Otoro language

Otoro
Ḏuṯuɽu
Native toSudan
RegionNuba Hills
EthnicityOtoro Nuba
Native speakers
17,000 (2023)[1]
Dialects
  • Dorobe
  • Dogoridi
  • Dugujur
  • Dukwara
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3otr
Glottologotor1240
ELPOtoro
Otoro is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

The Otoro language is a Heiban language which belongs to the Kordofanian Languages and therefore it is a part of the Niger-Congo language family.[2] In a smaller view the Otoro is a segment of the "central branch“[3] from the so-called Koalib-Moro Group of the languages which are spoken in the Nuba Mountains. The Otoro language is spoken within the geographical regions encompassing Kuartal, Zayd and Kauda in Sudan.[3] The precise number of Otoro speakers is unknown, though current evaluates suggest it to be exceeding 17,000 people.[1]

Every illustration provided in this article will be depicted in community orthography, using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). However, some similar sounds are not further distinguished and represented as one. Therefore, the sounds ˈɪˈ, ˈiˈ and ˈɪ̈ˈ will be collectively denoted as ˈiˈ, ˈaˈ and ˈɑˈ as ˈaˈ, ˈɔːˈ and ˈɔˈ as ˈɔˈ, ˈoˈ and ˈo̜ˈ as ˈoˈ and ˈuˈ and ˈʊˈ as ˈuˈ.[4]

  1. ^ a b Otoro at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
  2. ^ Eberhard, David M., Gary F. Simons, Charles D. Fennig. "Ethnologue". Ethnologue: Languages of the Wold. Retrieved 23 November 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ a b Stevenson, Roland C. (2009). Tira and Otoro. Cologne: Köppe. p. 117. ISBN 9783896451736.
  4. ^ Stevenson, Roland C. (2009). Tira and Otoro. Cologne: Köppe. p. 143. ISBN 9783896451736.