Editing Nubi language

{{Short description|Sudanese Arabic-based creole language}}
{{distinguish|Nubian languages|Nubia language}}
{{EngvarB|date=May 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Nubi Arabic
|nativename={{Lang|kcn-Arab|كي-نوبي|rtl=yes}}
|altname=Kinubi
|states= [[Uganda]], [[Kenya]]
|ethnicity= [[Nubians (Uganda)|Ugandan Nubians]], [[Nubians (Kenya)|Kenyan Nubians]]
|speakers={{sigfig|50,100|2}} 
|date=2014-2019
|ref = e25
|speakers2=
|speakers_label = Speakers
|familycolor=Creole
|fam1=[[Arabic-based creole languages|Arabic-based creole]]
|ancestor =[[Bimbashi Arabic]]
|script=[[Arabic script|Arabic]]
|iso3=kcn
|glotto=nubi1253
|glottorefname=Nubi
|notice=IPA
}}
The '''Nubi language''' (also called '''Ki-Nubi''', {{langx|ar|كي-نوبي|kī-nūbī}}) is a [[Sudanese Arabic]]-based [[creole language]] spoken in [[Uganda]] around [[Bombo, Uganda|Bombo]], and in [[Kenya]] around [[Kibera]], by the [[Nubians (Uganda)|Ugandan Nubians]], many of whom are descendants of [[Emin Pasha]]'s [[Sudan]]ese soldiers who were settled there by the [[British Empire|British colonial administration]]. It was spoken by about 15,000 people in [[Uganda]] in 1991 (according to the census), and an estimated 10,000 in Kenya; another source estimates about 50,000 speakers as of 2001. 90% of the [[lexicon]] derives from [[Arabic language|Arabic]],<ref name=":1">Ineke Wellens. ''The Nubi Language of Uganda: An Arabic Creole in Africa''. BRILL, 2005 {{ISBN|90-04-14518-4}}</ref> but the grammar has been simplified,<ref>{{cite book |title=Modern Arabic: Structures, Functions, and Varieties |author=Clive Holes |year=2004 |publisher=Georgetown U P |isbn=9781589010222 |pages=421 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8E0Rr1xY4TQC&pg=PA26 |access-date=2017-03-23}}</ref> as has the sound system. [[Nairobi]] has the greatest concentration of Nubi speakers.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Owens|first=Jonathan|date=2006|title=Creole Arabic|url=https://www.academia.edu/7551407|journal=Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics|language=en|pages=518–27}}</ref> Nubi has the prefixing, suffixing and compounding processes also present in Arabic.<ref>{{cite book |title=Deconstructing Creole |author1=Umberto Ansaldo |author2=Stephen Matthews |author3=Lisa Lim |year=2007 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company |isbn=9789027229854 |pages=290 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g2mpnPLUuwAC&q=kouwenberg+creole+2003+inflection |access-date=2010-01-20}}</ref>

Many Nubi speakers are [[Kakwa people|Kakwa]] who came from the Nubian region, first into [[Equatoria]], and from there southwards into Uganda and the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]]. They rose to prominence under Ugandan President [[Idi Amin]], who was Kakwa.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EkSP9XUIAKsC&q=kakwa+nubians&pg=PA81|title=Uganda Since Independence: A Story of Unfulfilled Hopes|last=Mutibwa|first=Phares Mukasa|date=1992-01-01|publisher=Africa World Press|isbn=9780865433571|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1977/04/06/amin-buys-loyalty-of-soldiers/92db022c-dc34-4a6a-af97-56eae2ccf728/ |title=Amin Buys Loyalty of Soldiers - the Washington Post |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=10 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228083214/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1977/04/06/amin-buys-loyalty-of-soldiers/92db022c-dc34-4a6a-af97-56eae2ccf728/ |archive-date=28 February 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Jonathan Owens argues that Nubi constitutes a major counterexample to [[Derek Bickerton]]'s theories of [[creole language]] formation, showing "no more than a chance resemblance to Bickerton's universal creole features" despite fulfilling perfectly the historical conditions expected to lead to such features.{{Citation needed|date=March 2017}}
Scholars (Sebit, 2023) have suggested that the Nubi Language was the main point of unity among the Nubi community in east Africa, to survive the hardship they experienced from different community components.

== Phonology ==
===Vowels===
Sources:<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

There are five vowels in Nubi. Vowels are not distinguished by length except in at least two exceptions from Kenyan Nubi (which are not present in Ugandan dialects) where {{lang|kcn-KE|bara}} means ''"outside"'' and is an adverb while {{lang|kcn-KE|baara}} means ''"the outside"'' and is a noun, and also where {{lang|kcn-KE|saara}} meaning ''"bewitch"'' is compared to {{lang|kcn-KE|sara}} meaning ''"herd, cattle".'' Despite this, there is a tendency for vowels in stressed syllables to be registered as long vowels.<ref name=":1" />

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! [[High vowel|High]]
| {{IPAlink|i}}
| {{IPAlink|u}}
|-
! [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| {{IPAlink|e}}
| {{IPAlink|o}}
|-
! [[Low vowel|Low]]
|colspan="2"| {{IPAlink|a}}
|}

Each of the vowels has multiple [[allophone]]s and the exact sound of the vowel depends on the surrounding consonants.<ref name=":1" />

====Consonants====
Sources:<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! colspan="2" |
! [[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
! [[Dental consonant|Dental]]
! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Postalveolar consonant|Post<br>alveolar]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Uvular consonant|Uvular]]
! [[Pharyngeal consonant|Pharyngeal]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Nasal stop|Nasal]]
| {{IPAlink|m}}
|
| {{IPAlink|n}}
| {{IPAlink|ɲ}}
|({{IPAlink|ŋ}})
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Plosive]]/<br>[[Affricate]]
!{{small|voiceless}}
| {{IPAlink|p}}
|
| {{IPAlink|t}}
| {{IPAlink|tʃ}}
| {{IPAlink|k}}
|({{IPAlink|q}})
|
|({{IPAlink|ʔ}})
|-
!{{small|voiced}}
| {{IPAlink|b}}
|
| {{IPAlink|d}}
| {{IPAlink|dʒ}}
| {{IPAlink|ɡ}}
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Fricative]]
!{{small|voiceless}}
| {{IPAlink|f}}
|({{IPAlink|θ}})
| {{IPAlink|s}}
| {{IPAlink|ʃ}}
|({{IPAlink|x}})
|
|({{IPAlink|ħ}})
| {{IPAlink|h}}
|-
!{{small|voiced}}
| {{IPAlink|v}}
|({{IPAlink|ð}})
| {{IPAlink|z}}
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
|
|
| {{IPAlink|r}}
|({{IPAlink|ɽ}})
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Lateral consonant|Lateral]]
|
|
| {{IPAlink|l}}
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Approximant]]
| {{IPAlink|w}}
|
|
| {{IPAlink|j}}
|({{IPAlink|w}})
|
|
|
|}

Speakers may use [[Arabic phonology|Standard Arabic phonemes]] for words for which the Arabic pronunciation has been learned. The [[Retroflex consonant|retroflex]] version of the /r/ sound may also occur and some dialects use /l/ in its place. [[Gemination|Geminates]] are very unusual in Nubi. These less common phonemes are shown in brackets.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

Ineke Wellens gives the following orthography for Nubi where it differs from the IPA symbols: /{{IPA|ʃ}}/ = sh; /t{{IPA|ʃ}}/ = ch; /{{IPA|dʒ}}/ = j; /{{IPA|ɲ}}/ = ny; /w/ = w or u; /j/ = y or i; /{{IPA|θ}}/ = th; /{{IPA|ð}}/ = dh; /x/ = kh; /{{IPA|ħ}}/ = ḥ.<ref name=":1" />

==== Syllable Structure ====
[[Syllable]]s typically have a CV, VC, V or CVC structure with VC only occurring in initial syllables. Final and initial CC occur only in a few specific examples such as {{lang|kcn|skul}} which means ''"school"'' or {{lang|kcn|sems}} which means ''"sun"''.<ref name=":0" />

[[Stress (linguistics)|Stress]] can change the meaning of words for example {{lang|kcn|saba}} means ''"seven"'' or ''"morning"'' depending on whether the stress is on the first or second syllables respectively. Vowels are often omitted in unstressed, final syllables and sometime even the stressed final ''"u"'' in the passive form may be deleted after ''"m", "n", "l", "f"'' or ''"b".'' This can cause syllables to be realigned even across words.<ref name=":0" />

==Grammar==
=== Nominals ===
[[Noun]]s are [[Inflection|inflected]] by [[Grammatical number|number]] only (taking a singular or plural form) although for most nouns this does not represent a [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphological]] change. Jonathan Owens gives 5 broad [[Inflection|inflectional categories]] of nouns:<ref name=":0" />
# Nouns which undergo a stress shift when the plural is formed.
# Nouns which undergo [[apophony]].
# Nouns which take a suffix and undergo a stress shift in the plural form.
# Nouns which form the plural by [[suppletion]]
# [[Bantu languages|Bantu]] [[Loanword|loan-words]] which take different prefixes in the singular and plural forms
The table below shows examples of each type of pluralisation. The apostrophe has been placed before the stressed syllable:<ref name=":0" />
{| class="wikitable"
!Type of 
Pluralisation
!Singular Form
!Plural Form
!English Translation
|-
|1
|yo'wele
|yowe'le
|boy(s)
|-
|2
|ke'bir
|ku'bar
|big [thing(s)]
|-
|3
|'tajir
|taji'rin
|rich person(s)
|-
|3
|'seder
|sede'ra
|tree(s)
|-
|4
|'marya
|nus'wan
|woman / women<sup>1</sup>
|-
|5
|muze
|waze
|old man / old men
|}
<sup>1</sup>{{lang|kcn|Nuswan}} may be supplemented by a suffix as if it were type 3, thus, {{lang|kcn|nuswana}} could also mean ''"women".''<ref name=":0" />

[[Adjective]]s follow the noun and some adjectives have singular and plural forms which must agree with the noun. Adjectives may also take the prefixes {{lang|kcn|al}}, {{lang|kcn|ali}}, {{lang|kcn|ab}} or {{lang|kcn|abu}} which mark them as [[Habitual aspect|habitual]]. Possessor nouns follow the possessed, with a particle {{lang|kcn|ta}} placed in between. In the case of [[inalienable possession]] the particle is omitted.<ref name=":0" />

==See also==
* [[Bimbashi Arabic]]

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last=Boretzky |first=Norbert |year=1988 |chapter=Zur grammatischen Struktur des Nubi |title=Beiträge zum 4. Essener Kolloquium über 'Sprachkontakt, Sprachwandel, Sprachwechsel, Sprachtod' vom 9. und 10. Oktober 1987 an der Universität Essen |trans-title=Contributions to the 4th Essen Symposium on 'Language Contact, Language Change, Language Shift, Language Death' Held at the University of Essen on 9-10 October 1987 |editor-last1=Boretzky |editor-first1=Norbert |editor-last2=Enninger |editor-first2=Werner |editor-last3=Stolz |editor-first3=Thomas |series=Bochum-Essener Beiträge zur Sprachwandelforschung |volume=5 |pages=45–88 |location=Bochum |publisher=Brockmeyer}}
* {{cite book |last=Heine |first=Bernd |author-link=Bernd Heine |year=1982 |title=The Nubi Language of Kibera – an Arabic Creole |location=Berlin |publisher=Dietrich Reimer}}
* {{cite book |last=Luffin |first=Xavier |title=Kinubi Texts |location=Munich |publisher=Lincom Europa |year=2004 |isbn=9783895868351}}
* {{cite journal |last=Luffin |first=Xavier |title=Les verbes d'état, d'existence et de possession en kinubi (créole de base arabe)|journal=Zeitschrift für Arabische Linguistik |location=Wiesbaden |publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag |volume=43 |year=2004 |pages=43–66 |jstor=43525773}}
* {{cite book |last=Luffin |first=Xavier |title=Un créole arabe : le kinubi de Mombasa, Kenya |series=Lincom Studies in Pidgin and Creole Linguistics |volume=7 |location=Munich |publisher=Lincom Europa |year=2005}}
* {{cite thesis |last=Musa-Wellens |first=I. |year=1994 |title=A descriptive sketch of the verbal system of the Nubi language, spoken in Bombo, Uganda |degree=MA |publisher=University of Nijmegen}}
* Nakao, Shuichiro. 2018.  "Mountains do not meet, but men do." ''Arabic in Contact'', edited by Stefano Mandfredi and Mauro Tosco, 275-294. John Benjamins Publishing.
* {{cite book |last=Nhial |first=J. |chapter=Kinubi and Juba Arabic. A comparative study |title=Directions in Sudanese Linguistics and Folklore |editor-first1=S. H. |editor-last1=Hurriez |editor-first2=H. |editor-last2=Bell |location=Khartoum |publisher=Institute of African and Asian Studies |pages=81–94}}
* {{cite thesis |last=Owens |first=Jonathan |title=Aspects of Nubi Syntax |degree=PhD |publisher=University of London |year=1978}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Owens |first1=Jonathan |year=1985 |title=The origins of East African Nubi |journal=Anthropological Linguistics |volume=27 |pages=229–271}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Owens |first1=Jonathan |year=1991 |title=Nubi, genetic linguistics, and language classification |journal=Anthropological Linguistics |volume=33 |pages=1–30}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Owens |first=Jonathan |year=1997 |title=Arabic-based pidgins and creoles |encyclopedia=Contact languages: A wider perspective |editor-first=S.G. |editor-last=Thomason |pages=125–172 |location=Amsterdam |publisher=John Benjamins}}
* {{cite thesis |last=Wellens |first=Inneke Hilda Werner |year=2001 |url=http://dspace.fudutsinma.edu.ng/jspui/bitstream/123456789/1542/1/Ineke%20Wellens%20-%20An%20Arabic%20Creole%20in%20Africa_%20The%20Nubi%20Language%20of%20Uganda%20%20%20%282003%2C%20Katholieke%20Universiteit%20Nijmegen%29.pdf |title=An Arabic creole in Africa: the Nubi language of Uganda |degree=PhD |publisher=University of Nijmegen |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013200414/http://dspace.fudutsinma.edu.ng/jspui/bitstream/123456789/1542/1/Ineke%20Wellens%20-%20An%20Arabic%20Creole%20in%20Africa_%20The%20Nubi%20Language%20of%20Uganda%20%20%20(2003%2C%20Katholieke%20Universiteit%20Nijmegen).pdf |archive-date=2022-10-13}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Eastern Sudanic languages}}
{{Languages of Kenya}}
{{Languages of Uganda}}
{{Varieties of Arabic}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nubi Language}}
[[Category:Arab diaspora in Africa]]
[[Category:Arabic-based pidgins and creoles]]
[[Category:Languages of Kenya]]
[[Category:Languages of Uganda]]
[[Category:South Sudanese diaspora]]
[[Category:Sudanese diaspora]]