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The Kordofanian languages are a geographic grouping of five language groups spoken in the Nuba Mountains of the South Kordofan region of Sudan: Talodi–Heiban languages, Lafofa languages, Rashad languages, Katla languages and Kadu languages. The first four groups are sometimes regarded as branches of the hypothetical Niger–Congo family, whereas Kadu is now widely seen as a branch of the proposed Nilo-Saharan family.
South Kordofan is one of the 18 wilayat or states of Sudan. It has an area of 158,355 km2 and an estimated population of approximately 2,107,623 people. Kaduqli is the capital of the state. It is centered on the Nuba Mountains. At one time it was supposed that South Kordofan was the only state in (North) Sudan suitable for producing oil, but oil has also been discovered in neighboring White Nile State in larger quantities.
Hawazma, part of Sudan's Baggara tribe, are cattle herders who roam the area from the southern parts of North Kurdufan to the southern borders of South Kurdufan, a distance of about 300 kilometers. Through their nomadic movement, the Hawazma know the area, terrain, ethnic groups, local tribes, tribal cultures, ecosystems, climate, vegetation, existence of risks and diseases, and water resources better than any other inhabitants of the region. The term Baggara is a collective name applied to all cattle-herding tribes with Arab roots. Cattle herders from Nuba tribes are not called Baggara. Cattle herders of middle and eastern Sudan, although they are Arab in roots, are also not Baggara. The Baggara occupy a wide area, from Kordofan, Mid-Western Sudan, to Darfur in the far Western Sudan and extending to neighboring Chad. They are a collection of seven major tribes: Hawazma, Messiria Humr Messiria Zurug, Rizeigat, Ta’isha, Habbaniya, Beni Halba, Awlad Himayd, and Beni Selam. All Baggara have similar physical facial features, costumes, dance, religion, food, and in general a common culture and way of life.
The Nuba Mountains, also referred to as the Nuba Hills, is an area located in South Kordofan, Sudan. The area is home to a group of indigenous ethnic groups known collectively as the Nuba peoples. In the Middle Ages, the Nuba mountains had been part of the Nubian kingdom of Alodia. In the 18th century, they became home to the kingdom of Taqali that controlled the hills of the mountains until their defeat by Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad. After the British defeated the Mahdi army, Taqali was restored as a client state. Infiltration of the Messiria tribe of Baggara Arabs has been influential in modern conflicts. Up to 1.5 million people live in the mountains, mostly ethnic Nuba, with a small minority of Baggara.
The Nuba people are indigenous inhabitants of central Sudan. The Nuba are made up of 50 various indigenous ethnic groups who inhabit the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan state in Sudan, encompassing multiple distinct people that speak different languages which belong to at least two unrelated language families. Since 2011, when the southern part of Sudan became an independent state as South Sudan, the Nuba now live in the southern part of Sudan. Estimates of the Nuba population vary widely; the Sudanese government estimated that they numbered 2.07 million in 2003.
The Moro Nuba are a sub-ethnic group of the Nuba peoples in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan state, in southern Sudan. Many members of this ethnicity are Christians. The population of this ethnic group possibly exceeds 80,000 people.
The Messiria, known also under the name of Misseriya Arabs, are a branch of the Baggara ethnic grouping of Arab tribes. Their language is Sudanese Arabic. Numbering over one million, the Baggara are the second largest ethnic group in Western Sudan, extending into Eastern Chad. They are primarily nomadic cattle herders and their journeys are dependent upon the seasons of the year. The use of the term Baggara carries negative connotations as slave raiders, so they prefer to be called instead Messiria.
The Tima are an ethnic group of the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan state, in southern Sudan. They number several thousand people.
The Daju people are a group of seven distinct ethnicities speaking related languages living on both sides of the Chad-Sudan border and in the Nuba Mountains. Separated by distance and speaking different languages, at present, they generally have little cultural affinity to each other.
The Rashad languages form a small language family in the Nuba Hills of Sudan. They are named after Rashad District of South Kordofan.
The Talodi–Heiban languages are a proposed branch of the hypothetical Niger–Congo family, spoken in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan. The Talodi and Heiban languages are thought to be distantly related by Dimmendaal, though Glottolog 4.4 does not accept the unity of Talodi–Heiban pending further evidence.
Talodi is a small town in the Nuba Mountains, and a district of South Kordofan state, in southern Sudan. The town is nearly 650 km southwest of Khartoum. Its name is from the Talodi people of the area who speak the Talodi language.
Dagik, or Dengebu, Dagig, Thakik, Buram, Reikha, is a Niger–Congo language in the Talodi family spoken in the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan, Sudan. It is 80% lexically similar with Ngile, which is also spoken by the Mesakin people.
Lumun (Lomon), also Kuku-Lumun, is a Niger–Congo language in the Talodi family spoken in the Nuba Mountains, Sudan.
Lafofa, also Tegem–Amira, is a dialect cluster spoken in the southern Nuba Mountains in the south of Sudan. Blench (2010) considers the Tegem and Amira varieties to be distinct languages; as Lafofa is poorly attested, there may be others.
Ngile, also known as Daloka, Taloka, Darra, Masakin, Mesakin, is a Niger–Congo unwritten language in the Talodi family spoken in the southern Nuba Mountains in the south of Sudan. It is 80% lexically similar with Dengebu, which is also spoken by the Mesakin people.
Tocho (Tacho) is a Niger–Congo language in the Talodi family spoken in Kordofan, Sudan. It is spoken by approximately 2,700 people in the following villages: Igije, Imanjela, Thodero, Thoge, Tobaredeng, Tocho Goos, Tocho Saraf Jamus, Toderum, Togero, Togiding, Toriya, Torobang, Tothokrek and Turu.
Acheron (Asheron) is a Niger–Congo language in the Talodi family spoken in South Kordofan, Sudan.
On 19 August 2012, an Antonov An-26 airplane of Alfa Airlines crashed near the town of Talodi, Sudan, killing all 32 occupants on board. The aircraft was carrying a Sudanese government delegation, and among the victims were members of the Sudanese government, several high-ranking members of the Sudanese Armed Forces and other officials, and a television crew.
The Nuba Mountains, located in the West Kordofan and South Kordofan states in the south of Sudan, are inhabited by a diverse set of populations speaking various languages not closely related to one another.
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