan languages →
Teda → languageFamily → Nilo-Saharan languages →
Teso language → languageFamily → Nilo-Saharan languages →
this entity surface form: Nilo-Saharan
Toubou → languageFamily → Nilo-Saharan languages →
Central Sudanic languages → languageFamilyColor → Nilo-Saharan languages →
this entity surface form: Nilo-Saharan
Chadians → languageFamilyDiversity → Nilo-Saharan languages →
Shabo language (proposed) → languageFamilyHypothesis → Nilo-Saharan languages →
subject surface form: Shabo language
this entity surface form: Nilo-Saharan
Kanuri → languageSubfamily → Nilo-Saharan languages →
this entity surface form: Saharan languages
Taman languages → macroFamilyHypothesis → Nilo-Saharan languages →
this entity surface form: Nilo-Saharan hypothesis
Central Africa → majorLanguageFamily → Nilo-Saharan languages →
Sub-Saharan Africa → majorLanguageFamily → Nilo-Saharan languages →
Joseph Greenberg → proposed → Nilo-Saharan languages →
this entity surface form: Nilo-Saharan language family
Central Sudanic languages → subclassOf → Nilo-Saharan languages →
Eastern Sudanic languages → subclassOf → Nilo-Saharan languages →
Gumuz languages → subclassOf → Nilo-Saharan languages →
Koman languages → subclassOf → Nilo-Saharan languages →
Songhay languages → subclassOf → Nilo-Saharan languages →
Maban languages → subfamilyOf → Nilo-Saharan languages →
Teso language → subfamilyOf → Nilo-Saharan languages →