Mararit language

Mararit
Ebiri
Native to	Chad, Sudan
Region	Wadi Fira, Ouaddai
Ethnicity	Mararit
Native speakers	93,000 (2023) [1]
Language family	Nilo-Saharan? Eastern Sudanic Northern Eastern Taman Mararit
Dialects	Ibiri Abu Charib
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mgb
Glottolog	mara1396
Linguasphere	05-PEA-aa

The Mararit language is a Taman language of the Eastern Sudanic branch spoken in eastern Chad and western Sudan. There are two dialects, Ibiri and Abou Charib, which Blench (2006) counts as distinct languages. The majority speak the Abou Charib dialect. Mararit is reportedly not mutually intelligible with Tama and Sungor despite being part of the same Taman language group.^{[ citation needed ]}

Mararit people live in Argid Mararit, Abid Mararit, Wadah area, Donkey Kuma, Sani Kiro, in North Darfur State; in Silala area in South Darfur State and in Gienena province in West Darfur State. The Talgai, Mirakawi, Wilkawi, and Tirgawi are tribes of the Mararit people.

Dialects

There are three dialects according to Rilly (2010:175): ^[2]

• Mararit proper (autonyms: Ibiri, Abiri, Abiyi, Ebiri), spoken in Am Dam District, Chad. A minority is scattered in Sudan. Neighboring languages are Tama, spoken to the north, and Sungor, spoken to the south.
• Abu Sharib, spoken near Biltine, to the west of Mararit proper. It is intelligible with Mararit proper.
• Darnut, reported by Edgar (1991)

References

1. Mararit at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
2. Rilly, Claude. 2010. Le méroïtique et sa famille linguistique. Leuven: Peeters Publishers. ISBN   978-9042922372

External links

• Mararit (Ibiri) basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database