Murle
[aka Murelei, Merule, Mourle]Classification: Surmic
·vulnerable
Language metadata
Language information by source
Compare Sources (5)
Information from: “Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)” . M. Paul Lewis · SIL International
Information from: “Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)” . M. Paul Lewis · SIL International
Information from: “Omo-Murle: A Preliminary Report” (73-91) . Hieda, Osamu (1991)
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Critically endangered
20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
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9 (Omo-Murle dialect only)
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"All of [the Omo-Murle people] except for four old men and five old women speak the Nyangatom language as their first language. The Omo-Murle language will soon be absolutely extinct after the oldest generation dies out."
- OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY
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Nyangatom
- PLACES
- Ethiopia;
- LOCATION DESCRIPTION
"Scattered in the villages (Aepa, Kachule, Nachukul) along the western bank of the Omo River about 80km upstream from the Lake Turkana in the extreme southwestern corner of Ethiopia."
Information from: “The World Atlas of Language Structures” . Bernard Comrie and David Gil and Martin Haspelmath and Matthew S. Dryer · Oxford University Press
Information from: “A survey on language death in Africa” (402) . Sommer, Gabriele (1992) , Brenzinger, Matthias · Mouton de Gruyter
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Dormant
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"Practically extinct" (Omo-Murle dialect only)
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A few women are rememberers.
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This source refers only to the Omo-Murle dialect of Murle.
- PLACES
- Ethiopia
- LOCATION DESCRIPTION
"Ethiopia, southwestern part, in the vicinity of the Nyangatom who live along the Kibish River."
Information from: “Murle Categorization” (181-218) . Arensen, Jonathan E. (1998) , Dimmendaal, Gerrit J. and Last, Marco · Köppe Verlag
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Vulnerable
20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
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<35,000
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"Population figures for the lowland Murle vary. Before the present civil strife they were estimated to be 30,000, but this figure may now be inaccurate because of the war... [the Boma Hills Murle population is] smaller, numbering about 5,000 people."
- PLACES
- South Sudan, Ethiopia
- LOCATION DESCRIPTION
"At the present time the Murle are based in two locations. Their primary area is the land bordering the Pibor, Lotilla, and Veveno Rivers... The secondary location of the Murle is the Boma Hills, located 90 miles to the southeast of Pibor."