Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 18, 2026

Sar language

Sar or Sara, also known as Madjingay and Sara Madjingay is a Bongo–Bagirmi language of southern Chad, and the lingua franca of regional capital of Sarh.

Last revised
Jun 18, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
235 w
Citations
5
Source
Sar
Madjingay
Native toChad
Native speakers
(180,000 cited 1993 census)1
Dialects
  • Sar
  • Nar
Language codes
ISO 639-3mwm
Glottologsarr1246

Sar or Sara, also known as Madjingay and Sara Madjingay is a Bongo–Bagirmi language of southern Chad, and the lingua franca of regional capital of Sarh.

Phonology

The consonants are as follows.2

Labial Alveolar Retroflex Postalveolar
/Palatal
Velar
Plosive/
Affricate
tenuis p t k
voiced b d d͡ʒ ɡ
prenasalized m͡b n͡d n͡dʒ ŋ͡ɡ
implosive ɓ ɗ
Fricative s
Nasal m n
Liquid oral l ɽ
nasalized ɽ̃
Semi-vowel oral j w
nasalized

Vowels and nasal vowels are as follows:

Front Central Back
Close i ĩ ɨ u ũ
Mid e (ə) o õ
ɔ
Open a ã

/o, e/ can also be heard as [ə].3

There are three tones.45

Tone Example Gloss
high ɡáŋɡá drum
mid māl scavenger
low jàbə̀ hippopotamus
nasal sauce
References

References

  1. Sar at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. (in French) Fournier, Maurice, Les consonnes du sar, dans Études phonologiques tchadiennes (Jean-Pierre Caprile, éd.), pp. 37-44, Paris, SELAF, 1977, ISBN 2-85297-019-8
  3. Keegan, John M. (2014). Lexique Sar. The Eastern Sara Languages: Cuenca: Morkeg Books.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  4. (in French) Moundo Ndimajibay, Nei-Balway, Les limites des modifications en sar, dans Études phonologiques tchadiennes (Jean-Pierre Caprile, éd.), pp. 45-58, Paris, SELAF, 1977, ISBN 2-85297-019-8
  5. "PanAfriL10n - PanAfrLoc - Sara". PanAfrican Localisation Resource Wiki. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
External links