| Nubi Arabic | |
|---|---|
| Kinubi | |
| كي-نوبي | |
| Native to | Uganda, Kenya |
| Ethnicity | Ugandan Nubians, Kenyan Nubians |
| Speakers | 50,000 (2014-2019)[1] |
Arabic-based creole
| |
Early form | |
| Arabic | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | kcn |
| Glottolog | nubi1253 |
| ELP | Nubi |
The Nubi language (also called Ki-Nubi, Arabic: كي-نوبي, romanized: kī-nūbī) is a Sudanese Arabic-based creole language spoken in Uganda around Bombo, and in Kenya around Kibera, by the Ugandan Nubians, many of whom are descendants of Emin Pasha's Sudanese soldiers who were settled there by the British colonial administration. It was spoken by about 15,000 people in Uganda in 1991 (according to the census), and an estimated 10,000 in Kenya; another source estimates about 50,000 speakers as of 2001. 90% of the lexicon derives from Arabic,[2] but the grammar has been simplified,[3] as has the sound system. Nairobi has the greatest concentration of Nubi speakers.[4] Nubi has the prefixing, suffixing and compounding processes also present in Arabic.[5]
Many Nubi speakers are Kakwa who came from the Nubian region, first into Equatoria, and from there southwards into Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They rose to prominence under Ugandan President Idi Amin, who was Kakwa.[6][7]
Jonathan Owens argues that Nubi constitutes a major counterexample to Derek Bickerton's theories of creole language formation, showing "no more than a chance resemblance to Bickerton's universal creole features" despite fulfilling perfectly the historical conditions expected to lead to such features.[citation needed] Scholars (Sebit, 2023) have suggested that the Nubi Language was the main factors of unity among the Nubi community in east Africa, to survive the hardship they got from different community components.
- ^ Nubi Arabic at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Ineke Wellens. The Nubi Language of Uganda: An Arabic Creole in Africa. BRILL, 2005 ISBN 90-04-14518-4
- ^ Clive Holes (2004). Modern Arabic: Structures, Functions, and Varieties. Georgetown U P. p. 421. ISBN 9781589010222. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
- ^ Owens, Jonathan (2006). "Creole Arabic". Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics: 518–27.
- ^ Umberto Ansaldo; Stephen Matthews; Lisa Lim (2007). Deconstructing Creole. John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 290. ISBN 9789027229854. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
- ^ Mutibwa, Phares Mukasa (1 January 1992). Uganda Since Independence: A Story of Unfulfilled Hopes. Africa World Press. ISBN 9780865433571.
- ^ "Amin Buys Loyalty of Soldiers - the Washington Post". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 28 February 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
