Maba (buraa mabaŋ / بُرَا مَبَݝ‎)

Maba is a member of the Maban branch of the Nilo-Saharan language family. It is spoken by about 570,000 people in the southeast of Chad, and also in Sudan, where it is known as Sulaihab. In Chad, it is spoken mainly in the Djourf-al-Amhar and Ouara departments of Ouaddaï (Wadai / منطقة وداي) Province, and in Bilitine Department of Wadi Fira Province.

Other names for Maba include Mabaa, Maban, Mabang, Ouaddai, Wadai or Bura Mabang. Maba speakers call their language buraa mabaŋ / بُرَا مَبَݝ‎ and they are known as Maba, Bargo, Burgu, Bergo or Wadai. Dialects include Maba, Kodroy, Kabartu and Kondongo. It is closely related to Masalit, which is spoken in Ouaddaï Province in Chad, and in West Darfur in Sudan.

There are ways to write Maba with the Latin and Arabic scripts.

Latin script for Maba

Latin script for Maba

Arabic script for Maba

Arabic script for Maba

Download alphabet charts for Maba (Excel)

Sample text (Latin script)

N̰anna, ne i ooddi ban Mullinye, dala ne i tooccaa Mulliti te lwan̰gon ya lwan̰gon uanne eke oŋiti. Dala ne i wondi owwa bieŋiti aŋka ya buaga luayi n̰on ya acaan ya balka geel moki bee.

Sample text (Arabic script)

ݧَنَّ، نٚ إِ أٛودِّ بَنْ مُلِّنْيٚ، دَلَ نٚ إِ تٛوچَّا مُلِّتِ تٚ لْوَ ݧْقٛنْ يَ لْوَ ݧْقٛنْ أُؤَنّٚ أٚكّٚ أٛݝِتِ. دَلَ نٚ إِ وٛڊِ أٛوَّ بِئٚݝِتِ أّݝْكَ يَ بُؤَقَ لُؤَيِ ݧٛنْ يَ أّچَانْ يَ بَلْكَ قٚيلْ مٛكِ بٚي.

Translation

Nyanna, when you go to Mulle's village, ask Mulle for my oil gourd the gourd that she borrowed the other day. When she gives it to you bring it in your hand so that I can pour out some of my oil because I don't have any left.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maba_language#Sample_Text

Sample videos in Maba

Links

Information about the Maba language
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maba_language
https://www.sil.org/resources/search/language/mde
https://www.101lasttribes.com/tribes/maba.html
https://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Nilo-Saharan/Maban/Maban languages.pdf

Languages written with the Arabic script

Adamaua Fulfulde, Afrikaans, Arabic (Algerian), Arabic (Bedawi), Arabic (Chadian), Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Gulf), Arabic (Hassaniya), Arabic (Hejazi), Arabic (Lebanese), Arabic (Libyan), Arabic (Modern Standard), Arabic (Moroccan), Arabic (Najdi), Arabic (Sudanese), Arabic (Syrian), Arabic (Tunisian), Arwi, Äynu, Azeri, Balanta-Ganja, Balti, Baluchi, Beja, Belarusian, Bosnian, Brahui, Chagatai, Chechen, Chittagonian, Comorian, Crimean Tatar, Dargwa, Dari, Dhatki, Dogri, Domari, Gawar Bati, Gawri, Gilaki, Hausa, Hazaragi, Hindko, Indus Kohistani, Kabyle, Kalkoti, Karakalpak, Kashmiri, Kazakh, Khowar, Khorasani Turkic, Khwarezmian, Konkani, Kumzari, Kurdish, Kyrgyz, Lezgi, Lop, Luri, Maba, Maguindanao, Malay, Malay (Terengganu), Mandinka, Marwari, Mazandarani, Mogholi, Morisco, Mozarabic, Munji, Noakhailla, Nubi, Ormuri, Palula, Parkari Koli, Pashto, Persian/Farsi, Punjabi, Qashqai, Rajasthani, Rohingya, Salar, Saraiki, Sawi, Serer, Shabaki, Shina, Shughni, Sindhi, Somali, Soninke, Tatar, Tausūg, Tawallammat Tamajaq, Tayart Tamajeq, Ternate, Torwali, Turkish, Urdu, Uyghur, Uzbek, Wakhi, Wanetsi, Wolof, Xiao'erjing, Yidgha

Languages written with the Latin alphabet

Page created: 01.05.25. Last modified: 01.05.25

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