• Source: Maban languages

The Maban languages are a small family of languages which have been included in the hypothetical Nilo-Saharan language family.
Maban languages are spoken in eastern Chad, the Central African Republic and western Sudan (Darfur).




Languages


The Maban branch includes the following languages:

Mimi of Nachtigal
Kenjeje (Yaali, Faranga)
Masalit: Surbakhal, Masalit
Aiki (Runga and Kibet, sometimes considered separate languages)
Mabang: Karanga, Marfa, Maba
The languages attested in two word lists labelled "Mimi", collected by Decorse (Mimi-D) and Nachtigal (Mimi-N), have also been classified as Maban, though this has been contested. Mimi-N appears to have been remotely related to Maban proper, while Mimi-D appears to have not been Maban at all, with the similarities due to language contact with locally dominant Maba.
Blench (2021) gives the following classification:

Proto-Maban
? Mimi of Nachtigal
Aiki-Kibet
Aiki (= Runga)
Kibet
core branch
Kendeje
Masalit, Surbakhal
Maban (= Mabang)
Karanga
Marfa
Maba




External relationships


Based on morphological evidence such as tripartite number marking on nominals, Roger Blench (2021) suggests that the closest relatives of the Maban languages may be the Eastern Sudanic languages, especially the Taman languages, which form a branch within Northern Eastern Sudanic.
Maban also shares lexical similarities with the Fur languages, Saharan languages, and even Songhay languages, but generally has more lexical matches with Eastern Sudanic languages. Lexical similarity may nonetheless be due to language contact, so that it constitutes less compelling evidence for genealogy than morphological similarity, for instance.
Glottolog considers Maban a small but separate language family.




Comparative vocabulary


Blench (2021) posits the following consonants for proto-Maban:

Vowels likely were ATR pairs, with at least *a *ɛ *e *i *ɔ *o *u and possibly *ɪ *ʊ, plus length.
There were likely two register tones plus the possibility of contour tones on long vowels.
Sample basic vocabulary for Maban languages:




= Numerals

=
Comparison of numerals in individual languages:




See also


Maban word lists (Wiktionary)




References



Calvain Mbernodji, Katharina Wolf. 2008. Une enquête sociolinguistique des parlers Kibet, Rounga, Daggal et Mourro du Tchad. SIL International.




Further reading


Edgar, John T. 1991. Maba-group Lexicon. (Sprache und Oralität in Afrika: Frankfurter Studien zur Afrikanistik, 13.) Berlin: Dietrich Reimer.
Edgar, John. 1991. First Steps Towards Proto-Maba. African Languages and Cultures 4: 113-133.




External links


G. Starostin, 2011. On Mimi

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Rumpun bahasa Nilo-Sahara
• Google Chrome
• Glottolog
• Bahasa Tat
• Maban languages
• Unclassified language
• Nilo-Saharan languages
• Languages of Chad
• Amdang language
• Masalit language
• Chadic languages
• Northern Eastern Sudanic languages
• Mimi language
• Maba language