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Murle

A language of Sudan

ISO 639-3: mur

Population	60,000 in Sudan (1982 SIL). Population total all countries: 60,200.
Region	South, Upper Nile Province, Pibor District, south of Akobo River, Boma Plateau, and east and north. Also in Ethiopia.
Language map	Sudan
Alternate names	Adkibba, Agiba, Ajibba, Beir, Merule, Mourle, Murelei, Murule
Dialects	Ethnic subgroups: Lotilla, Boma, Olam (Ngalam). Maacir may be a dialect or ethnic group.
Classification	Nilo-Saharan, Eastern Sudanic, Eastern, Surmic, South, Southwest, Didinga-Murle, Murle
Language use	All domains. All ages.
Language development	Dictionary. Grammar. NT: 1996.
Writing system	Latin script.
Comments	VSO; postpositions; genitives and relatives follow noun heads; suffixes indicate case; question words final; verbal affixes (prefixes and suffixes) distinguish subject person and number.

Also spoken in:

Ethiopia

Language name	Murle
Population	200 in Ethiopia (1975 Tournay).
Region	South of Akobo River. Olam is southwest and on Sudan border.
Language map	Southwestern Ethiopia, reference number 57
Alternate names	Ajibba, Beir, Merule, Mourle, Murele, Murule
Dialects	Olam (Ngalam, Bangalam).
Language use	Also use Nyangatom [nnj].
Comments	Much intermarriage with the Nyangatom. Olam is between Murle and Majang [mpe] culturally and linguistically (Bender 1983). Pastoralists; agriculturalists. Traditional religion.

Entries from the SIL Bibliography about this language:

Academic Publications

ARENSEN, Jonathan E., author. 1982. Murle grammar.

ARENSEN, Jonathan E., author. 1983. Sticks and Straw: Comparative House Forms in Southern Sudan and Northern Kenya.  

ARENSEN, Jonathan E., author. 1989. "On comparing language relationships: a case study of Murle, Kacipo, and Tirma."

ARENSEN, Jonathan E., author. 1991. Aspects of language and society among the Murle of Sudan.

ARENSEN, Jonathan E., author. 1992. Mice are men: Language and society among the Murle of Sudan.

ARENSEN, Jonathan E., author. 1998. "Murle categorization."

ARENSEN, Jonathan E., author. 1999. Literacy without schools: the Murle of Sudan.

ARENSEN, Jonathan E.; DE JONG, Nicolaas; RANDAL, Scott; UNSETH, Peter, authors. 1997. "Interrogatives in Surmic languages and Greenberg’s universals."

DE JONG, Nicolaas; LOKONOBEI, Lino Locek, authors. 1989. "On the position of Boya in relation to Murle and Didinga."

MILLER, Cynthia L., author. 1984. "Connectives in Murle epistolary texts."

UNSETH, Peter, author. 1987. "A typological anomaly in some Surma languages."

UNSETH, Peter, author. 1994. Review of: Mice are men: Language and society among the Murle of Sudan, by Jonathan E. Arensen.

UNSETH, Peter, author. 2007. "Murle language."

WATSON, Richard L.; WISE, Mary Ruth, editors. 1984. Occasional Papers in the Study of Sudanese Languages No. 5.  

WATSON, Richard L.; WISE, Mary Ruth, editors. 1989. Occasional papers in the study of Sudanese languages no. 6.

Vernacular Publications

Waragɛ ci miliny Murlɛ. 1980.

Waragɛ ci miliny. 1995.

Waragɛ codoi Murlɛ. 1980.

Wɛrɛgɛ o Loro. 1993.

Zoozok o kelego ki kibaali. 1994.