| Gaam | |
|---|---|
| Ingessana | |
| Native to | Sudan |
| Region | Blue Nile State |
| Ethnicity | Ingessana |
Native speakers | 110,000 (2022)[1] |
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | tbi |
| Glottolog | gaam1241 |
Gaam (Gaahmg), also known as Ingessana, (Me/Mun) Tabi, Kamanidi, or Mamedja/Mamidza, is an Eastern Sudanic language spoken by the Ingessana people in the Tabi Hills in Blue Nile State in eastern Sudan, near Ethiopia. It was considered an isolate within Eastern Sudanic until the other Eastern Jebel languages were discovered in the late 20th century. Dialects are Soda (Tao), Kukur (Gor), Kulang (Kulelek, Bau), Buwahg (Buek).
An early record of this language is a short wordlist dated February 1883 by Juan Maria Schuver. His informant came from the east side of the Tabi Hills, but was hard to understand because he was chewing tobacco.[2]
- ^ Gaam at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
- ^ Wendy James, et al., Juan Maria Schuver's Travels in North East Africa, 1880-1883 (London: Hakluyt Society, 1996), pp. 344-446
