The Mararit language is a
Taman language of the
Eastern Sudanic branch spoken in eastern
Chad
Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...
and western
Sudan
Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
. 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.
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):
[Rilly, Claude. 2010. ''Le méroïtique et sa famille linguistique''. Leuven: Peeters Publishers. ]
* ''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
External links
Mararit (Ibiri) basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database
Taman languages
Languages of Chad
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