The Nilotic languages are a group of Eastern Sudanic languages spoken across a wide area betweensjd;vkNNNDfjsa[fafdasfdscv southern Sudan and Tanzania by the Nilotic peoples, particularly associated with cattle-herding. They are divided into three subgroups: Current distribution of Human Language Families Most languages are known to belong to language families. ... Map showing the distribution of the Nilo-Saharan languages. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... The Eastern Nilotic languages are one of the three primary branches of the Nilotic languages, themselves belonging to the Eastern Sudanic subfamily of Nilo-Saharan; they are believed to have begun to diverge about 3,000 years ago, and have spread southwards from an original home in Equatoria in the... The Southern Nilotic languages are spoken mainly in western Kenya and northern Tanzania (with one of them, Kupsabiny or Sapiny, being spoken on the Ugandan side of Mount Elgon). ... The Western Nilotic languages are one of the three primary branches of the Nilotic languages, themselves belonging to the Eastern Sudanic subfamily of Nilo-Saharan. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Nilotic refers to a number of indigenous East African peoples originating in northeast Africa in the region of the Nile River. ...

• Eastern Nilotic languages
• Southern Nilotic languages
• Western Nilotic languages

Before Greenberg's reclassification, the term was used to refer to Western Nilotic alone (with the other two being grouped as "Nilo-Hamitic languages".) The Eastern Nilotic languages are one of the three primary branches of the Nilotic languages, themselves belonging to the Eastern Sudanic subfamily of Nilo-Saharan; they are believed to have begun to diverge about 3,000 years ago, and have spread southwards from an original home in Equatoria in the... The Southern Nilotic languages are spoken mainly in western Kenya and northern Tanzania (with one of them, Kupsabiny or Sapiny, being spoken on the Ugandan side of Mount Elgon). ... The Western Nilotic languages are one of the three primary branches of the Nilotic languages, themselves belonging to the Eastern Sudanic subfamily of Nilo-Saharan. ... Joseph Harold Greenberg (May 28, 1915–May 7, 2001) was a prominent and controversial linguist, known for his work in both language classification and typology. ... The Eastern and Southern Nilotic languages were formerly widely believed to constitute a single Paranilotic (or, earlier, Nilo-Hamitic) grouping; they were believed to have arisen as a sort of mixed language combining Nilotic (modern Western Nilotic) and Hamitic (in particular, modern Cushitic) elements. ...

Bibliography

• Creider, Chet A. (1989) The syntax of the Nilotic languages : themes and variations. Berlin: Reimer. ISBN 3-496-00483-5

External links

• Nilotic, Michael Cysouw
• The Nilotic Language Family, Doris Payne