The discourse on the quest for the reversal of the “Dinka” to “Jieng” ethnic group in official reference in South Sudan

By William Tim Monybuny, Juba, South Sudan

Abstract:

Tuesday, 07 June 2022 (PW) — The main purpose of this article is to seek public opinion on the importance of reversing the name of “Dinka” to Jieng in an attempt to correct the past mistakes and restore what is known to all within the vast majority of the ethnic group members residing at the countryside. 

 The name has a significant bearing on the identification and functionality of an institution or individual. The indigenous name of the Dinka is Jieng, which refers to the people or human beings literally. The Western Nilotic groups are symbolized by the terminology  “raanian” word which refers to “ raan” in  Dinka, Nuer, and Atout languages (John Durksen Report)

The article provides a brief synopsis of the Dinka history; establishes the justifications as to whether Dinka or Jieng is a unitary ethnic group or a mixture of different linguistic groups within Western Nilotic; outlines the significance of changing the name Dinka to its original name  Jieng in the contemporary time.

1. Synopsis of Dinka(Jieng) History:

At this time, South Sudan is on the verge of ushering in a permanent constitution. The new constitutional dispensation should address historical misinformation and disinformation of the facts imposed by the foreigners on ethnic groups or nations without their consent or assent in the first place. This deviation should be corrected as part of regaining the lost identity as people to complete the cycle of the liberation struggle.

1.1 Account of initial change of Jieng to Dinka.

Before delving into the subject matter, this article provides a synopsis of Dinka history as it is referred to in the conventional records. According to oral and written literature, the term Dinka was created by foreigners, though, some say that it was derived from the word “Deng” the ancestorial father of Jieng: the firstborn of Garang and Abuk according to the Jieng mythology.  Others would say that it was the name of the chief from Padang northern eastern Dinka who was first met by the Arabic traders upon their arrival to the southern region.

According to traditional stories, or narratives of Jieng, the name Dinka was invented by the Arab traders from the word Deng and cow.

Dinkas refer to themselves as Jieng, a word believed to be the anglicized form of the Arabic Denkkwai from Jieng, ( Butt, 1952, Duerksen J 1990 as cited by Kuony, 1994)

Currently, the indigenous people in the countryside called themselves Muonjang or Jieng in the Greater Bahr el Ghazal and Upper Nile regions respectively.

1.2 Historical trajectory and linguistical dichotomy

Antique Dinka goes back to around 3000 B.C.E. in the Sahara desert, where hunter-gatherers settled in the largest swamp area in the world: Southern Sudan. Dinka nation spreads out over the Sudan region in from around 1500 C.E.  (Lienhardt,1961 and Seligman, et al,1932).

The existing literature shows that Jieng “ Dinka” originates from the Gezira in the present-day South Blue Nile under the kingdom of Alodia, a Christian and multi-ethnic empire dominated by the Nubian.

From the linguistical perspective Job, Malou, as cited by Kuony(1994) states that Dinka falls under the four dialects established on basis of their geographical and linguistic boundaries as well as in the church denominations’ zoning across the region. 

The four dialects were recognized to be used in education in both government, mission, and administration. The four dialects each have intra dialect or sub-dialect dialects as discussed hereunder:

Padang Dinka is also known as the northern Dinka is situated in the Nile Upper Nile region extending to the South of Bah el Zeraf (Pigi- Khorfulus and Atar ), Lake No (Ruweng administrative area: Panrieng and Abiemnhom ), Sobat (Baliet, Malakal, Akoka), and Renk( Melut and Renk) and Ngok Da’ Abyei (Abyei Administrative Area)

Padang Dinka is subdivided into two subsections within it namely, the northern eastern Padang dialect namely: Abiliang, Ageer, Dongjol, Ngok-Sobat, Thoi, Rut, and Luca, and the Northern Eastern Padang dialect namely: Ruweng (Alor, Panaru and Paweny) and Ngok Da Abyei.

Although the Padang dialect is more or less the same, some cultural aspects come to play and, in that case, some sections which fall under the Northern Padang dialect such Ngok-Sobat, Thoi, Rut, and Luach are more of Northern Western Padang in terms of certain values and social norms as well as the dialect. The dialect changed from time to time based on social proximity with another dialect. The distinction in the dialect does not, therefore, deny the blood consanguinity among the Padang and other Dinka sections.

Most importantly, the right term for the northern Western Padang should be Ruweng because it brings together the three sections, though Ngok Abyei may be implicitly out of that grouping, however by the virtue of the morals, values, and social norms they are related 90% of Ruweng.

Bor Dinka is also known as Eastern Dinka is situated on the Eastern bank of the Nile from Southeast Ayod to Malek in the South. Bor Dinka is sub-divided into four major sections Bor, Twic, Nyaarweng, and Hol currently found in Bor( South) Twic, and Duk( north).

Agar Dinka also known as Central Dinka situated on the east bank of the Nile extending to Tonj. Agar Dinka dialect is subdivided into sections of Agar, Gok, Ciec, and Aliap currently  Rumbek, Cueibet, Yirol, and Awerial.

Rek Dinka is also known as the Western Dinka and is situated west of Bentiu, Jur River area from Tonj in the South and Bahr el Arab in the north and westward to Aweil. Rek Dinka dialect is subdivided into sections of Rek, Twic, Malual, and Luac currently found in Tonj, Wau, Twic, Aweil, and Gogrial.

It is worth underscoring that there might be a bone of contention in the naming and classification of the subsections. For instance, the Western Twic known as Twic Mayardit does not identify as Rek Dinka. Originally, Western Twic originates from Padang Dinka, however, presently Twic prefers to be called an independent group out of Rek. So same view is for Malual which means Rek is exclusively for sections found in Gogrial, Wau, and Tonj.In the same vein, the Western Twic, Nyarweng and Hol who largely originated and identify with Padang Dinka do not identify as Bor. These conjectures came about as various Anglo-Egyptians and Northern administrations tried to establish some form of classifications of communities that were in constant state of migrations.

In terms of further division of the four dialects of Dinka into sections, the majority of the fifty-six (56) sections of Dinka come from Rek Dinka.

 When the first writers came up with these divisions, no one was contacted but rather based their classification on certain assumptions such as geographical locations. Nevertheless, the question of name is subjected to consensus such as in the case of Bor Dinka, the latest grouping of Dinka constituted of those who came from Padang and Bahr el Ghazal.

For Instance, Twic West and Twic East are believed to be one community at a certain point as the same may apply to the majority of sections of Twic East and Duk who might have migrated or separated from Padang at a certain point. All in all, there are connections among the Dinka sections across the divides as the basis of the lineage is attributed to totems and similarities in naming and certain rules of engagement that define how well the community operates. 

Some scholars in the past held that Dinka is a mixture of different tribes, however, this claim was dismissed by some scholars such as Job Malou who wrote extensively about Dinka history. Some scholars such as Louis Anei Kueidit went further to show the ancestorial linkage of Dinka(Jieng) tracing to Garang and Abuk.

Dinka referred to themselves as Monyjang or Jieng commonly use in Greater Bahr Ghazal and Upper Nile Regions respectively. The Dinka language also called Dinka as well as “thuɔŋjäŋ or “thuongjang” is one of the Nilotic family of languages, belonging to the Chari-Nile branch of the Nilo-Saharan family. Dinka language is written using the Latin alphabet with a few additions. Their name means “people” in the native jargon

Greenberg, J. (1948) states that Nilo-Sahara is one of the four major African language families Viz: Afro-Asiatic, Niger-Kordofanian, Nilo-Zahran, and Khoisan. The Nilotic Languages are divided into Western, Eastern, and Southern Nilotic.

The Western Nilotic groups are symbolized by the terminology  “raanian” word which refers to “ raan” in  Dinka, Nuer and Atout languages.  The word “ Raanian” was modified from Durksen. J Report as cited by Kuony (1994) which means more or less the same in the three languages “Human”. In Dinka, Thuongjang, means people language. Thong means mouth of Jieng. For Nuer, Thok Naath which means mouth of, Naath means people, which means the language of the people as the same applied to Atuot.

So, there are similarities in such languages, however, with insignificant differences which disqualifies them to be clustered as one language as shall be elaborated further when discussing what dialect that constitutes a language entail. 

Therefore, similarities and differences in the dialects are very central in a grouping of languages because language yields dialects that constitute the fundamentals upon which one could tell whether a certain group qualifies to be called an ethnic group or not!

Tucker, A. and Bryan, M. (1956) cluster the definition of dialect in three dimensions to illustrate the making of a tribe. The first cluster of dialects is the one in which a language fundamentally lacks recognized variants such as the case of the Amharic language in Ethiopia. In this case, every aspect of the language in terms of accent and words are indistinguishable across the various section of Amharic people., hence Amharic is a unitary tribe or nation.

 The second cluster of dialects is the one in which a language has linked dialects of less importance such as the case of the Bari language. In this sense, the Bari-speaking tribes have similar language without significance, thus they qualified to call themselves different tribes as in the case of Bari, Kuku, Pajolu, Kakwa, and Mundari.

The third cluster of dialects is the one in which a language has several dialects of which no one appears to dominate the other one. This is where the Dinka Language falls because its four dialects are supportive of each other with insignificant variations, hence Dinka is a unitary tribe or nation, not a mixture of the Western Nilotic family of languages.

Kuony (1994) contends that the Dinka dialects generally have grammatical, lexical, and phonological differences. The average lexical similarity between the dialects is between 84-and 92%. Conversely, with the lack of dominance among the four Dinka dialects, it has been a sensitive issue to choose one dialect for a united written Dinka language(Malou, 1983).

Therefore, the chief characteristic of Dinka included a common language with four unique dialects which are cascaded down from one generation to the next generation. From the philosophical perspective, language is very essential because it is the language that is used to communicate the culture. The culture refers to the community’s world views in terms of its social, political, and economic dimensions of life. The similarities of dialects make it possible to have a common understanding of values such as mutual understanding, unity, and equality between the members and the system of governance in the Dinka nation.

Notwithstanding that over the years,  Jieng has interacted with other communities which end up being integrated into Jieng ethnic groups such as Atout,  Bongo, Jur chol, Jurbel and Jurman anger, Shilluk, Anyuak, Nuer, Maban, and Mundari just to mention a few.

The name carries meaning in the life of an institution such tribe. The power of a name is an undeniable reality as it depicts the philosophy of life for the institution of the individual. The name has a significant bearing on the physical disposition of an institution or individual.

Ginsberg (1985) opines that name serves the primary function of the institution or individual as it personalizes and humanizes its essence and existence. Therefore, our name is the identity that we live up to and endure to preserve for posterity. 

Having said that, why is it then important to change the name at this time in history?

First of all, human beings have got priorities that are sequenced according to the time, hence correcting historical disinformation and misinformation about certain facts in our history should be part of our historical endeavor as people living within time and space. So, the permanent constitution-making process should address these issues in the realization of our identity and historicity.

The reality of our setup shows that our community has two names, what I could refer to as the name known to all, “ Jieng” and the name known to the elites ‘ Dinka”. At the countryside such as deep in Romic in Tonj East, deep in Akot in Ruweng Administrative area, or deep in Mapper in Rumbek north,  just to mention a few, our mothers and fathers have never heard the word “Dinka” as their identity, but rather consciously referred to themselves as Monyjang and Jieng in Greater Bahr el Ghazal and Upper Nile Regions respectively.

Surprisingly, different communities in South Sudan similarly referred to Jieng from its original connotation. For instance, Nuer called us “Jiang”, meaning Jieng, Shilluk or Luo called us “Ujaang”, meaning Jieng, Murle called us “Jongkoth” meaning Jieng, while our brothers and sisters from Equatoria called us “Jeng-gee”, meaning Jieng. Sometimes such references to Jieng may seemingly sound derogative from the face value validity, however, if someone examines without bias, one would sensibly realize that we are being referred correctly.

Presently, all the Dinka formal and informal bodies are named using the name Jieng. For instance, we have Jieng Youth, Jieng council of Elder, Jieng Bible in Padang, Rek, Bor and Agar, and Jieng Union, just to mention a few. If the name of Dinka was a real name why not use it in the naming of such bodies, letting this name, and opting for the Jieng name is evidence that our people do not associate much with this name

Restoration of the lost glory: it is important to point out that liberation is not only about political and economic freedom, but it is also about addressing the social and cultural injustices imposed on our people without their informed consent such as changing names. Therefore, it is high time to put our history records correct in the new constitutional dispensation.

• Key recommendations:
• Quest for reversal of name: It would make a lot of sense at this opportune time to build consensus around the restoration of our original name by unanimously endorsing the changing of Dinka back to Jieng.
• Literature gaps: It is worth noting that this work has literature gaps in certain facts, hence, your endeavor to put forward some arguments for or against this opinion shall be highly welcomed. Thus, notable contributions would be much appreciated and consequently considered for panel-beating the paper to improve the content.
• Critiquing of the facts in the text: the author critiques the classification of Padang Dinka on their dialect and relevant grouping not based on historical lineage but the degree of association. So, the author expects further contribution on the same and across other Dinka groupings to strengthen this paper with relevant suggestions and views.

The author, Tim Monybuny Deng, is a PhD candidate in Education at UNICAF University. He has been working in South Sudan for the Government, International organizations, and UN agencies in the education in various capacities in the areas of strategic planning, policy, monitoring, research, and evaluation since 2006. He can be reached through his email address at monybuny.dengalek@gmail.com.

References:

Greenberg, Joseph H. (1948). The classification of African languages. American Anthropologist.

Kuony Kirr Jok. (1994). Dinka  Dialects on Focus. A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment for the Postgraduate Diploma of Arts in Sudan and African Languages. The University of Khartoum, Institute of African and Asian Studies.

Lienhardt, Godfrey. ( 1961). Divinity and Experience, The Religion of the Dinka. Originally published by Clarendon. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198234058 ISBN 978-0198234050

Seligman, C. G., and Brenda Z. Seligman. (1932). Pagan Tribes of the Nilotic Sudan. (The Ethnology of Africa) first published, London: G. Routledge & Sons, Ltd. ASIN B0006ALZNK and London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd.

Tucker, A. N., and Bryan, M. A. (1956). The Non-Bantu languages of North-Eastern Africa. London: Oxford University Press.

University of Cambridge Language Centre Resources – Dinka (2022)

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