Dair language

Dair
Dair
Thaminyi
Native to	Sudan
Region	Nuba Mountains
Native speakers	(1,000 cited 1978)
Language family	Nilo-Saharan? Eastern Sudanic Northern Eastern Nubian Central Hill (Unclassified) Dair; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	drb
Glottolog	dair1239
ELP	Dair
	Dair is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.

Dair (also Dabab,^{[citation needed]} Daier, Jebel Dair,^{: 121, 123} Thaminyi) is a moribund Hill Nubian language spoken in the northern Nuba Mountains in the south of Sudan. It was spoken by around 1,000 people in 1978 in the Jibaal as-Sitta hills, between Dilling and Delami.

The first documentation of the language by outsiders came in 1864, by German explorer Werner Munzinger.^: 120 He reported that the language was called Kuliniri by the local people at that time. Junker and Czermak published a corpus of Dair transcriptions with phonetic and morphosyntactic notes in 1913.^: 121

Classification

Dair is classified as a Nubian language, part of the Nilo-Saharan language family. It is grouped with the Hill Nubian (sometimes called Kordofan Nubian) languages.^: 15 It is most closely related to its fellow Hill Nubian languages El Hugeirat, Ghulfan, and Kadaru.^: 128^: 73

Geographic distribution

Dair is spoken in the Nuba Mountains.^{[citation needed]}

Phonology

Consonants

Junker and Czermak give the following consonantal inventory for Dair:^: 7

**Consonant phonemes**
		Labio- dental		Alveolar		Retroflex		Palatal		Velar
Plosive	b			t	d	ʈ	ɖ	c	ɟ	k	ɡ
Fricative		f	v					ç	ʝ
Nasal	m				n		ɳ		ɲ		ŋ	ŋʷ
Approximant					ɹ		ɻ
Lateral approximant					l		ɭ

Vowels

Junker and Czermak are less precise with their vowel inventory. They list five cardinal vowels, a, e, i, o, and u, and note that "half-open" pronunciation of these vowels also occur. Vowel length is distinctive, with short and long vowels. Syllables can be stressed or unstressed.^: 16

References

1 2 Dair at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
1 2 3 4 Stevenson, R. C. (1962). "Linguistic Research in the Nuba Mountains I". Sudan Notes and Records. 43. University of Khartoum: 118–130. JSTOR 41716826. Retrieved 26 September 2026.
↑ Munzinger, Werner (1864). Ostafrikanische studien (in German). Schaffhausen : F. Hurter. p. 546. Retrieved 26 September 2026.
1 2 3 Junker, Hermann; Czermak, Wilhelm (1913). Kordofân-Texte im Dialekt von Gebel Dair (in German). Vienna: A. Hölder. Retrieved 26 September 2026.
↑ Blažek, Václav (1999). "Nubian numerals" (PDF). Numerals : comparative-etymological analyses of numeral systems and their implications : (Saharan, Nubian, Egyptian, Berber, Kartvelian, Uralic, Altaic and Indo-European languages). hdl:11222.digilib/122989. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
↑ Bell, Herman (1973). "An Extinct Nubian Language in Kordofan". Sudan Notes and Records. 54. University of Khartoum: 73–80. ISSN 0375-2984. Retrieved 27 September 2026.

[e25-1] 1 2 Dair at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)

[Stevenson1962-2] 1 2 3 4 Stevenson, R. C. (1962). "Linguistic Research in the Nuba Mountains I". Sudan Notes and Records. 43. University of Khartoum: 118–130. JSTOR 41716826. Retrieved 26 September 2026.

[Munzinger1864-3] Munzinger, Werner (1864). Ostafrikanische studien (in German). Schaffhausen : F. Hurter. p. 546. Retrieved 26 September 2026.

[JC1913-4] 1 2 3 Junker, Hermann; Czermak, Wilhelm (1913). Kordofân-Texte im Dialekt von Gebel Dair (in German). Vienna: A. Hölder. Retrieved 26 September 2026.

[5] Blažek, Václav (1999). "Nubian numerals" (PDF). Numerals : comparative-etymological analyses of numeral systems and their implications : (Saharan, Nubian, Egyptian, Berber, Kartvelian, Uralic, Altaic and Indo-European languages). hdl:11222.digilib/122989. Retrieved 24 September 2026.

[6] Bell, Herman (1973). "An Extinct Nubian Language in Kordofan". Sudan Notes and Records. 54. University of Khartoum: 73–80. ISSN 0375-2984. Retrieved 27 September 2026.