Everything below is what a beginner actually needs first: greetings, polite words, numbers, family, food, time and getting around. Each entry shows the Nobiin spelling, the English meaning, and a respelling with the stressed syllable in capitals so you can say it out loud without guessing.
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.
Where is Nobiin spoken?
Northern Sudan along the Nile, and southern Egypt around Aswan and Kom Ombo — roughly 500,000 to 1 million. Writing system: Latin and Arabic scripts today; historically its own Old Nubian alphabet.
Can I learn Nobiin for free?
Yes. This phrasebook is free to read, and SemaSoma gives you the first three units of the course plus 15 translations a day before anything is paid.