Posted on by Hatim Eujayl

Resources for Learning Non-Arabic Sudanese Languages

By Hatim-Arbaab Eujayl

Updated June 21 2021

This list began on Reddit in response to the number of people I’ve come across on the subreddit interested in learning non-Arabic Sudanese languages, which you can still find here. The goal is to provide any prospective learners of non-Arabic languages spoken in Sudan with a variety of language-learning resources. The languages I’ve been able to find resources for (with the help of many others) are:

The Old Dongola Throne Hall, an ancient building used by the royal family of the kingdom of Makuria, which overlooked the kingdom’s capital of Old Dongola, which is approximately 50 miles from the modern city of Dongola, where Andaandi Nubian, also known as Dongolawi Nubian, continues to be spoken. (Photo by Hans Birger Nilsen, Creative Commons License)

  • Andaandi (Dongolawi Nubian)
  • Beria (Zaghawa)
  • Berta (Funj)
  • Bidawiyet (Hadandawi/Bishaari)
  • Fòòraŋ Bèlè (Fur)
  • Gaahmg (Ingessana)
  • Masarak (Masalit)
  • Nobiin (Halfawi/Mahasi/Fadijja Nubian)
  • Tìdn-Àal (Midob/Darfur Nubian)
  • Tigre/Tigrayit (Beni Amer/Habab)

Each and every language resource listed on here, unless stated otherwise, is completely free: as a lot of these languages are endangered and thus already have less learning resources than more widely-spoken languages, it’s important to ensure prospective learners aren’t further inhibited by financial barriers. Be sure to contact Hazine (hazineblog [@]gmail.com) or myself (Twitter: @HatimAlTai2) if you have any resources to add, or any comments on the resources here!

So, without further ado:

Abbreviations

  • ENG: English
  • ARB: Arabic
  • FREN: French
  • FUR: Fur language
  • BER: Beria language
  • AMH: Amharic language
  • TXT: Textbook (as in, a book explicitly aimed towards teaching learners grammar and pronunciation)
  • DICT IL->ENG/ARB: A dictionary where entries are listed by the indigenous language and then translated to English or Arabic
  • DICT ENG/ARB->IL: A dictionary where entries are listed by English/Arabic and then are translated to the indigenous language
  • GRAM: Linguistic grammatical study
  • VID: Video series
  • OTH: Doesn’t fit into any of the above-mentioned categories

Andaandi Nubian (Dongolawi)

  • Anter Alsharif’s YouTube Channel (ARB, VID): There aren’t too many videos on here, but the ones that are there are helpful!
  • A Reference Grammar of Kunuz Nubian by Ahmed S. Abdel-Hafiz (ENG, GRAM): While Kunuz (Mattokki) Nubian is spoken in Egypt, it is largely mutually intelligible with Andaandi, so this should still be a helpful resource.
  • Dongolese Nubian: A Grammar by Carl Hubert Armbruster (ENG, GRAM)
  • Dongolese Nubian: A Lexicon by Carl Hubert Armbruster (ENG, DICT IL->ENG)
  • An English-Nubian Comparative Dictionary by GW Murray (ENG, DICT IL->ENG): This dictionary is crazy comprehensive and features vocabulary for Andaandi (Dongolawi), Nobiin (Mahasi), Midob (Darfur Nubian), and Kenzi (Mattokki Nubian). I just wish it was organized ENG->IL, not IL->ENG! That aside, the dictionary not only includes words, but also lists Nubian particles with examples on how to use them, which I find very useful. 
  • Mosab Omer Osman’s YouTube Channel (ARB, VID): This is a video tutorial for Mattokki Nubian spoken by Kenzi Nubians in Egypt, but Mattokki and Andaandi are largely mutually intelligible –some would argue they’re the same language– so this remains useful to anyone seeking to learn Mattokki or Andaandi.
  • The Nubian Dictionary (English – Arabic – Nubian) by Yousif Sambaj (DICT ENG/ARB->IL): This dictionary is awesome because it has English, Arabic, and both Kenzi-Dongolawi and Nobiin, along with grammar explanations in the back. It is also organized alphabetically by the English word, which is very rare regarding the dictionaries I’ve found, which is a plus. That said, the transcription here is an absolute nightmare, particularly in English. Rather than use any consistent spelling rules, Sambaj seems to be writing words in a way that he thinks would make it easiest for an American English speaker to read, and it takes a long time to kind of figure out the peculiarities, and even then it’s a mess. Sambaj’s Arabic is also significantly better than his English; the English listings are at times misspelled or mistranslated, whereas the Arabic tends to be consistently accurate. The preface of the book is also incredibly silly, as Sambaj presents some absolutely nutty theories of the origins of Nubians, including the possibility that they came from India for no other reason than “anatomically facts proved that they are not Africans for their hair is smooth…their noses are straight and their lips are thin” (Sambaj 15). 
  • Nubi App (ENG/ARB, OTH): This iOS and Android app is really good for being able to get a grasp on pronunciation, but it’s limited: the progression is kind of all over the place, there are no vocab lists or detailed explanations of grammar, it’s great that the Nubian alphabet is used but it’s very inconsistent. Overall I wouldn’t say it’s useless but I really do hope the app gets improved in the future. I’d say use this alongside other resources.
  • Nubian Language Instagram Page (ENG/ARB, OTH): This page includes song translations and vocabulary lists, but the best thing about it is that the vocab is generally accompanied by audio which is great for learning pronunciation. My biggest issue is the use of Arabic transliteration; the Arabic alphabet has three vowels of contrastive length, but Nile Nubian languages have five, each with contrastive length. As a result, a lot of the Arabic transliteration leaves the Nubian pronunciation of a given term ambiguous: thankfully, a lot of the words are accompanied by audio, but it’s a greater challenge to figure out the pronunciation of the words transliterated in Arabic which feature no audio accompaniment. 

Beria (Zaghawa)

A sketch of the mosque of Sennar, the capital of the Funj Sultanate, as found in 1821, by Frederic Cailliaud, found in his book Voyage a Meroe (found on Wikimedia Commons). 

Berta (Funj)

The Saqqara Ostracon, an ostracon from the Monastery of Apa Jeremias, hypothesized by F.L. Griffith to contain an inscription in Blemmye, a language ancestral to modern Beja, a hypothesis later confirmed by Gerald M. Browne in 2003 (Photo by J.E. Quibell).

Bidawiyet (Beja, i.e. Hadandawa and Bishariin)

Fòòraŋ Bèlè (Fur)

  • Omad Korom’s YouTube Channel (ARB/FUR, VID): So Omad is…prolific and doesn’t have a lot of playlists so a lot of his Fur learning videos are buried under other videos about the revolution or Sudanese politics in general, but there’s also music on here and vocabulary lessons in Arabic, as well as a series on Fur names (which actually does have a playlist).
  • Omer Soba’s YouTube Channel (ARB, VID): There’s no great playlist of all the Fur resources here, either, but they are less buried than they are with Omad’s.
  • Dǐjakajag Kʉmʉ̂ndʉ Da̠rdɨ’s YouTube Channel (ENG/ARB/FUR, VID): The channel actually features a mixture of languages: there’s some English in there, some Arabic, but primarily it seems like a lot of the videos are totally in Fur, so it may not be useful until you have a basis in the language.

Gaahmg (Ingessana)

  • Gaahmg Consonant and Vowel Book by Hashim Orta Adaw and 6 others (ENG, TXT): This book is predominantly focused on teaching Gaahmg spelling and pronunciation, and largely consists of exercises meant to help the reader practice these two things. IPA knowledge is required since the authors list the IPA values of the different letters rather than describe how to pronounce them, even just with English equivalents.
  • Gaahmg-English-Arabic Dictionary by Hashim Orta Adaw and 6 others (ENG/ARB, DICT IL->ENG/ARB): In addition to listing both English and Arabic translations for Gaahmg vocabulary, the book also takes care to list equivalent words in other dialects, making it very comprehensive.
  • Gaahmg Grammar Book by Hashim Orta Adaw and 6 others (ENG, TXT): The author explicitly recommends reading this book after reading the consonant and vowel book, as it operates under the assumption that the reader is familiar with those concepts. The book is packed to the brim with grammar descriptions and exercises, and as a cherry on top, the grammar exercises at the end of the book are drawn from Gaahmg folktales!
  • Gaahmg Swadesh List (ENG, OTH): While it requires some IPA knowledge and isn’t by any means comprehensive, this is another resource for some basic Gaahmg vocabulary.
  • Gaahmg Webonary (ENG/ARB, DICT IL->ENG/ARB): An online dictionary which you can search for in English, Arabic, or Gaahmg. It seems to use the same transliteration system as Hashim Orta Adaw’s works, so I’d recommend getting familiar with that before using this online dictionary.

Tìdn-Àal (Midob/Darfur Nubian)

Nobiin Nubian (Halfawi/Mahasi/Fadijja)

  • PAID Basic Nubian Language and Grammar by Taharqa Sa Amun (ENG, TXT): This is the only paid resource I’ll mention since I’ve bought it, I’ll say this: the formatting is terrible on Kindle (the text renders very small so it’s near impossible to read), but this is otherwise an easy to understand and quality textbook, despite its god-awful cover. It has more grammar explanations than other resources I’ve found, which is very useful. If possible I would recommend the purchase of a physical copy over the digital copy, since it is, as stated earlier, hard to read. Aside from that, I’m not sure I’d recommend it as your first learning resource: the difficulty of assignments throughout the book escalates quickly, and chapters require you absorb what I would say is an excessive amount of info for a single chapter, especially since the assignments themselves only test a small portion of the information (particularly vocabulary) laid out in the chapter. 
  • An English-Nubian Comparative Dictionary by GW Murray (ENG, DICT IL-ENG): See comments in Andaandi section.
  • Nobîn nog gery by Muhammad Mutwalla Badr (ARB, TXT): I always recommend this when people are interested in learning Nobiin, it’s simply the best resource I’ve found for the language. It’s a true textbook that is targeted towards learners: there is no heavy linguistic jargon; lessons are structured in a way that moves from less complex grammar/vocabulary to more complex grammar/vocabulary; there’s also an abundance of illustrations which many may find helpful. It uses Latin transliteration of Nubian, which, while containing some inconsistencies, is ultimately more comprehensible than Arabic transliteration. The biggest problem, really, is that there is a lack of grammatical explanation: while you can probably deduce the grammar with enough effort, almost no time is spent in the book on explaining Nobiin grammar rules. 
  • The Nubian Dictionary (English – Arabic – Nubian) by Yousif Sambaj (DICT ENG/ARB->IL): See comments in Andaandi section.
  • Nubian Language Instagram Page (ENG/ARB, OTH): See comments in Andaandi section.
  • Nubi App (ENG/ARB, OTH): See comments in Andaandi section.

Masarak (Masalit)

Tigre/Tigrayit (spoken by groups like the Beni Amer and Habab)

  • Dehai Tigre Page (ENG, TXT): This now defunct website basically acts as a textbook: while there are some formatting issues, this is by far the most comprehensive free Tigre resource I’ve found.
  • TigreLanguage YouTube Channel (ENG, VID): While there are very few videos they may prove useful as an intro to the language.
  • Vocabulary of the Tigre Language (ENG, OTH): Sections of this book are behind a paywall (not to mention that it seems to be have written by a colonial explorer of Africa, which is not ideal), but the part of it that is accessible for free is still quite useful.

Hatim-Arbaab Eujayl is a Sudanese-American college student passionate about Sudanese history, linguistics, and music. He is the founder, director, lead translator and editor of The Sounds of Sudan project on YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram, as well as Nubian Handwriting Club on Twitter. He can be found on Twitter @HatimAlTai2, on Instagram @eujayl, or contacted at hatim.i.eujayl [at] gmail.com. 

One Reply to “Resources for Learning Non-Arabic Sudanese Languages”

  1. An absolutely superb compendium of very valuable resources. As a Nubian, I commend you to the fullest.
    Why do you not approach Google to fund your adding all the Nubian dialects to their Translation engine? Thank you very much, MB

Comments are closed.