Nobiin, or Mahas, is a Northern Nubian language of the Nilo-Saharan phylum. ‘Nobiin’ is the genitive form of Nòòbíí ‘Nubian" and literally means ‘(language) of the Nubians". Another term used is Noban tamen, meaning ‘the Nubian language’.At least 2,500 years ago, the first Nubian speakers migrated into the Nile Valley from the southwest. Old Nubian is thought to be ancestral to Nobiin, the latter of which is a tonal language with contrastive vowel and consonant length.