The possible link between Meroitic and Nara: Achievement and Perspectives

The aim of this paper is to describe the state of affairs on the studies of the Nara language, one of the modern languages of the North Eastern Sudanic branch (NES), and what support it might offer in the study of Meroitic. The second part of the title of the paper derives from an observation of Claude Rilly , the main specialist of Meroitic, who highlighted the importance of the Nara language for the comprehension of Meroitic. Although the linguistic affiliation has been ascertained, Meroitic and Nara are two chronologically distant languages. Therefore, the reconstruction of the linguistic history of Nara could improve comparisons with other NES languages and Meroitic. Unfortunately, as shown in this paper, few scholars are engaged in the study of Nara, and progress is very slow. Obviously, the comparison between Meroitic and proto-forms of Nara still appears to be a long way off. However, interdisciplinary studies aimed at the reconstruction of the proto-NES language, which also include the study of Nara, could produce interesting results supporting the study of Meroitic.