Heiban language
| Heiban | |
|---|---|
| Ebang | |
| Native to | Sudan |
| Region | Nuba Hills |
| Ethnicity | Heiban Nuba |
Native speakers | (4,000 cited 1984)[1] |
Niger–Congo?
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | hbn |
| Glottolog | heib1243 |
 Heiban is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
The Heiban language, Ebang, or Abul, is a Niger–Congo language in the Heiban family spoken in the town of Heiban located in the Nuba Mountains of Kordofan, Sudan.
Grammer
Nouns
The earliest record of the Heiban noun class system was composed by Stevenson (1956/57), in which he classified each noun class into two sections, the first being for singular form and the second for plural form. Each noun class has an indicative prefix. The separation of noun classes occurs due to the nouns belonging to a certain category. Guest (1997) further contributed to the findings of Stevenson by discovering more classification for nouns.
| Noun Class | Singular Prefix | Plural prefix | Semantic identification |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,2 | kw-/gw-
ku-/gu- (∅) |
l- li-/lu- li- | People, animal and nature except trees |
| 1,2 | (∅) | - ŋa (suffix) | Relatives |
| 3,4 | Kw-/gw-
Ku-/gu- |
j-/(∅)
ji-/ju-/(∅) |
Trees |
| 5,6 | l- | ŋ-/nw- | Sets |
| 7,8 | k-/g- | j-/(∅) | Common things |
| 9,10 | dh- | d-/r- | Long. thin things |
| 11,12 | dh- | j-/(∅) | Large and dangerous things |
| 13,14 | k-/g- | Ny- | Hallow and deep things |
| 15,16 | ŋ- | ny- | Domestic and small animals and things |
| 20 | ŋ- | - | Liquids and abstract nouns |
| 21,22 | ŋ- | j- | Goat |
| 25,26 | (∅) | j- | Words beginning with a vowel |
References
- ^ Heiban at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
External links
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