Nobiin overview

Free Nobiin starter kit — 25 phrases you can print

A one-page Nobiin cheat sheet for absolute beginners. Every phrase shows the Nobiin spelling, what it means, and a respelling with the stressed syllable in capitals so you can say it out loud today. Northern Sudan along the Nile, and southern Egypt around Aswan and Kom Ombo — roughly 500,000 to 1 million.

First words

Greet someone and be polite

  • SallamHello/sah-LAHM/
  • ShukranThank you/shook-RAHN/
  • AwaYes/AH-wah/
  • ImmenNo/EEM-men/
  • MiskinGood/MEES-keen/
  • EssiWater/ES-see/
  • EiHouse/EY-ee/
  • KhalilFriend/kha-LEEL/

Free starter kit

Get all 25 Nobiin phrases

Enter your email and the full printable Nobiin starter kit opens right here — every phrase, meaning and pronunciation respelling. We'll also send one short daily phrase so it actually sticks. Unsubscribe from any email.

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Is Nobiin hard to learn?

  • It is a Nile-Nubian language, not Bantu and not Semitic, so its vocabulary looks unrelated to Arabic or Swahili despite the neighbours.
  • Old Nubian was written in a Greek-derived alphabet with extra letters borrowed from Coptic and Meroitic — surviving manuscripts date from around the 8th century.
  • Vowel length changes meaning, so a short and a long vowel can be two different words.
  • Word order puts the verb last, and grammar is marked by endings added to nouns and verbs rather than by prepositions.

Want the whole reference instead? Read the full Nobiin phrasebook or grab a starter kit in another language.