Tupuri language
Language of Chad and Cameroon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tupuri (or Toupouri) is a language mostly spoken in the Mayo-Kebbi Est Region of southern Chad and in small parts of northern Cameroon. It is an Mbum language spoken by the Tupuri people with approximately 300,000 speakers.
| Tupuri | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Chad, Cameroon |
| Ethnicity | Tupuri people |
Native speakers | 320,000 (2005–2019)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | tui |
| Glottolog | tupu1244 |
Tupuri was erroneously classified as a Chadic language by Joseph Greenberg, due to a vocabulary list that is actually that of Kera (cf. K. Ebert 1974).[2]
Distribution
Tupuri is predominantly spoken in the southeastern part of the Moulvouday plain, in:[2]
- Kaélé, Porhi, Taibong villages in Moulvouday commune
- Guidigis commune, in Mayo-Kani department
- Kar-Hay, Kalfou, Datcheka, Tchatibali communes in Mayo-Danay department
The Viri or Wina are ethnically Tupuri, but today they speak a Massa dialect.[2]
Tupuri is also spoken in Chad. In Cameroon, it has about 125,000 speakers (SIL 2000).[2]
