Nubi

Sudanese Arabic-based creole language

Languagelanguage creole natural languageQ36388

Also known as Ki-Nubi · Nubi Arabic

Speakers: 42,000(2002)
Subclass of: Arabic-based pidgin and creole languages
, Sudanic Arabic
Script: Arabic alphabet
Indigenous to: Luwero District
, Kumi District
, Arua District
+2 more

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

The Nubi language is a Sudanese Arabic-based creole language spoken in Uganda around Bombo, and in Kenya around Kibera, by the Ugandan Nubians, many of whom are descendants of Emin Pasha's Sudanese soldiers who were settled there by the British colonial administration. It was spoken by about 15,000 people in Uganda in 1991, and an estimated 10,000 in Kenya; another source estimates about 50,000 speakers as of 2001. 90% of the lexicon derives from Arabic, but the grammar has been simplified, as has the sound system. Nairobi has the greatest concentration of Nubi speakers. Nubi has the prefixing, suffixing and compounding processes also present in Arabic.

Overview

All data

33 statements · 30% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Replaces: Bimbashi Arabic
Country: Uganda
1
Sources
1.“ScriptSource - Uganda”scriptsource.org/country/UGRetrieved 2023-08-21
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Kenya
1
Sources
1.“ScriptSource - Kenya”scriptsource.org/country/KERetrieved 2023-08-21
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Different from: Nubi
Nubi Gewog
Ethnologue language status: 6b Threatened
1
Sources
1.Stated in Ethnologueethnologue.com/language/kcnRetrieved 2019-05-10
View statement on Wikidata ↗

On other databases

10 identifiers linking Nubi across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

30%

externally sourced

Source last edited October 8, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

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AIDB. (2026). Nubi (Q36388). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/nubi-Q36388