Kara languages

Kara
= Tar Gula?
Geographic distribution:	Central African Republic
Linguistic classification:	Nilo-Saharan? Central Sudanic Bongo–Bagirmi Kara
Subdivisions:	—

The Kara languages are members of the Central Sudanic language family spoken in the Central African Republic. They are Tar Gula, perhaps a dialect cluster, and a second language which both commonly go under the name Kara. The term "Kara" is also attached to numerous ethnic groups of the region and their languages, and so is often ambiguous.

Ethnologue 16 lists three Kara languages, Gula, Furu (Bagero), and Yulu (Yulu–Binga). However, of these, Blench (in press) accepts only Gula. He places Furu with the Kresh dialect cluster and Yulu as an isolate within Bongo–Bagirmi. Nonetheless, he retain the Kara branch, also with three languages: Gula, Kara of Birao, and Kara (Sudan). Ethnologue treats Kara (Sudan) as a synonym of Gula, being merely the Gula spoken across the border in Sudan. The Kara of Birao it leaves unclassified. However, it lists Fer (Dam Fer, Fertit) as synonyms; in Blench's and earlier classifications, Fer is a Bagirmi language, and Ethnologue does not list a separate Fer language for CAR. Thus it is possible that the Kara branch is synonymous with the Gula language.

References

• Blench (2000 ms)