linguistic:translation
Theories on the origin of Kanem

Kanem was located at the southern end of the trans-Saharan trade route between Tripoli and the region of Lake Chad. Besides its urban elite, it also included a confederation of nomadic peoples who spoke languages of the Teda – Daza group, the Toubou people or Berber people

In the 8th century, Wahb ibn Munabbih used Zaghawa to describe the Teda-Tubu group, in the earliest use of the ethnic name. Al-Khwarizmi also mentions the Zaghawa in the 9th century, as did ibn al-Nadim in his Al-Fihrist in the 10th century.

Kanem comes from anem, meaning "south" in the Teda and Kanuri languages, and hence a geographic term. During the first millennium, as the Sahara underwent desiccation, people speaking Kanembu migrated to Kanem in the south. This group contributed to the formation of the Kanuri. Kanuri traditions state the Zaghawa dynasty led a group of nomads called the Magumi.

This desiccation of the Sahara resulted in two settlements, those speaking Teda-Daza northeast of Lake Chad, and those speaking Chadic languages west of the lake in Bornu and Hausaland.