NUBI: a language of Uganda

The following is the entry for this language as it appeared in the 14th edition (2000).
It was superseded by the corresponding entry in the 15th edition (2005). See also the corresponding entry in the current edition of Ethnologue.

SIL code: KCN

ISO 639-2: crp

Population	14,739 in Uganda (1991 census). Population total both countries 25,000.
Region	Bombo, 30 miles north of Kampala, Arua, and elsewhere in Uganda. Also spoken in Kenya.
Alternate names	KINUBI, KI-NUBI
Classification	Creole, Arabic based.
Comments	Descendants of Emin Pasha's troops. Formerly a soldier language, which split off from Sudanese Pidgin Arabic about 1900.There are conflicting reports of intelligibility with Sudanese Creole Arabic. 90% of the lexicon is from Arabic. Traders. Muslim.

Also spoken in:

Kenya

Language name	NUBI
Population	10,000 in Kenya, including 3,000 to 6,000 in Kibera.
Alternate names	KI-NUBI, KINUBI
Comments	Formerly a soldier language, which split off from Sudanese Pidgin Arabic about 1900. There are conflicting reports of intelligibility with Sudanese Creole Arabic. 90% of the lexicon comes from Arabic. Speakers use Swahili for out-group communication and Nubi for in-group communication, with a stable bilingualism. 30% can also use English. Non-Nubi wives of Nubi men are expected to learn Nubi. Investigation needed: intelligibility with Sudanese Creole Arabic. Grammar. Literacy rate in first language: Below 1%. Literacy rate in second language: Below 5%. Muslim. See main entry under Uganda.