Kuliak languages


The Kuliak languages, also called the Rub languages, are a group of languages spoken by small relict communities in the mountainous Karamoja region of northeastern Uganda.
Nyang'i is close to extinct, and Soo is moribund. However, Ik is vigorous and growing.
Word order in Kuliak languages is verb-initial.

Names

The Kuliak languages are also called the Rub languages by Ehret, since Ehret reconstructed "Rub" to mean 'person' in Proto-Kuliak. He suggests that "Kuliak" may actually be a derogatory term used by neighboring Nilotic-speaking peoples to disparage Kuliak speakers as "poor," hence his preference for using Rub instead. However, Kuliak continues to be the most widely used name, and is preferred by Roger Blench, Terrill Schrock, Sam Beer and other linguists, who note that the name "Kuliak" is not perceived as offensive or pejorative by any Kuliak speakers.

Classification

Internal

Heine classifies the Kuliak languages as follows. According to Heine, Soo and Nyang'i form a subgroup, Western Kuliak, while Ik stands by itself.
According to Schrock, Dorobo is a spurious language, is not a fourth Kuliak language, and may at most be a dialect of Ik.

External

Bender had classified the Kuliak languages within the Eastern Sudanic languages. Later, Bender revised this position by placing Kuliak as basal branch of Nilo-Saharan. Glottolog treats Kuliak as an independent language family and does not accept Nilo-Saharan as a valid language family.

Evolution

Blench notes that Kuliak languages do not have extensive internal diversity and clearly had a relatively recent common ancestor. There are many monosyllabic VC lexical roots in Kuliak languages, which is typologically unusual among Nilo-Saharan languages. Blench considers these VC roots to have cognates in other Nilo-Saharan languages, and suggests that the VC roots may have been eroded from earlier Nilo-Saharan roots that had initial consonants.
Bernd Heine has proposed a reconstruction of.
Significant influences from Cushitic languages, and more recently Eastern Nilotic languages, are observable in the vocabulary and phonology of Kuliak languages. Blench notes that Kuliak appears to retain a core of non-Nilo-Saharan vocabulary, suggesting language shift from an indigenous language like that seen in Dahalo.

Numerals

Comparison of numerals in individual languages:
Language12345678910
kɔ̀nʊ̀kᵓ lèɓètsìn àɗìn tsʼàɡùsìn tùdìn tudini ńda kɛɗɪ kɔn tudini ńda kiɗi léɓetsᵉ tudini ńda kiɗi aɗ tudini ńda kiɗi tsʼaɡús tomín
kɔnᵃléɓetsᵃaɗᵃ / aɗᵉtsʔaɡúsᵃtúdᵉńda-keɗi-kɔnᵃ ńda-kiɗi-léɓetsᵃ ńda-kiɗiá-aɗᵉ ńda-kiɗi-tsʔaɡúsᵃ tomín
nardoknɛʔɛciyʔɔnnowʔetudmɔk kan kapeimɔk tomin
nɛ́dɛ̀sínɛ̀'bɛ́cínì'jɔ̀nín'ùáʔíntùdˌíntùd ká ˈnɛ́dɛ̀s ˌíntùd ká ínɛ̀'bɛ̀c ˌíntùd ká ínì'jɔ́n ˌíntùd ká ínùáʔ mì'míɾínìk
ɛdɛsnɛbɛciyonnowatuɗtuɗ ka nɪ ɛdɛs tuɗ ka nɪ nɛbɛc tuɗ ka nɪ iyon tuɗ ka nɪ nowa tuɗ en-ek iɠe