Saharan languages

The Saharan languages are a group of languages spoken by people living in parts of the eastern Sahara desert. These languages are found in several countries, stretching from northwestern Sudan to southern Libya, through north and central Chad, eastern Niger, and northeastern Nigeria.

Some well-known Saharan languages include Kanuri, which has many speakers living around Lake Chad in Chad, Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon. Other languages in this family are Daza, Teda, and Zaghawa.

Experts sometimes suggest that these languages belong to a larger group called the Nilo-Saharan family, although this idea is debated among linguists. Researchers have worked to compare words from different Saharan languages to better understand their connections. One such study was done by Václav Blažek in 2007.

Internal classification

• Saharan
  • Eastern
    • Berti † (also called Sagato; no longer spoken)
    • Zaghawa (also called Beria)
  • Western
    • Kanuri
      • Kanuri (Bilma, Manga, Tumari, Central)
      • Kanembu (Tarjumo)
    • Tebu
      • Daza
      • Teda

External classification

Roger Blench thinks that the Saharan languages and the Songhay languages are related. Together, they make a group called Songhay-Saharan. This group is part of a bigger language family called Nilo-Saharan.

Reconstruction

Here are some early words from the Saharan languages that researchers have studied.

Comparative vocabulary

This section shows some basic words from the Saharan languages, collected by Blažek in 2007.

Numerals

We can see how numbers are said in different Saharan languages.