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Did "Nubians" really speak a Nilo-Saharan language?
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by alTakruri: [QB] We can rightfully attribute our English word "Nubian" to Roman introduction, but what is the actual Latin word the Romans wrote down? Does that word really derive, as it seems, from the R3n Mdw word "nub(t)" or is "Nobatii" derived from a word presumably in the vocabulary of the post 300 CE Noba inheritors of the Meroitic Keshli? What is the actual Greek word for Noba in Ezana's inscription or the even earlier word in Meroitic texts that identified these relatively new "infiltrators" of Kesht territories? Since 200 BCE these Noba moved progressively down river taking possession of former Kesht lands, intermingly their seed with, and linguistically dominating the Keshli clear to the 1st cataract and beyond. Hence Nubia, denoting the Noba hegemony. These Noba are noted as coming from west of the Nile in its Bayuda regions. So could they not have originated from Nuba Hills, Kordofan, the current area of the braceletted wrestlers, or have moved there as well as moving to and then down the Nile? ??? . . [QUOTE]Originally posted by rasol: [qb] Anything involving the word Nubian is immediately up for mis-understanding and will prove challenging to discuss on a forum without simply generating more confusion. But - lets try anyway. :rolleyes: . . . . Where does the word Nubian come from? The origin of the word is from the mdw ntr. It is Kemetic - Nub means gold. Gold mines were found in this region and it is for this that the region is named. . . . . Where does the concept of Nubians come from? Just as the ancient Greeks coined the term "Egypt, and Ethiopian" from bastardised mdw ntr, so did the Romans coin the term Nubians for the people who lived south of "Egypt". Who then are the "post Roman era" Nubians? Nubians are defined in modern scholarship as people who speak [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nubian_language][b]Nubian languages[/b][/URL] - these languages are a sub-group of Nilo Saharan - the same way as Cushtitic languages are a sub-group of Afrisan, and Latin is a sub-group of [indo]-European language family. All Nilo-saharan languages are not necessarily Nubian. Similarly, all people of Nubia do not necessarily speak Nilo Saharan languages. The Medijay or Beja of ancient KM.t are often referred to in Eurocentric texts as "nubians", but their language is Afrisan and closely related to mdw ntr - and not so related to Nilo Saharan. Moreover politically the Medijay were often allied with Km.t and in conflict with Kush. So we see that the political history of the ancient Nile Valley does *not* support the notion of a unitary ethnic or political construct called Nubia, and which can be distinguised from Km.t. . . . . There are two further subtle ironies that must be kept in mind. 1) According to modern linguists the Afrisan language family [including mdw ntr, semitic, cushitic, tamazite/berber, etc..] may have itself originated in Eastern Sudan - just SOUTH of Nubia. 2) Meanwhile - it is unclear that the modern Nubian languages actually originated - precisely in Nubia, and it is not even agreed upon that the languages called Nubian form a proper sub-group within Nilo saharan: [i]These languages were the languages of the Christian Nubian kingdoms. Historical comparative research has shown that the Nile-Nubian languages do not form a genetic unit; the speakers of Nobiin arrived first in the area, followed later by the speakers of the Kenzi and Dongolawi varieties.[/i] [/qb][/QUOTE] [/QB][/QUOTE]
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