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sudan linguistic situation

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 Sudan: Language Situation 265

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Sudan: Language Situation

A R Mugaddam, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, (compares Figures 1 and 2). Sudan’s current political
Sudan boundaries were established at the end of the 19th
G J Dimmendaal, University of Cologne, Cologne, century and the beginning of the 20th century. In
Germany 1899, the country was placed under the jurisdiction
ß 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. of Britain as well as Egypt in nominal recognition of
the historical claims of the khedive of Egypt, though
reserving supreme civil and military authority to an
The approximately 29 million inhabitants of Africa’s offical nominated by the British colonial government.
largest country, Sudan, speak at least 135 distinct This so-called ‘Condominium Period,’ which lasted
languages belonging to three different language until the country’s independence on January 1, 1956,
families, Afroasiatic, Niger–Congo, and Nilo–Saharan was preceded by the Turco–Egyptian period, which
266 Sudan: Language Situation

Figure 1 Sudan languages.

 Sudan: Language Situation 267

Figure 2 Sudan languages – enlarged area.

268 Sudan: Language Situation

began in 1821; prior to this era, the Sudan did not onward, final examinations in Grade 6 took place in
form a unified political entity. During Turco– Arabic throughout the country. The issue of language
Egyptian rule, Arabic spread as the language of ad- policy and planning in Sudan thus underwent rather
ministration in northern and central Sudan. Because dramatic changes in the course of the 20th century.
of the government’s desire for a southward expan- Arabic probably had spread across Sudan ever since
sion, in order to have access to human resources the 8th century, also reaching more remote parts of
(slaves) and ivory, male adults from the Blue Nile the (future) country, for example, in the west, be-
and the Nuba Mountains were captured and tween the 16th and 19th century. In areas such as
recruited for the army. It was probably in the multi- Darfur, Arabic had already developed into an impor-
lingual garrison camps in the southern Sudan that tant lingua franca before the 19th century. Among
pidginized versions of Sudanese Arabic emerged that several individuals in the region, e.g., ethnic Fur or
came to be known as ‘Nubi’ and ‘Juba Arabic.’ Nubi Daju, this situation resulted in a gradual shift to-
subsequently became the mother tongue of certain ward Arabic as the primary language of communica-
communities that today are also spread over Kenya, tion, often accompanied by loss of the original first
Sudan, and Uganda. language.
The unpopular Turco–Egyptian regime was re- The Sudanese language policy after independence,
placed in 1881 by the Mahdist State, which whereby the crucial instrumental (and integrative)
ruled over two-thirds of Sudan until 1898, when the role of Arabic was emphasized and the role of other
British, in the scramble for Africa, took over power in Sudanese languages (or English) was reduced, had a
Sudan. The British colonial government developed a partly negative effect on attitudes towards local and
policy that aimed at the checking of the Arabic lan- regional languages. As in other parts of the world,
guage as well as Islam in southern Sudan. In line with urbanization had an additional catalyzing effect
a more general policy in their colonies, the colonial on language attitudes. The studies by Miller and
government stimulated not only the use of English as Abu-Manga (1992) and Mugaddam (2002) clearly
an official language, but also the installment of local show that second-generation migrants in the greater
or regional languages in the educational system. At Khartoum area, for example, are less likely to acquire
the Rejaf Conference (1928), for example, six inter- the first language of their parents. Although there are
group languages from southern Sudan were selected differences in language solidarity between the various
for development and for use in schools: Bari, Dinka, ethnic groups, there is a clear tendency among
Ndogo, Nuer, Shilluk, and Zande. Schools in south- second-generation speakers to use Arabic as the first
ern Sudan were run mainly by missionaries; non- language. In this respect, Khartoum is comparable to
governmental schools in the north and missionary many other major urban centers in Africa. In such
schools in the south were only placed under the re- multilingual areas, there is a strong tendency to
sponsibility of the government in Khartoum in 1957. switch to the national language of the country (or
Even before independence (1956), the legislative to an important regional lingua franca) for daily
assembly of the country had stated that Arabic should communication purposes.
be the official language of the entire country. It also Whereas today Sudanese Arabic is used widely in
stated that the southern provinces were indivisibly the streets, in the markets, and in government and
part of Sudan, and this was to be reflected eventual- educational institutions across the country, vernacu-
ly in a new language policy. After independence, lars are used mainly within their immediate speech
northern intellectuals played a significant role in communities, although there are differences in lan-
the development and empowerment of Arabic in the guage attitudes between the different generations as
south. This policy resulted in the virtual exclusion well as between ethnic groups (Mugaddam, 2002).
and neglect of the remaining Sudanese languages. For example, Sudanese from Darfur, the Nuba Moun-
This move was further enhanced by ‘Arabizing’ sec- tains, or northern regions use more Arabic in their
ondary and university education in the entire country everyday communication than do ethnic groups from
in the following decades. In the late 1960s, Arabic the south.
became the official language of instruction in govern- Southern resistance against the predominant role of
ment schools throughout the country, although at the Arabic and the Islamicization of the entire country
National Conference for Education in Khartoum it resulted in a civil war in Sudan between 1955
was ordained that southern vernaculars written in and 1972 as well as between 1983 and 2004. In the
Arabic script could be used as media of instruction Addis Ababa Peace Agreement (1972), Arabic was
in the first two years of education in the rural areas of recognized as the official language, and English
the southern provinces; starting from the third year, was recognized as the principal language for the
however, Arabic should be the medium. From 1972 southern region (without prohibiting the official use
 Sudan: Language Situation 269

of languages that may serve as practical nesessities for Aka (200)

the executive and administrative functions of the Ama (70 000)
regions). In the same year, the ‘Language Survey of Anywak (52 000)
Sudan’ was initiated by the Institute of African and Arabic (Sudanese Arabic: at least 15 million; Nubi?
Asian Studies at the University of Khartoum (after Juba Arabic?)
similar surveys had been conducted in Ethiopia, Atuot (50 000)
Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda) in order to investigate Avokaya (15 000)
patterns of language use with an eye on future lan- Baale (5000)
guage policies. The Addis Ababa Peace Agreement Bai (2500)
did not fully realize its objectives because of the Baka (25 000)
renewed outbreak of civil war in the south in 1983. Banda-Banda (?)
Interestingly, although subsequent Sudanese govern- Banda-Mbrès (?)
ments did not support the official use of languages Banda-Ndélé (?)
other than Arabic, nongovernmental organizations Banda, Mid-Southern (?)
in Sudan developed orthographies and produced Banda, Togbo-Vara (?)
primers over the past recent decades for more than Banda, West Central (3000)
60 different languages. Bari (226 000)
In 2004, a peace protocol was signed by the gov- Baygo (?)
ernment of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Bedawi (951 000)
Movement. This so-called ‘Naivasha Peace Protocol’ Belanda Bor (8000)
also contains important statements concerning the Belanda Viri (16 000)
linguistic situation in Sudan: (1) All the indigenous Beli (6000)
languages are national languages that shall be Berta (22 000)
respected, developed, and promoted; (2) The Arabic Berti (?)
language is the most widely spoken national language Birked (?) not extinct
in Sudan; (3) Arabic, as a major language at the Boguru (?)
national level, and English shall be the official work- Bongo (5000 to 10 000)
ing languages for national government business and Burun (18 000)
for instruction in higher education; (4) In addition Dagik (38 000)
to Arabic and English, the legislature of any sub- Dair (1000)
national level of government may adopt any national Daju (Daju Dar Fur 70 000 to 90 000, (Daju Dar Sila,
language(s) as additional official working lan- Shatt, Liguri?))
guage(s) at its level; and (5) The use of either language Didinga (58 000)
at any level of government or education shall not be Dilling (5295)
discriminated against. Dinka (ges.ca. 1,35 million); Northeastern/Padang
Patterns of language use in modern Sudan suggest (320 000); Northwestern (80 000); South Central/
that many local languages are facing imminent death Agar (250 000); Southeastern/Bor (250 000);
if nothing is done to implement this new language Southwestern/Rek (450 000))
policy and to sustain linguistic and cultural diversity Dongotono (?)
in the country. El Hugeirat (1000)
Erenga (?)
Languages Feroge (8000)
Fongoro (extinct?)
Figures with respect to the number of speakers for
Fulfulde (90 000)
some languages in Sudan date back to the early
Fur (500 000)
1950s, while for others, the most recent census goes
Gaam (40 000 to 80 000)
back to the early 1990s. Moreover, languages as-
Ghulfan (16 000)
sumed to be extinct such as Birgid (Birked), still ap-
Gula (200 to 2000)
pear, in fact, to have speakers. Consequently, some of
Gule (?)
the figures below are unreliable, and this fact should
Gumuz (40 000)
be borne in mind with regard to them.
Hausa (418 000)
Acheron (?) Heiban (4412)
Acholi (27 000) Homa (?)
Afitti (4512) Indri (700)
Aja (200) Jumjum (25 000 to 50 000)
 270 Sudan: Language Situation

Jur Modo (15 400) Opuuo (300?)

Kadaru (7000) Otoro (13 000)
Kakwa (40 000) Shatt (15 000)
Kaliko (10 000) Shilluk (175 000)
Kanga (8000) Shwai (3500)
Kanuri (195 000) Sinyar (between 5000 and 10 000)
Karko (12 986) Sungor (15 000)
Katcha (74 935) Tagoi (13 000)
Katla (14 208) Talodi (1500)
Keiga (6072) Tama (?)
Kelo (?) Tegali (36 000)
Kenuzi-Dongola (180 000) Temein (10 000)
Ko (2683) Tennet (4000)
Koalib (44 258) Tese (1400)
Komo (10 000) Thuri (6600)
Kreish (16 000) Tigre (683 000)
Krongo (21 688) Tima (6000)
Lafofa (5140) Tingal (8000)
Lango (20 000) Tira (40 000)
Laro (40 000) Tirma (1000)
Logol (2600) Tocho (3800)
Logorik (2000) Togoyo (extinct?)
Lokoro (28 000) Toposa (100 000)
Lokoya (12 392) Torona (extinct?)
Lumun (?) Tulishi (8628)
Longarim (3623) Tumma (6500)
Lopit (50 000) Tumtum (7300)
Lotuxo (135 000) Uduk (20 000)
Luluba (15 000) Wali (500?)
Luwo (80 000) Warnang (1100)
Mabaan (25 000 to 50 000) Yulu (3000)
Ma’di (18 000) Zaghawa (102 000)
Mandari (35 812) Zande (350 000)
Mangayat (400)
Masalit (145 000)
Midob (50 000) See also: Afroasiatic Languages; Arabic; Language Poli-
Miisiiri (?) cy in Multilingual Educational Contexts; Lingua Francas
Mittu (?) as Second Languages; Niger-Congo Languages; Nilo-
Saharan Languages.
Mo’da (600)
Molo (100)
Language Maps (Appendix 1): Maps 39, 40.
Moro (70 000)
Morokodo (3400)
Moru (70 000) Bibliography
Mündü (23 000)
Hurreiz S H & Bell H (eds.) (1975). Directions in Sudanese
Murle (60 000)
linguistics and folklore. Khartoum: Khartoum University
Nding (3513) Press.
Ndogo (20 000) Miller C & Abu-Manga A-A (1992). Language change
Ngile (38 000) and national integration in Sudan. Khartoum: Khartoum
Njalgulgule (900) University Press.
Nobiin (295 000) Mugaddam A H (2002). Language maintenance and shift in
Nuer (740 000) the Sudan: the case of ethnic minority groups in Greater
Nyamusa-Molo (1200) Khartoum. Ph.D. diss., University of Khartoum.

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