Tarok language
| Tarok | |
|---|---|
| Yergam | |
| Native to | Nigeria |
| Region | Plateau State, Taraba State |
| Ethnicity | Tarok |
Native speakers | (300,000 cited 1998)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | yer |
| Glottolog | taro1263 |
Tarok is a regionally important Plateau language in the Langtang area of southeast Plateau State, Nigeria, where it serves as a local lingua franca. Blench (2004) estimates around 150,000 speakers.[2]
Names for other languages
[edit]As the local lingua franca, the Tarok feature prominently in the local ethnic composition of southeast Plateau State. Many Tarok clans can also trace their ancestries back to Chadic-speaking peoples, pointing to a long history of Chadic peoples assimilating into Tarok society. Some Tarok names for neighbouring languages according to Longtau (2004):[3]
| Language | Classification | Tarok name |
|---|---|---|
| Ngas | West Chadic A.3 | Dúk |
| Boghom | West Chadic B.3 | Burom |
| Duguri | Jarawan | Duguri |
| Goemai | West Chadic A.3 | Lar |
| Jukun-Wase | Jukunoid | Jor |
| Kanam | West Chadic B.3 ? | (not known by Tarok) |
| Kantana | Jarawan | Kantana |
| Tel | West Chadic A.3 | Dwal |
| Pe | Tarokoid | Pe |
| Tal | West Chadic A.3 | Tal |
| Sur | Tarokoid | (not known by Tarok) |
| Yangkam | Tarokoid | Yangkam |
| Yiwom | West Chadic A.3 | Zhan |
| Zaar | West Chadic B.3 | Zhim |
Writing system
[edit]| a | a̲ | b | ɓ | c | d | ɗ | e | ǝ | f | gb |
| gh | i | j | k | kp | l | m | n | ny | ŋ | o |
| p | r | s | sh | t | u | v | w | y | z | zh |
References
[edit]- ^ Tarok at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Blench, Roger. 2004. Tarok and related languages of east-central Nigeria.
- ^ Longtau, Selbut (25–26 March 2004). Some Historical Inferences from Lexical Borrowings and Traditions of Origins in the Tarokoid/Chadic Interface. International Symposium on Endangered Languages in Contact: Nigeria’s Plateau Languages. Hamburg: Asien-Afrika-Institut, Universität Hamburg.
