Tasawaq language

Tasawaq
Tásàwàq
Native toNiger
RegionAgadez
EthnicityIsawaghan/Ingalkoyyu
Native speakers
21,000 (2021)
Dialects
  • Ingelshi
  • Emghedeshie
Language codes
ISO 639-3twq
Glottologtasa1240
ELPTasawaq
Location of Songhay languages

Northwest Songhay:

  Tasawaq
  Tagdal

Eastern Songhay:

  Dendi
Sawaq
PersonAsawagh / Ingalkoy
PeopleIsawaghan / Ingalkoyyu
LanguageTasawaq / Ingelshi

Tasawaq (Tuareg name: Tesăwăq), sometimes also called Ingelshi, is a Northern Songhay language spoken by the Issawaghan or Ingalkoyyu, a community surrounding the town of In-Gall in Niger. A closely related variety called Emghedeshie was spoken in Agadez but is now extinct.

It shares some similarities with Berber languages, e.g. Tamasheq. For example in both languages, the grammatical gender of a noun is female if it begins and ends with the letter t.