Masalit

MLS

vigorous

Alternate Names: Kana Masaraka, Massalit

Dialects: Dialect in West Darfur differs from that in South Darfur. Lexical similarity: 36% with Karanga ,, 42% with Maba ,, 45% with Marfa ,.

Genealogy:

Nilo-Saharan
Maban
Masalit

Demographics: 350,000 in Sudan (2011 SIL). Population total all countries: 410,900.

Language Use: All ages. Majority use Arabic [apd] as L2; however, people in the central area and women know limited Arabic.

Language Development: Poetry. Radio programs. Grammar.

Typology: SOV; 10 vowels; verbal affixes: person, tense-aspect, subject number, negation, interrogation.

Writing System: Latin

Nation of Origin: Sudan

Other Comments: Many fled to Chad due to war in Darfur (2011).