Talodi–Heiban languages
The Talodi–Heiban languages are a branch of the Niger–Congo family spoken in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan. The Talodi and Heiban languages are thought to be distantly related by Dimmendaal, though Glottolog 4.0 does not accept the unity of Talodi–Heiban pending further evidence.
Classification
notes that the Talodi and Heiban branches share many typological similarities, but few lexical similarities. Blench considers Talodi and Heiban to each be separate, independent Niger-Congo branches that had later converged due to mutual contact.Talodi and Heiban had each constituted a group of the Kordofanian branch of Niger–Congo that was posited by Joseph Greenberg ; Talodi has also been called Talodi–Masakin, and Heiban has also been called Koalib or Koalib–Moro. Roger Blench notes that the Talodi and Heiban families have the noun-class systems characteristic of the Atlantic–Congo core of Niger–Congo, but that the Katla languages have no trace of ever having had such a system, whereas the Kadu languages and some of the Rashad languages appear to have acquired noun classes as part of a Sprachbund, rather than having inherited them. He concludes that the Kordofanian languages do not form a genealogical group, but that Talodi–Heiban is core Niger–Congo, whereas Katla and Rashad form a peripheral branch along the lines of Mande. The Kadu languages may be Nilo-Saharan.
- † = extinct
Norton & Alaki (2015)
Norton & Alaki classify the Talodi languages as follows. Proto-Talodi, Proto-Lumun-Torona, and Proto-Narrow Talodi have also been reconstructed by Norton & Alaki.Relationship
Lexical correspondences between Proto-Heiban and Proto-Talodi according to Blench :| Gloss | Proto-Heiban | Proto-Talodi |
| belly | *k-aaRi / ɲ- | *C-arәk / kә- |
| dry | *Ø-undu / k- | *Øandu / t~k |
| ear | *k-ɛɛni / ɲ- | *k-ɛnu / Ø- |
| fire | *iiga | *t̪-ɪk / ḷ- |
| give | *N-d̪ɛ-d̪í | *N-d̪í |
| guts | *t̪-y / n̪-u | *t-uk / n- |
| hear | *g-aani / n- | *g-eenu / w- |
| hole | *li-buŋul / ŋu- | *t-ʊbʊ / n- |
| horn | *l-uuba / ŋ- | *t~C-uubʊk / n~m- |
| left side | *t̪-agur | *Ø-ʊgʊlɛ / C- |
| name | *C-iriɲ | *k-әḷәŋaŋ / N~Ø- |
| pull | *uud̪i | *aadu |
| red | *k-ʊʊrɪ | *ɔɔɽɛ |
| rope | *d̪-aar / ŋw- | *t̪-ɔḷәk / ḷ- |
| small | *-itti | *ɔt̪t̪ɛ |
| star | *l-ʊrʊm / ŋ- | *C-ɔd̪ɔt̪ / m |
| stone | *k-adɔl / y- | *p-әd̪ɔk / m |
| tongue | *d̪-iŋgәla / r- | *t̪-ʊlәŋɛ / ḷ- |
| tooth | *l-iŋgat / y- | *C-әɲi / k- |
| wing | *k-ibɔ / ʧ- | *k-ʊbɪ / Ø- |
Noun class prefix comparison between Proto-Heiban and Proto-Talodi according to Blench :
| Noun class | Proto-Heiban | Proto-Talodi |
| Persons | *kʷ,gʷ-/l- | *p,b-/Ø- |
| Trees and plants | *k,g/y- | *p-/k- |
| Round things, vital body parts | *li-/ŋʷ- | *ʧ-/m- |
| Symmetrical body parts | *l-/j- | *ʧ-/k- |
| Long thin objects, bushy objects | *ð-/r- | *t/n |
| Small objects, animals | *ŋ-, t-/ɲ- | *ŋ-/ɲ- |
| Liquids | *ŋ- | *ŋ- |
| Uncountables, | *k- | *t- |