Editing Nuer language

{{short description|Nilotic language spoken in western Ethiopia and South Sudan}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Nuer
| nativename       = Thok Naath
| states           = [[South Sudan]], [[Ethiopia]]
| region           = [[Greater Upper Nile]], [[Gambela Region]]
| ethnicity        = [[Nuer people|Nuer]]
| speakers         = {{sigfig|1.706170|2}} million
| date             = 2007–2017
| ref              = e26
| familycolor      = Nilo-Saharan
| fam2             = [[Eastern Sudanic languages|Eastern Sudanic]]
| fam3             = [[Southern Eastern Sudanic languages|Southern Eastern]]
| fam4             = [[Nilotic languages|Nilotic]]
| fam5             = [[Western Nilotic languages|Western]]
| fam6             = [[Western Nilotic languages|Dinka–Nuer]]
| dia1             = Abigar
| dia2             = Cien
| dia3             = Dor
| dia4             = Eastern Jikany
| dia5             = Lou
| dia6             = Thiang
| dia7             = Western Jikany
| script           = [[Latin script|Latin]]
| iso3             = nus
| notice           = IPA
| glotto           = nuer1246
| glottorefname    = Nuer
}}

The '''Nuer language''' (''Thok Naath'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_nue|title=WALS Online -Language Nuer|website=wals.info|access-date=2016-10-29}}</ref> "people's language") is a [[Nilotic languages|Nilotic language]] of the [[Western Nilotic languages|Western Nilotic]] group.  It is spoken by the [[Nuer people|Nuer]] people of [[South Sudan]] and in western [[Ethiopia]] (region of [[Gambela Region|Gambela]]). The language is very similar to [[Dinka language|Dinka]] and [[Atuot language|Atuot]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gurtong.net/Peoples/ThePeopleandDemographicsofSouthSudan/NuerNaath/tabid/223/Default.aspx#lang|title=Nuer (Naath)|last=Trust|first=Gurtong|website=www.gurtong.net|access-date=2016-10-29}}</ref>

The language is written with a [[Latin alphabet|Latin-based alphabet]]. There are several dialects of Nuer, although all share one written standard. For example, final {{IPA|/k/}}, is pronounced in the [[Jikany Nuer|Jikany]] dialect but is dropped in other dialects despite being indicated in the Nuer orthography used by all.

== Phonology ==
A phonological analysis has yet to be done. The following consonants may therefore not all be distinct.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last1=Faust|first1=Noam|url=https://www.academia.edu/13645692|title=Nuer (Western Nilotic): a preliminary survey|last2=Grossman|first2=Eitan}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+Consonants
! colspan="2" |
![[Labial consonant|Labial]]
![[Dental consonant|Dental]]
![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|{{IPA link|m}}
|{{IPA link|n̪}}
|{{IPA link|n}}
|{{IPA link|ɲ}}
|{{IPA link|ŋ}}
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Plosive]]
!<small>[[Voicelessness|Voiceless]]</small>
|{{IPA link|p}}
|{{IPA link|t̪}}
|{{IPA link|t}}
|{{IPA link|c}}
|{{IPA link|k}}
|
|-
!<small>[[Voice (phonetics)|Voiced]]</small>
|{{IPA link|b}}
|{{IPA link|d̪}}
|{{IPA link|d}}
|{{IPA link|ɟ}}
|{{IPA link|ɡ}}
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Flap consonant|Flap]]
|
|{{IPA link|ɾ̪}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Approximant]]
|{{IPA link|w}}
|{{IPA link|l̪}}
|
|{{IPA link|j}}
|
|{{IPA link|h}}
|}

Voicing is not distinctive at the end of a stem, regardless of whether it's at the end of a word or utterance. Consonant clusters due to suffixes tend to be simplified.

Dental consonants are written ''th dh nh'' in the practical orthography. {{IPA|/h/}} is written ''ɣ''.

Vowels may be long or short, modal or [[breathy voice]]d. The latter are written with an underscore in the practical orthography, except for ''u'' and ''ä'' {{IPA|/ə̤/}}, where there is no modal-voiced vowel to contrast.

{| class="wikitable IPA"
|+Vowels
!
![[Front vowel|Front]]
![[Central vowel|Central]]
![[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
![[High vowel|High]]
|i iː <br>i̤ i̤ː 
|
| <br>ṳ ṳː
|-
![[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
|e eː <br>e̤ e̤ː
|
|o oː <br>o̤ o̤ː
|-
![[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
|ɛ ɛː <br>ɛ̤ ɛ̤ː
| <br>ə̤ ə̤ː
|ɔ ɔː <br>ɔ̤ ɔ̤ː
|-
![[Near-low front rounded vowel|Near-low]]
|(æ æː <br>æ̤ æ̤ː)
|
|
|-
![[Low vowel|Low]]
|
|
| aː <br>a̤ː
|}

{{IPA|{æ} }} is rare. (Curly brackets indicate the set of ''æ'' vowels.) Final {{IPA|{i} }} is always breathy voiced. There does not appear to be a distinction between short ''a'' and ''ə''. Breathy {{IPA|{o} }} is pronounced {{IPA|[ʊ]}} or {{IPA|[ɵ]}}.

Faust & Grossman did not find strong evidence for lexical or grammatical tone, with a few exceptions such as the 1sg suffix {{IPA|/ə̌/}} and the plural suffix {{IPA|/nǐ/ ~ /ǐ/}}, which have a rising tone.

== Nominal inflection ==
Nuer nouns inflect for two [[grammatical number|numbers]], singular and plural, and three [[grammatical case|cases]], nominative, genitive and locative.<ref name="BaermanMorich2021">{{cite journal|last1=Baerman|first1=Matthew|last2=Monich|first2=Irina|date=2021|title=Paradigmatic saturation in Nuer|url=https://www.lsadc.org/Files/Language/Language%202021/97.3_e10Baerman.pdf|journal=Language|volume=97|issue=3|pages=e257–e275|access-date=2024-09-15}}</ref> At first glance the inflection is wholly non-systematic and resists description in terms of [[Morphology (linguistics)#Paradigms and morphosyntax|paradigms]]: just two suffixes {{ipa|/-kʌ̤/}} and {{ipa|/-ni̤/}} are used in sixteen different patterns across the stock of nouns, together with different selections from around sixty stem [[alternation (linguistics)|alternation]]s,<ref>{{cite thesis|last=Frank|first=Wright J.|date=1999|title=Nuer noun morphology|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111223013406/http://wings.buffalo.edu/linguistics/people/students/ma_theses/wright/fwrightmathesis.pdf|degree=MA|publisher=State University of New York at Buffalo}}</ref> a situation that Baerman called "paradigmatic chaos".<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Baerman|first1=Matthew|date=2012|title=Paradigmatic chaos in Nuer|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/23251861.pdf|journal=Language|volume=88|issue=3|pages=467–494|doi=10.1353/lan.2012.0065|access-date=2024-09-15}}</ref> Further research has identified more constraints and regularities governing Nuer nominal inflection.<ref name="BaermanMorich2021"/>

There are various methods of plural noun formation in the Nuer language. Generally speaking, plural nouns are formed from singular nouns with the addition of plural markings, and tone changes. Countable nouns, collective nouns, and mass nouns take markings to show a singular state. This means that every noun in the Nuer language can potentially appear in a singular or plural form. Loan words also follow this process.<ref name="doi.org">Number marking in Nuer nouns, John Koang Nyang, Addis Ababa University, https://doi.org/10.1075/impact.48.09nya</ref>

The most readily identifiable plural formation processes are: suffixation, vowel insertion, phonation, vowel quality change, final consonant alteration, vowel deletion, glide insertion, tone change, vowel lengthening, vowel shortening, suppletion, and zero or null formation, among other processes when the entire language is taken into account.<ref name="doi.org"/>

The most basic plural suffix is the suffix -ni̱. This suffix is used after words that end in sounds other than [l] and [r]. Words that end in [l] and [r] take the suffix -i̱. However, apart from this suffix there are other methods to form plural nouns.<ref name="doi.org"/>

==Dialects==
''Ethnologue'' lists the following dialects of Nuer.
*Eastern Jikany (Jekaing, Jikain)
*Abigar
*Western Jikany
*Cien
*Lou
*Nyuong
*Thiang 
*Bul Chol  
*Gawaar
*Laak 
*Jagei (geai koay)
*Leek
*Dok
*Haak

==Nuer communities==
[[File:WIKITONGUES- James speaking Nur.webm|thumb|A speaker of Nuer recorded in the [[United States]].]]
There are different dialects spoken by Nuer groups living in various locations in [[South Sudan]]. Some of the Nuer people live in Western Ethiopia. They are called Jikany Nuer. The Nuer of the Upper Nile State are also called Jikany, and those in Jonglei State Lou, Gawaar, Thiang and Laak.

There are also seven counties inhabited by the other groups of Nuer in the western part of the Upper Nile Province currently known as Unity State Bentiu. These counties include:
* Guit County: Inhabited by Jikany kuec cieng community in the eastern Bentiu
* Mayom County: Inhabited by Bul Chol Geah community in the western part of the state
* Rubkona County: Inhabited by Leek community in the northern Bentiu 
* Koch County: Inhabited by Jagei community in the central Bentiu
* Mayiandit County: Inhabited by Haak Bakol-kuoth community in the far south-western part of the state, they are also known as Gatbakol-kuoth. 
* Leer County: Inhabited by Dok community in the southern part of the state.
* Payinjiar county:Inhabited by Nyuong community in the far southern part of the state.

Among the 120,000 people at the United Nations Protection of Civilians Site Bentiu, Nuer is the preferred language for radio and news.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.internews.org/sites/default/files/HIS_bentiu_wave1_2015-09.pdf|title=Bentiu UN Protection of Civilians (PoC) site - Unity State, South Sudan - Information Needs Baseline: September 2015|website=Internews Humanitarian Information Service|access-date=2018-12-30}}</ref>

Nuer-speaking Sudanese refugees have formed a significant community in [[Omaha, Nebraska]], [[United States]].

==Sample phrases==
Nuer'':&nbsp;'' ''Naath dial diethɛ kɛ a lɔr kä päärkɛ kɛ ciaŋ malä a mäni cuŋkiɛn. Tekɛ kɛ ca̱r kɛnɛ nhök ti de lät kɛ raan kɛ dämaan a gɔa''.

English:''&nbsp;'' “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood”.

''(Article 1 of the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]])''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.omniglot.com/writing/nuer.htm|title=Nuer language and pronunciation|website=www.omniglot.com|access-date=2016-10-29}}</ref>

==Writing system==
The alphabet of Nuer uses 39 distinct letters, shown below in [[uppercase]] (majuscule) and [[lowercase]] (minuscule) styles.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hutchinson|first=Sharon Elaine|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/31901593|title=Nuer Dilemmas: Coping With Money, War, and the State|publisher=University of California Press|year=1996|isbn=978-0520202849|location=Berkeley|pages=xv–xvii|oclc=31901593}}</ref>
{| style="border-collapse:collapse;background:lightyellow;border:2px solid gray;" cellpadding=9px 5px align=center width=90%
|- style="font-size:13px;" 
! colspan=19 |Majuscules
|- style="font-size:18px;" align=center
  | width=5% | A  
  | width=5% | A̱ 
  | width=5% | Ä  
  | width=5% | B  
  | width=5% | C
  | width=5% | D  
  | width=5% | Dh 
  | width=5% | E  
  | width=5% | E̱ 
  | width=5% | Ë
  | width=5% | Ɛ  
  | width=5% | Ɛ̱ 
  | width=5% | Ɛ̈ 
  | width=5% | G  
  | width=5% | Ɣ
  | width=5% | H  
  | width=5% | I  
  | width=5% | I̱ 
  | width=5% | J
|- style="font-size:18px;border-bottom:2px solid gray;" align=center
  | width=5% | K  
  | width=5% | L  
  | width=5% | M  
  | width=5% | N  
  | width=5% | Ŋ
  | width=5% | Nh 
  | width=5% | Ny 
  | width=5% | O  
  | width=5% | O̱ 
  | width=5% | Ö
  | width=5% | Ɔ   
  | width=5% | Ɔ̱  
  | width=5% | P  
  | width=5% | R  
  | width=5% | T
  | width=5% | Th 
  | width=5% | U  
  | width=5% | W  
  | width=5% | Y  
|- style="font-size:13px;" 
! colspan=20 | Minuscules
|- style="font-size:18px;" align=center
  | width=5% | a  
  | width=5% | a̱ 
  | width=5% | ä  
  | width=5% | b  
  | width=5% | c
  | width=5% | d  
  | width=5% | dh 
  | width=5% | e  
  | width=5% | e̱ 
  | width=5% | ë
  | width=5% | ɛ  
  | width=5% | ɛ̱ 
  | width=5% | ɛ̈ 
  | width=5% | g  
  | width=5% | ɣ
  | width=5% | h  
  | width=5% | i  
  | width=5% | i̱
  | width=5% | j
|- style="font-size:18px;" align=center
  | width=5% | k  
  | width=5% | l  
  | width=5% | m  
  | width=5% | n  
  | width=5% | ŋ
  | width=5% | nh 
  | width=5% | ny 
  | width=5% | o  
  | width=5% | o̱ 
  | width=5% | ö
  | width=5% | ɔ  
  | width=5% | ɔ̱ 
  | width=5% | p  
  | width=5% | r  
  | width=5% | t
  | width=5% | th 
  | width=5% | u  
  | width=5% | w  
  | width=5% | y  
|-
|}

A line under a vowel, like a̱, means that it is pronounced with [[breathy voice]]. The vowels ä, u, and final i are always breathy. A doubled vowel, like in the word ''raan'' (person), means that vowel is [[Vowel length|long]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Sounds of the Nuer Language|url=http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/collections/nuer/grammar/nuersound.utx.html|access-date=2020-07-14|website=www.dlib.indiana.edu}}</ref> Nuer does have [[Tone (linguistics)|tone]], but tone-based contrasts are not common.<ref name=":0" />

=== History ===
The writing system was adopted in 1928 with minor changes being added over the history of the language.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.omniglot.com/writing/nuer.htm|title=Nuer (Naadh)|access-date=29 October 2016}}</ref> Both the [[Dinka people|Dinka]] and the [[Nuer people|Nuer]] agreed that their languages were so different that they could never share written languages, but they did come up with several common principles.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/collections/nuer/edward/linguistics.html|title=The development of Nuer Linguistics|last=Miner|first=Edward|website=www.dlib.indiana.edu|access-date=29 October 2016}}</ref>
* final [[interdental consonant]]s would always be represented as th.
* all voiceless [[alveolo-palatal consonant]]s would be represented as c.
* the finalized Nuer alphabet consists of the following characters, which are equivalent to the phonemes of the Nuer language:  d, k, l, m, n, p, t, w, g, j, r, y, ŋ, ny, th, dh, nh, ɣ, c, a, e, i, o, u, ö

== See also ==
* [[Dinka language]]
* [[Nuer people]]
* [[Dinka people]]
* [[Western Nilotic languages]]
* [[Nilotic languages]]

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
*{{Cite JIPA|first1=Tatiana|last1=Reid|title=Nuer|pages=1&ndash;36|doi=10.1017/S0025100323000191|onlinedate=2023-11-20|soundfiles=yes}}
{{refend}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Incubator|nus}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140217024138/http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/collections/nuer/ Nuer Project] - copious grammatical notes
*[https://www.nuerlexicon.com Nuer Lexicon] an interactive online dictionary of Nuer
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061113020404/http://www.openroad.net.au/languages/african/nuer/ OpenRoad page on Nuer (Thok Nath)]
*[http://www.panafril10n.org/wikidoc/pmwiki.php/PanAfrLoc/Nuer PanAfrican L10n page on Nuer]
*[http://www.omniglot.com/writing/nuer.htm Omniglot page on Nuer]
*[[World Atlas of Language Structures]] information on [http://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_nue Nuer]
* Wright Jay Frank, ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20111223013406/http://wings.buffalo.edu/linguistics/people/students/ma_theses/wright/fwrightmathesis.pdf  Nuer noun morphology]'', Master of Arts thesis, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1999 ([https://web.archive.org/web/20111223013406/http://wings.buffalo.edu/linguistics/people/students/ma_theses/wright/fwrightmathesis.pdf online copy]).
*[https://nus.kasahorow.org/app/d Nuer Dictionary]

{{Languages of Ethiopia}}
{{Languages of South Sudan}}
{{Eastern Sudanic languages}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuer Language}}
[[Category:Languages of South Sudan]]
[[Category:Languages of Ethiopia]]
[[Category:Western Nilotic languages]]