Taraba is one of the most linguistically diverse states in Nigeria — Ethnologue lists over 80 languages.
Major languages#
- Hausa — universal lingua franca.
- Fulfulde — Muri Emirate and pastoralists.Climate-Conflict Escalator
- Jukun (Wapan) — Wukari, Ibi.
- Mumuye — Jalingo, Zing.
- Chamba (Samba Leeko) — Donga, Bali.
- Mambila — Gembu plateau.
- Tiv — south Taraba.
Minor and endangered languages#
- Kuteb, Tigon, Jenjo, Ndoro, Kpan, Ichen, Bandawa, Kona — small Adamawa-branch languages, many UNESCO-endangered.
Lingua francas#
Hausa across the state; Fulfulde in pastoralist circles; English in schools.
Notable literary and political moments#
- The Mambila plateau has the highest density of distinct Bantoid languages in West Africa — possibly the Bantu 'homeland' from which the great Bantu expansion (3000 BCE) began.
- The Kuteb of Takum produced one of the few non-Western theological seminaries to develop a complete vernacular liturgy (1970s).
Sources & further reading#
- Ethnologue: Languages of Nigeria (SIL).
- Roger Blench, *An Atlas of Nigerian Languages* (3rd ed., 2019).
- Ayo Bamgbose, *Language and the Nation* (1991).
- UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.