Editing Masalit language

{{Short description|Maban language in Chad and Sudan}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Masalit
| nativename = {{lang|mul|Kanaa Masarak}}
| states = [[Chad]], [[Sudan]]
| region = [[Ouaddaï Region|Ouaddaï]], [[Sila Region|Sila]] ([[Chad]]), [[West Darfur]], [[South Darfur]] ([[Sudan]]),
| ethnicity = [[Masalit people|Masalit]]
| speakers = {{sigfig|982,000|2}}
| date = 2022–2024
| ref = <ref>{{e28|mls}}</ref>
| script  = [[Latin script|Latin]]
| familycolor = Nilo-Saharan
| fam2 = [[Maban languages|Maban]]
| fam3 = [[Maban languages|Masalit languages]]
| lc1 = mls
| ld1 = Masalit
| lc2 = mdg
| ld2 = Massalat
| glotto = nucl1440
| glottoname = Nuclear Masalit
| glottorefname=Masalit
| glotto2 = mass1262
| glottoname2 = Massalat
| ELP = 577
| ELPname = Massalat 
}}
[[Image:Darfur Linguistic Map.svg|thumb|right|Linguistic map of the non-Arab peoples of Darfur, showing the extent of the Masalit language in Sudan.]]

'''Masalit''' (autonym ''Masala/Masara''; {{Langx|ar|ماساليت}}) is a [[Nilo-Saharan]] language of the [[Maban languages|Maban language group]] spoken by the [[Masalit people]] in [[Ouaddaï Region]], [[Chad]] and [[West Darfur]], [[Sudan]].

Masalit, known as the ''Massalat'', moved west into central-eastern [[Chad]]. Their ethnic population in Chad was {{sigfig|29,800|2}} as of the 1993 census, but only 10 speakers of their language were reported in 1991.<ref name=e18>{{Ethnologue18|mls}}</ref>

== Phonology ==

=== Vowels ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!
![[Front vowel|Front]]
![[Central vowel|Central]]
![[Back vowel|Back]]
|- align="center"
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|{{IPA link|i}}
|{{IPA link|ɨ}}
|{{IPA link|u}}
|-
![[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
|{{IPA link|e}}
|{{IPA link|ə}}
|{{IPA link|o}}
|-
![[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
|{{IPA link|ɛ}}
|{{IPA link|ʌ}}
|{{IPA link|ɔ}}
|- align="center"
![[Open vowel|Open]]
|
|{{IPA link|a}}
|
|}

=== Consonants ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="2" |
![[Labial consonant|Labial]]
![[Dental consonant|Dental]]/<br>[[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|{{IPA link|m}}
|{{IPA link|n}}
|{{IPA link|ɲ}}
|{{IPA link|ŋ}}
|
|-
! rowspan="3" |[[Stop consonant|Stop]]/<br>[[Affricate]]
!{{Small|voiceless}}
|{{IPA link|p}}
|{{IPA link|t}}
|{{IPA link|t͡ʃ}}
|{{IPA link|k}}
|({{IPA link|ʔ}})
|-
!{{Small|voiced}}
|{{IPA link|b}}
|{{IPA link|d}}
|{{IPA link|d͡ʒ}}
|{{IPA link|g}}
|
|-
!{{Small|prenasal}}
|{{IPA link|ᵐb}}
|{{IPA link|ⁿd}}
|{{IPA link|ⁿd͡ʒ}}
|{{IPA link|ᵑɡ}}
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Fricative]]
!{{Small|voiceless}}
|{{IPA link|f}}
|{{IPA link|s}}
|{{IPA link|ʃ}}
|({{IPA link|x}})
|{{IPA link|h}}
|-
!{{Small|voiced}}
|{{IPA link|v}}
|({{IPA link|z}})
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Trill consonant|Trill]]
|
|{{IPA link|r}}
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Lateral consonant|Lateral]]
|
|{{IPA link|l}}
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Approximant]]
!{{Small|labial}}
|
|
|{{IPA link|ɥ}}
|{{IPA link|w}}
|
|-
!{{Small|central}}
|
|
|{{IPA link|j}}
|
|
|-
|}

* It has been stated that occasional click sounds {{IPAblink|ǀ}} and {{IPAblink|ǃ}} may occur, however; they are considered to be rare.
* Sounds {{IPA|/r, l, m, k/}} can occur as geminated {{IPA|[rː, lː, mː, kː]}}.
* Sounds /t, m, n, ŋ/ can occur as palatalized [tʲ, mʲ, nʲ, ŋʲ] before front vowels.
* {{IPA|/z, x/}} only occur as a result of words of Arabic origin.
* {{IPAblink|ʔ}} is not a phonemic sound, and is only heard before word-initial vowels.
* Sounds {{IPA|/p, ɥ, v/}} only occur in word-initial position.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Edgar|first=John|title=A Masalit Grammar: With Notes on other languages of Darfur and Wadai|publisher=Berlin: Dietrich Reimer|year=1989}}</ref>

==Sociolects==
The Masalit language has two [[sociolect]]s:
*"Heavy" Masalit, spoken by higher-ranking people and those in the countryside, with a complicated [[agglutinative]] grammar
*"Light" Masalit, spoken particularly in the home and in the market, with a somewhat simplified grammatical structure and many borrowings from [[Sudanese Arabic]], the regional [[lingua franca]] and language of education.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite web |last1=Abdo |first1=Alsadig Adam |title=Contrastive analysis between Masalit and English language |url=http://khartoumspace.uofk.edu:8080/bitstream/handle/123456789/2274/Contrastive%20Analysis%20Between%20Masalit%20and%20English%20Language.pdf?sequence=1 |website=Department of Linguistics |publisher=University of Khartoum |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305170253/http://khartoumspace.uofk.edu:8080/bitstream/handle/123456789/2274/Contrastive%20Analysis%20Between%20Masalit%20and%20English%20Language.pdf?sequence=1 |archive-date=5 March 2016 |date=November 2013}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Edgar |first1=John |title=Masalit stories |journal=African Languages and Cultures |date=January 1990 |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=127–148 |doi=10.1080/09544169008717716 |jstor=1771718 |publisher=Taylor & Francis}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Jakobi |first1=Angelika |title=Edgar, John: A Masalit Grammar. With Notes on Other Languages of Darfur and Wadai. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1989. 121 pp., map, tab., fig. (Sprache und Oralität in Afrika, 3) Preis: DM 59- |journal=Anthropos |date=1991 |volume=86 |issue=4–6 |pages=599–601 |language=de |publisher=Nomos Verlag |jstor=40463695}}

==External links==
*[https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/29/nyregion/29lost.html The Lost Languages, Found in New York - NYTimes.com]

{{Maban languages}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masalit Language}}
[[Category:Agglutinative languages]]
[[Category:Maban languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Sudan]]
[[Category:Languages of Chad]]


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