Sahara languages

In the Sahara family there are two branches of languages ^{[2] [3]} :

• Eastern Sahara languages : Berti , Zagawa with the Bideiat dialect;
• Western Sahara languages :
  • Kanuri languages: Kanuri (supra-dialect unity, includes dialects / languages: Bilma , Manga , Tumari , Central Kanuri ), Kanembu ;
  • Teda languages ​​(tubu) : Daza , Teda .

J.H. Greenberg subdivided the Sahara languages ​​into 3 groups ^[1] :

• kanuri, kanembu;
• teda, daza (tuba);
• Zagawa, Bertie.

The area of ​​distribution of the Sahara languages ​​is the territory of western and central Sudan in the region of Lake Chad , as well as the territory of central Sahara ^[1] . The languages ​​of the tubu group occupy the northern, central, and western parts of the Sahara range, the languages ​​of the Kanuri group occupy the southwestern part of the range, and the East Sahara languages ​​are located on the eastern and southeastern parts of the Sahara range.

The language distribution area of ​​the Tubu group is in the central regions of the Sahara . The Teda language range is located on the Tibesti Highlands in the northeastern regions of Chad and in the northwestern regions of Niger . According to the modern administrative division of Chad , these territories include the Tibesti region , the northern part of the Borku region , the north-eastern part of the Ennedi region and partially the Kanem region. According to the administrative division of Nigeria , - the eastern part of the Agadez region (in the department of Bilma ). Small groups of carriers of ted live also in the border regions of Chad with Libya (southern parts of the municipalities of Al-Kufrah and Marzuk ) and in northeastern Nigeria (several villages in the state of Borno ) ^[4] . In the north, the area of ​​the Teda language is adjacent to the sparsely populated desert regions of Libya, in the west and northwest it borders the area of ​​the Libyan dialect of the Arabic language ^[5] , in addition, in the west, the area of ​​the Teda language is adjacent to the island areas of Bilma of the Kanuri group ^[6] . In the south and in the east, the area of ​​distribution of teda borders on the area of ​​the Daza language ^[7] . In Nigeria, the island area of ​​Teda is surrounded by the central Canuri ^[8] . Most of the range of Daza is in the north-eastern, central and mid-western regions of Chad . This territory includes the regions of Kanem , Bahr al-Ghazal , the southern part of the Borku region , the northern, central and western parts of the Ennedi region , small groups of Daza carriers also live in the regions of Batha , Hajer Lamis , Wadi Fera and Lak ^[9] . A smaller part of the Daza language range is located in southeastern Niger - in the central regions of the Diffa region and in the northeastern region of the Zinder region. The area of ​​the Daza language in the north borders with the area of ​​the Teda language, in the northeast it is adjacent to the sparsely populated desert regions of Libya and Sudan , and in the southeast it borders with the area of ​​the Zagawa language. The area of ​​the Chadian dialect of the Arabic language and the area of ​​the central Sudanese Naba are adjacent to the area of ​​Daza from the south, and the areas of the Western Sahara languages ​​Kanembu, Tumari and Manga , as well as the area of ​​the Libyan Arabic dialect ^{[6] [7]} .

The area of ​​distribution of the languages ​​of the Kanuri group is located in the northeastern part of Nigeria and the adjacent border areas of southeastern Niger, western Chad and northern Cameroon. The Kanembu language range is located northeast of Lake Chad. The range of Kanuri languages ​​is southwest of Lake Chad.

The area of ​​distribution of East Sahara languages ​​is located in the Sahara on the border of Chad and Sudan.

The total number of Tubu native speakers, according to the Ethnologue Handbook, is about 423,500. Of these, 42,500 people speak the Teda language, 381,000 people speak the Daza language (2006) ^{[4] [9]} . About 4 million people speak Canuri. The total number of native speakers and dialects of the Zagawa group is about 169,000.

The Kanuri language is the most widely spoken language in the state of Borno in Nigeria, it broadcasts telecasts and broadcasts. Many Tubu speakers also speak Arabic dialects that are widespread in Chad. Newspapers are published in the language of Daza, broadcasting is conducted, and a dictionary has been released. In Niger, it is planned to introduce schooling in the language of Daza.

V. Blazhek, using the data of lexicostatistics , believes that the eastern and western branches of the Sahrawi family separated in about 3000 BC. e. The language clusters Kanuri-kanembu and tubu-teda-daza (average percentage of matches 38.8) broke up at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. The time of the divergence of the Berti language from the Zagawa-Beria-Bideiat cluster (average percentage of matches is 44.8) - XVI century BC. e. ^[ten]

The wide spread of the Kanuri language is associated with the history of the medieval states of Kanem and Born . Until the XIV century, the state of Kanem occupied the territory northeast of Lake Chad, the main language of this state was the Kanembu language. After the political center moved southwest to the Bornu region, the Canuri language became the official language. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries until the decline of the state, Bornu Kanuri was the main lingua franca in Central Sudan.

The writing of the Teda and Daza languages ​​is based on the Latin alphabet. Writing in the Kanuri language has traditionally developed in the African version of the Arabic alphabet ("Ajami"), since 1949 Latin script has also been used. In addition to the Latin alphabet, the Zagawa language also uses its own type of writing, based on symbols associated with the symbols of local tribes (used, in particular, for branding livestock).

The main linguistic features of the Sahara languages:

1. Vocalism of the Sahara languages ​​includes six to nine vowel phonemes. Their minimum number is in Kanuri (six phonemes), the largest is in Teda (nine phonemes). In addition, the Kanuri is characterized by the presence of a large number of diphthongs.
2. The consonantism of the Sahara languages ​​is distinguished by the absence of implosive and ejective consonants typical of many African languages. In the Sahara languages, there is a contrast between bilabial and labio-dental deaf, fricative consonant, single-stroke and multi-stroke r . The Zagawa language distinguishes between dental and alveolar oral consonants (deaf and voiced). Saharan languages ​​are also characterized by a widespread positional change in consonants, including changes at the junction of morphemes.
3. Sahara languages ​​are tonal languages . Tonal opposites have both lexical and grammatical meanings.