Nuer-English dictionary
English-Nuer dictionary
Nuer vocabulary
Books in Nuer
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Children's books in Nuer


Nuer alphabets

The Nuer alphabet has 37 letters, or ba̱ni̱. Two main different alphabet sort orders have been used in literacy work. One based on the sort order of Latin based scripts (the Latin order). The other order is roughly based on the place of articulation of the consonant sounds of Nuer (the Nuer order). Four of the letters are digraphs, which means they are composed of two symbols: dh, nh, ny and th. Vowels are distinguished by diacritics which mark differences in the sound the represent. Find out more...

Latin order

Aa
A̱a̱
Ää
Bb
Cc
Dd
Dhdh
Ee
E̱e̱
Ëë
Ɛɛ
Ɛ̈ɛ̈
Ɛ̠̈ɛ̱̈
Gg
Ɣɣ
Ii
I̱i̱
Jj
Kk
Ll
Mm
Nn
Nhnh
Nyny
Ŋŋ
Oo
O̱o̱
Öö
Ɔɔ
Ɔ̱ɔ̱
Pp
Rr
Tt
Thth
Uu
Ww
Yy

Nuer order

Aa
Ee
Ii
öö
Uu
Ww
Yy
Bb
Pp
Mm
Nn
Nhnh
Ŋŋ
Nyny
Rr
Dd
Dhdh
Tt
Thth
Ll
Kk
Gg
Ɣɣ
Cc
Jj
Ɛɛ
ää
Ɔɔ
Oo

Rëëp ba̱ni̱/Other letters

A̱a̱
E̱e̱
I̱i̱
Ɔ̱ɔ̱
O̱o̱
Ëë
Ɛ̈ɛ̈
Ɛ̱̈ɛ̱̈

Suggest a new word

Can you think of a Nuer word that we should include in the dictionary? Did you search for a word but couldn't find it? We would love to hear your suggestions about what to include. Use the keyboard beneath the suggestion box to type and Nuer letters that aren't on your keyboard.


Nuer Grammar

Nuer grammar is very different from the grammar of languages like English. Understanding the rules of the language helps us to make sense of why Nuer words have so many forms. Find out more...

Who speaks Nuer?

Nuer is spoken by approximately 900,000 to two million people in South Sudan and Ethiopia, as well as in diaspora communities throughout the world. The language has lots of different dialects that can be grouped together by region. Find out more...

About

The Nuer Lexicon site has been developed as part of a project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council to carry out research into the wordforms of the Nuer language. The project team consists of Matthew Baerman, Oliver Bond, Irina Monich, Tatiana Reid and Bert Remijsen, supported by Nuer speakers in South Sudan, Kenya, UK and USA. Find out more...