Dinka
/ˈdɪŋ.kə/noun
A member of a major Nilotic ethnic group of South Sudan, or the language spoken by that group.
Did you know?Many Dinka people refer to themselves as Jieng or Muonyjang, while “Dinka” is an external name whose original source is not securely established.
Etymological Timeline
Before European documentation
Dinka
Jieng; Muonyjang
“Self-designations used by Dinka communities, commonly interpreted in relation to the people or community, though translations vary by dialect and context.”
19th Century
Sudanese Arabic
Dinka
“An Arabic form used for the Dinka people; the deeper origin of this ethnonym remains uncertain.”
19th Century
English
Dinka
“An English ethnonym adopted through travel, missionary, colonial, and scholarly writing about the peoples of the Upper Nile.”
20th Century
English
Dinka
“A standard name for the ethnic group and for its cluster of closely related Nilotic varieties.”
Modern English
English
Dinka
“A member of the Dinka people or the Dinka language of South Sudan.”