View source for Old Nubian

{{Short description|Extinct Nubian language of northern Sudan and southern Egypt}}
{{not confuse|Kushite (Meroitic) language}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Old Nubian
|states=[[Egypt]], [[Sudan]]
|region=Along the banks of the [[Nile]] in [[Lower Nubia|Lower]] and [[Upper Nubia]] (southern Egypt and northern Sudan)
|era=8th–15th century; evolved into [[Nobiin language|Nobiin]].
|familycolor=Nilo-Saharan
|fam2=[[Eastern Sudanic languages|Eastern Sudanic]]
|fam3=[[Northern Eastern Sudanic languages|Northern Eastern]]
|fam4=[[Nubian languages|Nubian]]
|script=[[Nubian alphabet|Nubian]]
|iso3=onw
|glotto=oldn1245
|glottorefname=Old Nubian
|linglist=onw
|image=Parchment_page_of_a_book,_Liber_Institionis_Michaelis_Archangeli,_written_in_Old_Nubian._9th-10_century_CE._From_Qasr_Ibrahim,_Egypt._British_Museum._EA_71305.jpg
|imagecaption=A page from an Old Nubian translation of the ''[[Investiture of the Archangel Michael]]'', from the 9th–10th century, found at [[Qasr Ibrim]], now at the [[British Museum]]. [[Michael (archangel)|Michael]]'s name appears in red with a characteristic [[Epenthesis|epenthetic]] {{script|Copt|-ⲓ}}.
}}
{{SpecialChars}}
'''Old Nubian''' (also called '''Middle Nubian''' or '''Old Nobiin''') is an extinct [[Nubian languages|Nubian]] language, attested in writing from the 8th to the 15th century AD. It is ancestral to modern-day [[Nobiin language|Nobiin]] and closely related to [[Dongolawi language|Dongolawi]] and [[Kenzi language|Kenzi]]. It was used throughout the kingdom of [[Makuria]], including the [[eparchy]] of [[Nobatia]]. The language is preserved in more than a hundred pages of documents and [[Epigraphy|inscriptions]], both of a religious nature (homilies, prayers, hagiographies, psalms, lectionaries), and related to the state and private life (legal documents, letters), written using adaptation of the [[Coptic alphabet]].

==History==
[[File:Nubian-tree3.png|thumb|Eastern branch of the Northern East Sudanic (NES) language family, indicating the position of Old Nubian and its geneaological and areal relations with other NES languages]]
[[File:Parchment page of the Bible, part of the New Testament (Corinthians and Hebrews) in written in Old Nubian. 9th-10 century CE. From Qasr Ibrahim, Egypt. British Museum.jpg|thumb|Parchment page of the Bible, part of the New Testament (Corinthians and Hebrews) in written in Old Nubian. 9th–10th century CE. From Qasr Ibrahim, Egypt. British Museum.]]

Old Nubian, according to historical linguists, was the spoken language of the oldest inhabitants of the Nile valley. Adams, Berhens, Griffith and Bechhause-Gerst agree that Nile Nubian has its origins in the Nile valley.<ref>Nubia: Corridor to Africa</ref>

Old Nubian is one of the oldest written [[languages of Africa|African languages]] and appears to have been adopted from the 10th–11th century as the main language for the civil and religious administration of Makuria. Besides Old Nubian, [[Koine Greek]] was widely used, especially in religious contexts, while [[Coptic language|Coptic]] mainly predominates in funerary inscriptions.{{sfn|Ochała|2014|pp=44–45}} Over time, more and more Old Nubian began to appear in both secular and religious documents ([[Bible translations into Nubian|including the Bible]]), while several grammatical aspects of Greek, including the case, agreement, gender, and tense morphology underwent significant erosion.{{sfn|Burstein|2006}} The consecration documents found with the remains of archbishop [[Timothy of Faras|Timotheos]] suggest, however, that Greek and Coptic continued to be used into the late 14th century, by which time Arabic was also in widespread use.

==Writing system==
The script in which nearly all Old Nubian texts have been written is a slanted [[uncial script|uncial variant]] of the [[Coptic alphabet]], originating from the [[White Monastery]] in [[Sohag]].{{sfn|Boud'hors|1997}} The alphabet included three additional letters {{script|Copt|ⳡ}} {{IPA|/ɲ/ }}and {{script|Copt|ⳣ}} {{IPA|/w/}}, and {{script|Copt|ⳟ}} {{IPA|/ŋ/}}, the first two deriving from the [[Meroitic alphabet]]. The presence of these characters suggest that although the first written evidence of Old Nubian dates to the 8th century, the script must have already been developed in the 6th century, following the collapse of the Meroitic state.{{sfn|Rilly|2008|p=198}} Additionally, Old Nubian used the variant {{script|Copt|ⳝ}} for the Coptic letter {{script|Copt|ϭ}}.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ⲁ|top=a|ipa=/{{IPAplink|a}}, {{IPAplink|aː}}/}}
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ⲃ|top=b|ipa=/{{IPAplink|b}}/}}
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ⲅ|top=g|ipa=/{{IPAplink|ɡ}}/}}
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ⲇ|top=d|ipa=/{{IPAplink|d}}/}}
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ⲉ|top=e|ipa=/{{IPAplink|e, eː}}/}}
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ⲍ|top=z|ipa=/{{IPAplink|z}}/}}
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ⲏ|top=ē|ipa=/{{IPAplink|i, iː}}/}}
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ⲑ|top=th|ipa=/{{IPAplink|t}}/}}
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ⲓ|top=i|ipa=/{{IPAplink|i}}/}}
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ⲕ|top=k|ipa=/{{IPAplink|k}}/, /{{IPAplink|ɡ}}/}}
|-
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ⲗ|top=l|ipa=/{{IPAplink|l}}/}}
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ⲙ|top=m|ipa=/{{IPAplink|m}}/}}
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ⲛ|top=n|ipa=/{{IPAplink|n}}/}}
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch1=ⲝ|ch2=ϩ|top=x|ipa=/ks/}}
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ⲟ|top=o|ipa=/{{IPAplink|o}}, {{IPAplink|oː}}/}}
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ⲡ|top=p|ipa=/{{IPAplink|p}}/}}
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ⲣ|top=r|ipa=/{{IPAplink|ɾ}}/}}
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ⲥ|top=s|ipa=/{{IPAplink|s}}/}}
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ⲧ|top=t|ipa=/{{IPAplink|t}}/}}

|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ⲩ|top=u|ipa=/{{IPAplink|i}}, {{IPAplink|u}}/}}
|-
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ⲫ|top=ph|ipa=/{{IPAplink|f}}/}}
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ⲭ|top=kh|ipa=/{{IPAplink|x}}/}}
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ⲯ|top=ps|ipa=/ps/}}
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ⲱ|top=ō|ipa=/{{IPAplink|o, oː}}/}}
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ϣ|top=š|ipa=/{{IPAplink|ʃ}}/}}
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ϩ|top=h|ipa=/{{IPAplink|h}}/}}
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ⳝ|top=j|ipa=/{{IPAplink|ɟ}}/}}
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ⳟ|top=ŋ|ipa=/{{IPAplink|ŋ}}/}}
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ⳡ|top=ñ|ipa=/{{IPAplink|ɲ}}/}}
|{{letter|s=Copt|ch=ⳣ|top=w|ipa=/{{IPAplink|w}}/}}
|}

The characters {{script|Copt|ⲍ, ⲝ/ϩ ⲭ, ⲯ}} only appear in Greek loanwords. [[Gemination]] was indicated by writing double consonants; long vowels were usually not distinguished from short ones. Old Nubian featured two [[Digraph (orthography)|digraphs]]: {{script|Copt|ⲟⲩ}} {{IPA|/u,&nbsp;uː/}} and {{script|Copt|ⲉⲓ}} {{IPA|/i,&nbsp;iː/}}. A [[diaeresis (diacritic)|diaeresis]] over {{script|Copt|ⲓ}} ({{script|Copt|ⲓ̈}}) was used to indicate the [[semivowel]] {{IPA|/j/}}. In addition, Old Nubian featured a supralinear stroke, which could indicate:
* a [[vowel]] that formed the beginning of a syllable or was preceded by {{script|Copt|ⲗ, ⲛ, ⲣ, ⳝ}};
* an /i/ preceding a [[consonant]].

Modern Nobiin is a tonal language; if Old Nubian was tonal as well, the tones were not marked.

Punctuation marks included a high dot •, sometimes substituted by a double backslash \\ ({{script|Copt|⳹}}), which was used roughly like an English [[full stop|period]] or [[colon (punctuation)|colon]]; a slash / ({{script|Copt|⳺}}), which was used like a [[question mark]]; and a double slash // ({{script|Copt|⳼}}), which was sometimes used to separate verses.

In 2021, the first modern Nubian [[typeface]] based on the style of text written in old Nubian manuscripts called Sawarda was released designed by Hatim-Arbaab Eujayl for a series of educational books teaching Nobiin.<ref>{{Cite web|date=20 July 2021|title=Reading Nubian: Books for a new generation discovering their language|url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/discover/nubian-sudan-egypt-books-discovering-language-new-generation|access-date=24 September 2021|website=Middle East Eye|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Sawarda Nubian |url=https://unionfornubianstudies.org/projects/sawarda/ |website=Union for Nubian Studies |access-date=24 September 2021}}</ref>

==Grammar==
===Nouns===
Old Nubian has no [[Grammatical gender|gender]]. The [[noun]] consists of a stem to which [[suffix|derivational suffix]]es may be added.  [[Plural]] markers, [[grammatical case|case]] markers, [[postposition]]s, and the [[determiner]] are added on the entire [[noun phrase]], which may also comprise [[adjective]]s, [[Possession (linguistics)|possessors]], and [[relative clause]]s.

====Determination====
Old Nubian has one definite determiner {{script|Copt|-(ⲓ)ⲗ}}.{{sfn|Zyhlarz|1928|p=34}} The precise function of this [[morpheme]] has been a matter of controversy, with some scholars proposing it as [[nominative]] case or subjective marker. Both the distribution of the morpheme and comparative evidence from Meroitic, however, point to a use as determiner.{{sfn|Van Gerven Oei|2011|pp=256–262}}{{sfn|Rilly|2010|p=385}}

====Case====
Old Nubian has a [[nominative–accusative language|nominative-accusative]] case system with four structural cases determining the core arguments in the sentence,{{sfn|Van Gerven Oei|2014|pp=170–174}}{{failed verification|date=January 2021}}<!--The text doesn't say the genitive and dative are structural.--> as well as a number of lexical cases for [[adverbial phrase]]s.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! rowspan=4 | Structural<br>Cases
| [[Nominative]]
| –
|-
| [[Accusative]]
| {{script|Copt|-ⲕ(ⲁ)}}
|-
| [[Genitive]] 
| {{script|Copt|-ⲛ(ⲁ)}}
|-
| [[Dative]] 
| {{script|Copt|-ⲗⲁ}}
|-
! rowspan=5 | Lexical<br>Cases
| [[Locative]]
| {{script|Copt|-ⲗⲟ}}
|-
| [[Allative]]
| {{script|Copt|-ⲅⲗ̄(ⲗⲉ)}}
|-
| [[Superessive]]
| {{script|Copt|-ⲇⲟ}}
|-
| [[Subessive]]
| {{script|Copt|-ⲇⲟⲛ}}
|-
| [[Comitative]]
| {{script|Copt|-ⲇⲁⲗ}}
|}

====Number====
The most common plural marker is {{script|Copt|-ⲅⲟⲩ}}, which always precedes case marking. There are a few irregular plurals, such as:
: {{script|Copt|ⲉⲓⲧ}}, pl. {{script|Copt|ⲉⲓ}} "man"
: {{script|Copt|ⲧⲟⲧ}}, pl. {{script|Copt|ⲧⲟⲩⳡ}} "child"

Furthermore, there are traces of separate animate plural forms in  {{script|Copt|-ⲣⲓ}}, which are textually limited to a few roots, e.g.
: {{script|Copt|ⲭⲣⲓⲥⲧⲓⲁ̄ⲛⲟⲥ-ⲣⲓ-ⲅⲟⲩ}} "Christians"
: {{script|Copt|ⲙⲟⲩⲅ-ⲣⲓ-ⲅⲟⲩ}} "dogs"

===Pronouns===
Old Nubian has several sets of [[pronoun]]s and subject [[clitic]]s{{sfn|Van Gerven Oei|2018}} are the following, of which the following are the main ones:
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! Person
! Independent Pronoun
! Subject Clitic
|-
! I
| {{script|Copt|ⲁⲓ̈}}
| {{script|Copt|-ⲓ}}
|-
! you (sg.)
| {{script|Copt|ⲉⲓⲣ}}
| {{script|Copt|-ⲛ}}
|-
! he/she/it
| {{script|Copt|ⲧⲁⲣ}}
| {{script|Copt|-ⲛ}}
|-
! we (including you)
| {{script|Copt|ⲉⲣ}}
| {{script|Copt|-ⲟⲩ}}
|-
! we (excluding you)
| {{script|Copt|ⲟⲩ}}
| {{script|Copt|-ⲟⲩ}}
|-
! you (pl.)
| {{script|Copt|ⲟⲩⲣ}}
| {{script|Copt|-ⲟⲩ}}
|-
! they
| {{script|Copt|ⲧⲉⲣ}}
| {{script|Copt|-ⲁⲛ}}
|}

There are two [[demonstrative|demonstrative pronouns]]:
: {{script|Copt|ⲉⲓⲛ}}, pl. {{script|Copt|ⲉⲓⲛ-ⲛ̄-ⲅⲟⲩ}} "this"
: {{script|Copt|ⲙⲁⲛ}}, pl. {{script|Copt|ⲙⲁⲛ-ⲛ̄-ⲅⲟⲩ}} "that"

[[Interrogative word]]s include {{script|Copt|ⳟⲁⲉⲓ}} "who?"; {{script|Copt|ⲙⲛ̄}} "what?"; and a series of question words based on the root {{script|Copt|ⲥ̄}}.

===Verbs===
The Old Nubian verbal system is by far the most complex part of its grammar, allowing for [[valency (linguistics)|valency]], [[grammatical tense|tense]], [[grammatical mood|mood]], [[Grammatical aspect|aspect]], [[grammatical person|person]] and [[pluractionality]] to be expressed on it through a variety of suffixes.

The main distinction between nominal and verbal predicates in a main clause versus a subordinate clause is indicated by the presence of the predicate marker {{script|Copt|-ⲁ}}.{{sfn|Van Gerven Oei|2015}} The major categories, listing from the root of the verb to the right, are as follows:

====Valency====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! Transitive
| {{script|Copt|-ⲁⲣ}}
|-
! Causative
| {{script|Copt|-ⲅⲁⲣ}}
|-
! Inchoative
| {{script|Copt|-ⲁⳟ}}
|-
! Passive
| {{script|Copt|-ⲧⲁⲕ}}
|-
|}

====Pluractionality====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! Pluractional
| {{script|Copt|-ⳝ}}
|-
|}

====Aspect====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! Perfective
| {{script|Copt|-ⲉ}}
|-
|-
! Habitual
| {{script|Copt|-ⲕ}}
|-
|-
! Intentional
| {{script|Copt|-ⲁⲇ}}
|-
|}

====Tense====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! Present
| {{script|Copt|-ⲗ}}
|-
|-
! Past 1
| {{script|Copt|-ⲟⲗ}}
|-
|-
! Past 2
| {{script|Copt|-ⲥ}}
|-
|}

====Person====
This can be indicated by a series of subject clitics, which are obligatory only in certain grammatical contexts.<ref>Van Gerven Oei (2018)</ref> They are generally absent when an overt subject is present in the clause, unless the subject has the topic marker -ⲉⲓⲟⲛ.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!
!independent form
!agglutinated/merged with a following predicate marker -ⲁ
|-
!1st person singular
| -ⲓ 
| -ⲉ 
|-
!2nd or 3rd person singular
| -ⲛ /(i)n/
| -ⲛⲁ
|-
!1st or 2nd person plural
| -ⲟⲩ 
| -ⲟ
|-
!3rd person plural
| -ⲁⲛ 
| -ⲁⲛⲁ
|}

==Sample text==
{{fs interlinear|indent=2|abbreviations=PST1:past tense 1; PST2:past tense 2
|ⲕⲧ̅ⲕⲁ ⲅⲉⲗⲅⲉⲗⲟ̅ⲥⲟⲩⲁⲛⲛⲟⲛ ⲓ̈ⲏ̅ⲥⲟⲩⲥⲓ ⲙⲁⳡⲁⲛ ⲧⲣⲓⲕⲁ· ⲇⲟⲗⲗⲉ ⲡⲟⲗⲅⲁⲣⲁ [ⲡⲉⲥⲥⲛⲁ·] ⲡⲁⲡⲟ ⲥ̅ⲕⲉⲗⲙ̅ⲙⲉ ⲉⲕ̅[ⲕⲁ]
|kit-ka gelgel-os-ou-an-non iēsousi mañan tri-ka dolle polgar-a pes-s-n-a pap-o iskel-im-m-e eik-ka
|stone-ACC roll-PFV-PST1-3PL-TOP Jesus eye.DU both-ACC high raise.CAUS-PRED speak-PST2-2/3/SG-PRED father-VOC thank-AFF-PRS-1SG.PRED you-ACC
|"And when they rolled away the rock, Jesus raised his eyes high and said: Father, I thank you."
}}

==References==
{{reflist|20em}}

{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book
 |last=Boud'hors |first=Anne
 |date=1997
 |lang=fr
 |chapter=L'onciale penchée en copte et sa survie jusqu'au XVe siècle en Haute-Égypte
 |pages=118-133
 |title=Scribes et manuscrits du Moyen-Orient
 |editor1-last=Déroche |editor1-first=François |editor-link=François Déroche
 |editor2-last=Richard |editor2-first=Francis
 |publisher=Bibliothèque nationale de France
 |location=Paris
}}
* {{cite speech
 |last=Burstein |first=Stanley
 |date=2006
 |title=When Greek was an African Language
 |event=Third Annual Snowden Lecture
 |location=Harvard University
 |url=http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:BursteinS.When_Greek_was_an_African_Language.2006
 |access-date=June 19, 2018
}}
* {{cite book
 |last=Van Gerven Oei |first=Vincent W.J.
 |date=2011
 |chapter=The Old Nubian Memorial for King George
 |pages=225-262
 |title=Nubian Voices: Studies in Nubian Culture
 |editor1-last=Łajtar |editor1-first=Adam
 |editor2-last=Van der Vliet |editor2-first=Jacques
 |series=The Journal of Juristic Papyrology Supplements XV
 |publisher=Raphael Taubenschlag Foundation
 |location=Warsaw
}}
* {{cite journal
 |last=Van Gerven Oei |first=Vincent W.J.
 |date=2014
 |title=Remarks toward a Revised Grammar of Old Nubian
 |pages=165-184
 |journal=Dotawo: A Journal of Nubian Studies
 |volume=1
 |doi= 10.5070/d61110015 |doi-access=free
 |url=http://digitalcommons.fairfield.edu/djns/vol1/iss1/8/
 |access-date=June 19, 2018
}} 
* {{cite book
 |last=Van Gerven Oei |first=Vincent W.J.
 |date=2015
 |chapter=A Note on the Old Nubian Morpheme ''-a'' in Nominal and Verbal Predicates
 |pages=313-334
 |title=Nubian Voices II: New Texts and Studies on Christian Nubian Culture
 |editor1-last=Łajtar |editor1-first=Adam
 |editor2-last=Ochała |editor2-first=Grzegorz
 |editor3-last=Van der Vliet |editor3-first=Jacques
 |series=The Journal of Juristic Papyrology Supplements XXVII
 |publisher=Raphael Taubenschlag Foundation
 |location=Warsaw
 |isbn=978-83-938425-7-5
 |doi=10.17613/M64T11
 |url=https://hcommons.org/deposits/objects/hc:13212/datastreams/CONTENT/content
}}
* {{cite journal
 |last=Van Gerven Oei |first=Vincent W.J.
 |date=2018
 |title=Subject Clitics: New Evidence from Old Nubian
 |journal=Glossa
 |volume=3
 |number=1
 |doi=10.5334/gjgl.503 |doi-access=free
}} 
* {{cite journal
 |last=Ochała |first=Grzegorz
 |date=2014
 |title=Multilingualism in Christian Nubia: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches
 |pages=1-50
 |journal=Dotawo: A Journal of Nubian Studies
 |volume=1
 |doi=10.5070/d61110007 |doi-access=free
 |url=http://digitalcommons.fairfield.edu/djns/vol1/iss1/1/
 |access-date=June 19, 2018
}} 
* {{cite book
 |last=Rilly |first=Claude
 |date=2008
 |chapter=The Last Traces of Meroitic? A Tentative Scenario for the Disappearance of the Meroitic Script
 |pages=183-205
 |title=The Disappearance of Writing Systems: Perspectives on Literacy and Communication
 |editor1-last=Baines |editor1-first=John
 |editor2-last=Bennet |editor2-first=John
 |editor3-last=Houston |editor3-first=Stephen
 |publisher=Equinox Publishing
 |location=London
 |isbn=9781845530136
 |url=https://archive.org/details/disappearancewri00bain
 |url-access=limited
}}
* {{cite book
 |last=Rilly |first=Claude
 |date=2010
 |lang=fr
 |title=Le méroïtique et sa famille linguistique
 |trans-title=Meroitic and its linguistic family
 |series=Afrique et Langage
 |volume=14
 |location=Leuven
 |publisher=Peeters
 |isbn=9789042922372
}}
* {{cite book
 |last=Zyhlarz |first=Ernst
 |date=1928
 |lang=de
 |title=Grundzüge der nubischen Grammatik im christlichen Frühmittelalter (Altnubisch): Grammatik, Texte, Kommentar und Glossar
 |publisher=Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft
 |location=Leipzig
}}
{{Refend}}

==Other sources==
* Browne, Gerald M., (1982) ''Griffith's Old Nubian Lectionary.'' Rome / Barcelona.
* Browne, Gerald M., (1988) ''Old Nubian Texts from Qasr Ibrim I'' (with [[Jack Plumley|J. M. Plumley]]), London, UK.
* Browne, Gerald M., (1989) ''Old Nubian Texts from Qasr Ibrim II''. London, UK.
* Browne, Gerald M., (1996) ''Old Nubian dictionary''. Corpus scriptorum Christianorum orientalium, vol. 562. Leuven: Peeters. {{ISBN|90-6831-787-3}}.
* Browne, Gerald M., (1997) ''Old Nubian dictionary – appendices''. Leuven: Peeters. {{ISBN|90-6831-925-6}}.
* Browne, Gerald M., (2002) ''A grammar of Old Nubian''.  Munich: LINCOM. {{ISBN|3-89586-893-0}}.
* Griffith, F. Ll., (1913) ''The Nubian Texts of the Christian Period''. ADAW 8. https://archive.org/details/nubiantextsofchr00grif
* Satzinger, Helmut, (1990) ''Relativsatz und Thematisierung im Altnubischen.'' Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 80, 185–205.

==External links==
* Extended details on all the letters of the Old Nubian alphabet, especially the additional ones, can be found in [http://dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n2744.pdf this Unicode proposal] by [[Michael Everson]] and [[Stephen Emmel]].
* {{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20090105185615/http://ancientsudan.org/writing_03_old_nubian_&_arabic.htm The Basic Languages of Christian Nubia: Greek, Coptic, Old Nubian, and Arabic. ''Ancient Sudan website''.]}}
* [http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/response.cgi?root=new100&morpho=0&basename=new100\esu\nub&limit=-1 Old Nubian basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database]

{{portal|Linguistics|Languages}}

{{Authority control}}{{Eastern Sudanic languages}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Old Nubian language}}
[[Category:Nubian languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Sudan|Nubian language, old]]
[[Category:Medieval languages|Nubian language, old]]
[[Category:Writing systems of Africa]]
[[Category:History of Nubia]]
[[Category:Extinct languages of Africa]]