Masalit (autonym Masala/Masara; Arabic: ماساليت) is a Nilo-Saharan language of the Maban language group spoken by the Masalit people in West Darfur, Sudan and Ouaddaï Region, Chad.
Masalit | |
---|---|
Kanaa Masarak | |
Native to | Sudan, Chad |
Region | West Darfur, South Darfur (Sudan), Ouaddaï, Sila (Chad) |
Ethnicity | Masalit |
Native speakers | 410,000 (2019–2022)[1] |
Nilo-Saharan?
| |
Latin | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | Either:mls – Masalitmdg – Massalat |
Glottolog | nucl1440 Nuclear Masalitmass1262 Massalat |
ELP | Massalat |
Masalit, known as the Massalat, moved west into central-eastern Chad. Their ethnic population in Chad was 30,000 as of the 1993 census, but only 10 speakers of their language were reported in 1991.[2]
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | ɨ | u |
Close-mid | e | ə | o |
Open-mid | ɛ | ʌ | ɔ |
Open | a |
Labial | Dental/ Alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
Stop/ Affricate |
voiceless | p | t | t͡ʃ | k | (ʔ) |
voiced | b | d | d͡ʒ | g | ||
prenasal | ᵐb | ⁿd | ⁿd͡ʒ | ᵑɡ | ||
Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʃ | (x) | h |
voiced | v | (z) | ||||
Trill | r | |||||
Lateral | l | |||||
Approximant | labial | ɥ | w | |||
central | j |
The Masalit language has two sociolects: