Naba

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A language of Chad

ISO 639-3
mne
User Population

510,000 (2019).

Location

Barh el Gazel region: southeast; Batha region: Batha Est department, Ati subprefecture, Batha Ouest department, Oum Hadjer subprefecture; Lake Fitri area east to Ati (Bilala dialect); Bokoro subprefecture, Moïto to Bokoro, and Ati to Oum Hadjer (Kuka dialect); southwest of Ati (Medogo dialect).

Language Maps
Language Status

5* (Developing).

Classification
Nilo-Saharan, Satellite-Core, Satellites, Central Sudanic, West, Bongo-Bagirmi, Sara-Bagirmi, Bagirmi
Dialects

Bilala (Bilaala, Boulala, Bulala, Ma, Mage), Kuka (Kouka, Lisi), Medogo (Modogo, Mud). Related but not inherently intelligible of Berakou [bxv] or Kenga [kyq]. Lexical similarity: between Bilala, Kuka, and Medogo dialects is 99%.

Language Use

Some also use Chadian Spoken Arabic [shu], especially the Kuka ethnic group, who live near Oum Hadjer.

Language Development

Literacy rate in L1: 15%. Grammar.

Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Naba
Writing

Latin script [Latn].

Other Comments

Bilala, Kuka, and Medogo are 3 ethnic groups who share a common culture and speak essentially the same language. Muslim.