Tarok language

Tarok
Yergam
Native to	Nigeria
Region	Plateau State, Taraba State
Ethnicity	Tarok
Native speakers	(300,000 cited 1998)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Plateau Tarokoid Tarok–Pai Tarok
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

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

Tarok alphabet

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

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.