Nubian definition of Nubian in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Nubian

1. a native or inhabitant of Nubia, an ancient region of NE Africa

2. the language spoken by the people of Nubia

Nubian

the language of the Nile Nubians, spoken in the northern Sudan and in Egypt by 1.5 million people (1970, estimate). Nubian belongs to the Chari-Nile branch of the Nilo-Saharan languages. The Nubian hill dialects of Kordofan (Midobi, Birked) and the languages of the Nubians in the Darfur region are related to Nubian.

Nubian consists of two dialect groups: Mahass-Fadija and Dongola-Kenuzi. Nubian and Meroitic are practically the only two ancient languages of Africa—with the exception of the Hamito-Semitic languages of Africa—that developed a writing system. When Nubia adopted Christianity, a Nubian alphabet (with written records dating from the eighth through 14th centuries) was devised from the Coptic alphabet. This first Nubian alphabet was later replaced by a writing system based on Arabic script. The ancient Nubian language is directly ancestral of the modern dialect of Mahass-Fadija.

Nubian is an inflectional language; it is characterized by internal inflection and suffixation. Most stems are monosyllabic. Nouns have three cases. Sandhi is common. The usual word order is subject-object-verb. Nubian grammar and, especially, vocabulary have been heavily influenced by Arabic.

REFERENCES

Lepsius, R. Nubische Grammatik Berlin, 1880.
Zyhlarz, E. Grundzüge der nubischen Grammatik im christlichen Frühmittelalter. Leipzig, 1928.

E. A. KHELIMSKII

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No references found	It was an Abyssinian or Nubian production of a bizarre shape; the clumsiest thing imaginable, partaking of a sickle and a chopper with a sharp edge and a pointed end. The Arrow of Gold by Conrad, Joseph View in context "The custom of making houses and tombs in the living rock," says Heeren in his Researches on the Ethiopians, "determined very naturally the principal character of the Nubian Egyptian architecture to the colossal form which it assumed. Essays, First Series by Emerson, Ralph Waldo View in context He claps his hands and Mesrour the Nubian appears, with bare arms, bangles, yataghans, and every Eastern ornament-- gaunt, tall, and hideous. Vanity Fair by Thackeray, William Makepeace View in context	NTIS NTMBS NTP NTS NTSC NTSC port NTT DoCoMo NTU NTVDM NU Nu Thena nu value Nu, U nu-calculus NU-Prolog Nušic, Branislav Nuance Nuayma, Mikhail nub nub yarns nubbin Nubecula Major Nubecula Minor Nubeculae Nubia Nubian Nubian Desert Nubian's skin Nubian-Arabian Shield Nubians NuBus Nucellus nucha nuchal ligament nuchal organ nuchal rigidity nuchal tentacle Nuckolls County nuclear nuclear absorption Nuclear Accident nuclear adiabatic demagnetization nuclear age determination nuclear angular momentum nuclear atom Nuclear Battery nuclear binding energy nuclear boiler nuclear bomb nuclear breeder nuclear capture	NUBB nubbin nubbin nubbiness Nubbins Nubbins nubble nubbled nubbles nubblier nubbliest nubbly nubby nubby NUBC Nubcake Nubcake Nubcake Nubcakes Nubcakes Nubcakes NUBCW Nube Nubecula Nubecula Major Nubecula Minor Nubeculae Nubia Nubia Nubia Nubian Nubian (goat) Nubian Blog Community Network Nubian Desert Nubian Desert Nubian Giraffe Nubian Giraffe Nubian Giraffe Nubian Giraffe Nubian goat Nubian goats Nubian people Nubian's skin Nubian-Arabian Shield Nubians Nubians Nubians Nubic NUBICWOPS nubiferous NUBIG Nubigenous NUBILAGA Nubilate nubilation nubile Nubilis nubility Nubilose nubilous Nubkins

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It was an Abyssinian or Nubian production of a bizarre shape; the clumsiest thing imaginable, partaking of a sickle and a chopper with a sharp edge and a pointed end.

The Arrow of Gold by Conrad, Joseph View in context

"The custom of making houses and tombs in the living rock," says Heeren in his Researches on the Ethiopians, "determined very naturally the principal character of the Nubian Egyptian architecture to the colossal form which it assumed.

Essays, First Series by Emerson, Ralph Waldo View in context

He claps his hands and Mesrour the Nubian appears, with bare arms, bangles, yataghans, and every Eastern ornament-- gaunt, tall, and hideous.

Vanity Fair by Thackeray, William Makepeace View in context

Nubian playV2('en/US/d3/d3dnssdfd7ddsgh7');playV2('en/UK/d3/d3dnssdfd7ddsgh7')

REFERENCES

Nubian