Meroitic language
Encyclopedia
The Meroitic language was spoken in Meroë
and the Sudan
during the Meroitic period (attested from 300 BCE) and went extinct about 400 CE
. It was written in two forms of the Meroitic alphabet: Meroitic Cursive, which was written with a stylus
and was used for general record-keeping; and Meroitic Hieroglyphic, which was carved in stone or used for royal or religious documents. It is poorly understood owing to the scarcity of bilingual texts.
The classification of Meroitic has long been uncertain due to the scarcity of data. Kirsty Rowan (2006) argued for an Afroasiatic classification of Meroitic, based on compatibility constraints and patterns of consonantal dissimilation
that is characteristic of Afroasiatic languages. Claude Rilly (ʁiji) (2007) convinced the annual Nilo-Saharan Conference that Meroitic is an Eastern Sudanic language
, closest to Nubian and other similar languages.
Meroë
Meroë Meroitic: Medewi or Bedewi; Arabic: and Meruwi) is an ancient city on the east bank of the Nile about 6 km north-east of the Kabushiya station near Shendi, Sudan, approximately 200 km north-east of Khartoum. Near the site are a group of villages called Bagrawiyah...
and the Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
during the Meroitic period (attested from 300 BCE) and went extinct about 400 CE
400
Year 400 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Stilicho and Aurelianus...
. It was written in two forms of the Meroitic alphabet: Meroitic Cursive, which was written with a stylus
Stylus
A stylus is a writing utensil, or a small tool for some other form of marking or shaping, for example in pottery. The word is also used for a computer accessory . It usually refers to a narrow elongated staff, similar to a modern ballpoint pen. Many styli are heavily curved to be held more easily...
and was used for general record-keeping; and Meroitic Hieroglyphic, which was carved in stone or used for royal or religious documents. It is poorly understood owing to the scarcity of bilingual texts.
The classification of Meroitic has long been uncertain due to the scarcity of data. Kirsty Rowan (2006) argued for an Afroasiatic classification of Meroitic, based on compatibility constraints and patterns of consonantal dissimilation
Dissimilation
In phonology, particularly within historical linguistics, dissimilation is a phenomenon whereby similar consonant or vowel sounds in a word become less similar...
that is characteristic of Afroasiatic languages. Claude Rilly (ʁiji) (2007) convinced the annual Nilo-Saharan Conference that Meroitic is an Eastern Sudanic language
Eastern Sudanic languages
Ehret 2001 [1984]Ehret, published in 2001 but circulating in manuscript form since at least 1984, calls the family "Eastern Sahelian", and idiosyncratically adds the Kuliak languages and Berta, which Bender assigns to higher-level branches of Nilo-Saharan, and reassigns Nyima to the southern branch...
, closest to Nubian and other similar languages.