Language Variation & Change workshop

The Workshop on Language Variation & Change will be having its final meeting of the quarter Today from 3:30 to 5:00 PM in Cobb 202 to hear Dr. Claude Rilly present a talk titled “Meroitic Phonology, Syntax, and Linguistic Family” (abstract below) about the classification of the extinct eastern African language of Meroitic. 

Meroitic Phonology, Syntax, and Linguistic Family

Meroitic was the main language of the kingdom of Meroe, in ancient Sudan (known as Kush). It is known from two thousand inscriptions on stone, ostraca and papyrus found during a century of archaeological excavations. These texts date from the 3rd century BCE to the 5th century CE, making it the oldest written language in Africa south of the Sahara.

Meroitic was written with two scripts, cursive and hieroglyphic, both deciphered by F. Ll. Griffith in 1911thanks to their proximity to the Egyptian script. However, if the texts can be "read" sign to sign, many of them still resist translation because the language is poorly known and has disappeared without descendants. Other ancient languages are in the same situation, such as Etruscan and Gaulish. 

After a century of scientific controversy, I have shown that Meroitic belonged to a branch of the Nilo-Saharan phylum that I have named Northern East Sudanic (NES). In addition to Meroitic, the NES family includes the Nubian (Sudan/Egypt), Nara (Eritrea), Taman (Darfur/Chad) and Nyima (Sudan) language groups. 

Its phonology can be reconstructed from transcriptions of Egyptian or Greek words in Meroitic or, conversely, from transcription of Meroitic words in these languages. Orthographic variations and the coherence of the resulting system have also played a significant role in this reconstruction. 

The syntax of nominal groups and non-verbal phrases is now well known, while the verbal morphology is still in its infancy, although comparison with NES languages is a great help in understanding it.