Eastern Nilotic Languages Article Index for
Eastern
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Eastern Nilotic Languages




  region Southern Ethiopia , Sudan , Uganda , Kenya and northern Tanzania
  familycolor Nilo-Saharan
  fam2 Eastern Sudanic
  fam3 Nilotic
  child1 Bari
  child2 Teso-Lotuko-Maa


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 far south of Sudan . They are spoken across a large area in East Africa , ranging from Equatoria to the highlands of Tanzania . Their speakers are mostly Cattle Herders living in semi-arid or arid plains.

According to Vossen, they are classified as follows by the comparative method:


It is generally agreed upon that Bari forms a primary branch, but lower-level splits are less clear.


SEE ALSO



BIBLIOGRAPHY

  • Rainer Vossen. ''The Eastern Nilotes: Linguistic and Historical Reconstructions''. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag 1982. ISBN 3-496-000698-6.



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