Nara

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A language of Eritrea

ISO 639-3
nrb
Alternate Names
“Barea” , “Baria” , “Barya”
Population

81,400 (2006).

Location

West, Barentu area and north, Kunama territory south.

Language Maps
Language Status

6a (Vigorous).

Classification
Nilo-Saharan, Eastern Sudanic, Eastern, Nara
Dialects

Higir, Koyta, Mogareb, Santora. Little intelligibility of Kunama [kun].

Typology

SOV; case suffixes; passive verbs; reciprocal verbs

Language Use

Home, community. All ages. Positive attitudes. Use Tigré [tig] for intercommunication, or Arabic [arb]. The Koyta use also Kunama [kun].

Language Development
Literacy rate in L1: Female: 21%. Most literate Nara use Arabic [arb]. Taught in some primary schools. Poetry. Radio programs. Videos.
Writing
Latin script, used since 1988.
Other Comments

Considerable dialect variation within 4 main groups: Higir, Mogareb, Koyta, and Santora. Muslim.