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Birgid
Birgid
Murgi Birked
Native to	Sudan
Region	North Kordofan, South Darfur
Extinct	1970s
Language family	Nilo-Saharan? Eastern Sudanic Northern Eastern Nubian Central Birgid; ; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	brk
Glottolog	birk1242

Birgid (also known as Bergit, Berguid, Kajjara, Murgi,^[2] Birked, Birguid, Birkit, Birqed^[3]) is a likely extinct Nubian language.

Classification

Birgid is classified as a Nilo-Saharan language. It is part of the Nubian language cluster, but below this level, linguists disagree on the subdivision. Classification systems developed by Thelwall and by Bechhaus-Gers placed Birgid in a subgroup with the Hill Nubian languages (and Bechhaus-Gers also added Kenzi and Dongolawi to that subgroup). Alamin placed it within a Darfur Nubian subgroup alongside the Midob language.^[4] Some work, especially early classifications, placed Birgid in its own subgroup within Nubian.^[5]

Geographic distribution

Birgid was spoken in western and northern Sudan, in North Kordofan and north of the city of Nyala in South Darfur.^[2]^[3] Robin Thelwall noted that his last contact with speakers of Birgid occurred in with elderly speakers in 1972, and thus the language is assumed to be extinct.^{[citation needed]} It is possible there are still some speakers of Birgid around the border of Chad and Sudan.^[2]

Birgid is very poorly documented. As of 2014^[update], the only published examples of Birgid were vocabulary lists from 1918 and 1977.^[4]

Morphology

Birgid shares a complex number marking system with other northeastern Nilo-Saharan languages, including the Nubian and Taman groups. Some words are inherently singular and can be pluralized with a suffix. Others are inherently plural, and can be made singular with a suffix. Still others require a suffix to mark either singular or plural. Tone can also differentiate number.^[6]

Singulative and plural suffixes/tones in Birgid^[6]
Singular	Plural	English gloss
ɑŋɑl	ɑŋɑl-si	elephant
kur-ti	kur	man
wɑɑɲ-di	wɑɑɲ-e	star
úr	ùr	head

Vocabulary

The known vocabulary of Birgid is limited to two vocabulary lists from the 20th century.^[4] These include a list of the numerals from one to ten:

Birgid numerals^[7]
Number	Birgid
1	meelug
2	ulug
3	tizzig
4	keemzi
5	tiʃʃi
6	korʃi
7	koldi
8	ittu
9	iɟiŋoldi
10	tummun

References

↑ "Birked". Ethnologue. Archived from the original on 2019-06-06. Retrieved 2024-11-29. Last speakers survived into the 1970s
1 2 3 Dimmendaal, Gerrit J.; Erhard Voeltz, F. K. (2010). "Africa". In Moseley, Christopher (ed.). Encyclopedia of the world's endangered languages. London: Routledge. p. 609. ISBN 9780700711970.
1 2 Gordon, Raymond G.; Grimes, Barbara F. (2005). Ethnologue: languages of the world (15th ed.). Dallas: SIL International. p. 189. ISBN 155671159X.
1 2 3 Alamin, Suzan (2014). "Noun Phrase Constructions in Nubian Languages: A Comparative Study" (PDF). Dotawo: A Journal of Nubian Studies. 1: 204–205. doi:10.5070/D61110013. JSTOR jj.2353970.12. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
↑ Greenberg, Joseph (1971). "Nilo-Saharan and Meroitic". In Berry, Jack; Sebeok, Thomas Albert (eds.). Linguistics in Sub-Saharan Africa. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 428. ISBN 978-3-11-156252-0. Retrieved 25 September 2026.
1 2 Dimmendaal, Gerrit J.; Jakobi, Angelika (26 March 2020). "Eastern Sudanic". In Vossen, Rainier; Dimmendaal, Gerrit J. (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of African Languages. Oxford University Press. p. 398. ISBN 978-0-19-960989-5. Retrieved 24 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.

External links

Birgid basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database

[1] "Birked". Ethnologue. Archived from the original on 2019-06-06. Retrieved 2024-11-29. Last speakers survived into the 1970s

[Moseley2010-2] 1 2 3 Dimmendaal, Gerrit J.; Erhard Voeltz, F. K. (2010). "Africa". In Moseley, Christopher (ed.). Encyclopedia of the world's endangered languages. London: Routledge. p. 609. ISBN 9780700711970.

[E15-3] 1 2 Gordon, Raymond G.; Grimes, Barbara F. (2005). Ethnologue: languages of the world (15th ed.). Dallas: SIL International. p. 189. ISBN 155671159X.

[Alamin2014-4] 1 2 3 Alamin, Suzan (2014). "Noun Phrase Constructions in Nubian Languages: A Comparative Study" (PDF). Dotawo: A Journal of Nubian Studies. 1: 204–205. doi:10.5070/D61110013. JSTOR jj.2353970.12. Retrieved 24 September 2026.

[Greenberg-5] Greenberg, Joseph (1971). "Nilo-Saharan and Meroitic". In Berry, Jack; Sebeok, Thomas Albert (eds.). Linguistics in Sub-Saharan Africa. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 428. ISBN 978-3-11-156252-0. Retrieved 25 September 2026.

[DJ2020-6] 1 2 Dimmendaal, Gerrit J.; Jakobi, Angelika (26 March 2020). "Eastern Sudanic". In Vossen, Rainier; Dimmendaal, Gerrit J. (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of African Languages. Oxford University Press. p. 398. ISBN 978-0-19-960989-5. Retrieved 24 September 2026.

[7] 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.

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