Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 29, 2026

Dair language

Dair is a moribund Hill Nubian language spoken in the northern Nuba Mountains in the south of Sudan. It was spoken by around 1,000 people in 1978 in the Jibaal as-Sitta hills, between Dilling and Delami.

Last revised
Jul 29, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
109 w
Citations
3
Source
Dair
Thaminyi
Native toSudan
RegionNuba Mountains
Native speakers
(1,000 cited 1978)1
Language codes
ISO 639-3drb
Glottologdair1239
ELPDair
Dair is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.

Dair (also Dabab, Daier, Thaminyi) is a moribund Hill Nubian language spoken in the northern Nuba Mountains in the south of Sudan. It was spoken by around 1,000 people in 1978 in the Jibaal as-Sitta hills, between Dilling and Delami.1

According to a wordlist by German explorer Werner Munzinger, in his 1864 book Ostafrikanische Studien (East African Studies), the Dair language was called Kuliniri by the local people at that time.2

References

References

  1. Dair at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. [1] Nubasprache (Nuba Language)