Tarok
Yergam
Native toNigeria
RegionPlateau State, Taraba State
EthnicityTarok
Native speakers
(300,000 cited 1998)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3yer
Glottologtaro1263

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

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]

LanguageClassificationTarok name
NgasWest Chadic A.3Dúk
BoghomWest Chadic B.3Burom
DuguriJarawanDuguri
GoemaiWest Chadic A.3Lar
Jukun-WaseJukunoidJor
KanamWest Chadic B.3 ?(not known by Tarok)
KantanaJarawanKantana
TelWest Chadic A.3Dwal
PeTarokoidPe
TalWest Chadic A.3Tal
SurTarokoid(not known by Tarok)
YangkamTarokoidYangkam
YiwomWest Chadic A.3Zhan
ZaarWest Chadic B.3Zhim

Writing system

Tarok alphabet
abɓc dɗeǝf gb
ghijkkp lmnnyŋ o
prssht uvwyz zh

References

  1. Tarok at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Blench, Roger. 2004. Tarok and related languages of east-central Nigeria.
  3. 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.
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