Meroitic language
| Meroitic | |
|---|---|
| Spoken in | Sudan |
| Region | Meroë |
| Extinct | ~400 CE |
| Language family | |
| Writing system | Meroitic alphabet |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | xmr |
The Meroitic language was spoken in Meroë and the Sudan during the Meroitic period (attested from 300 BCE) and went extinct about 400 CE. It was written in two forms of the Meroitic alphabet: Meroitic Cursive, which was written with a stylus and was used for general record-keeping; and Meroitic Hieroglyphic, which was carved in stone or used for royal or religious documents. It is poorly understood owing to the scarcity of bilingual texts.
The classification of Meroitic has long been uncertain due to the scarcity of data. Kirsty Rowan (2006) argued for an Afroasiatic classification of Meroitic, based on compatibility constraints and patterns of consonantal dissimilation that is characteristic of Afroasiatic languages.[1] Claude Rilly (French pronunciation: [ʁiji]) (2007) convinced the annual Nilo-Saharan Conference that Meroitic is an Eastern Sudanic language, closest to Nubian and other similar languages.
[edit] References
- ^ Rowan, Kirsty (2006). "Meroitic – an Afroasiatic language?" (PDF). SOAS Working Papers in Linguistics. pp. 14: 169–206. http://www.soas.ac.uk/linguistics/research/workingpapers/volume-14/file37822.pdf. Retrieved 2008-11-15.
[edit] Bibliography
- Meroitic Newsletter (Paris: Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 1968)
- Böhm, Gerhard : "Die Sprache der Aithiopen im Lande Kusch" in Beiträge zur Afrikanistik, 34, (Wien: 1988). ISBN 3-85043-047-2.
- Rilly, Claude (March 2004) "The Linguistic Position of Meroitic"[dead link], Sudan Electronic Journal of Archaeology and Anthropology.
- ———— (2007) La langue du Royaume de Meroe. Paris: Champion.
- Welsby, Derek A.: The Kingdom of Kush, (London: British Museum Press, 1996), 189-195, ISBN 071410986X
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