Overview

The West Nilotic languages form a branch of the larger Nilotic family, itself part of the hypothesized Nilo-Saharan linguistic phylum, which is spread out over much of Eastern and Northern Africa.

West Nilotic is divided into three branches: Dinka-Nuer, Burun, and Lwoo. The Dinka-Nuer languages are spoken in South Sudan and adjacent parts of Ethiopia (c. 6,000,000 speakers per Eberhard et al. 2023). The Burun languages are spoken in Sudan (c. 214,000 speakers), divided into a northern branch (Mayak, Kurmuk, Surkum), and a southern branch (Mabaan, Jumjum, Ulu). The Lwoo languages are divided into a northern branch, spoken in South Sudan (Shilluk, Anywa, Päri, Luwo, Thuri, Boor; c. 1,164,000 speakers), and a southern branch, spoken in Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Acholi, Chopi, Adhola, Alur, Labwor, Dholuo, Kumam, Lango; c. 5,255,000 speakers).

There are still vast gaps in our knowledge of the contemporary West Nilotic languages, due in no small measure to the difficulties they present for documenting even the most basic phonological and morphological contrasts. Therefore we plan a major descriptive campaign, concentrating on those branches of WN most relevant to the objective of diachronic reconstruction: Burun, Northern Lwoo, and Dinka-Nuer, which reflect the increasing replacement of segmental by suprasegmental morphology.