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2.1 Ingalkoyyu Tasawaq-speakers
Tasawaq is spoken by the Ingalkoyyu [Lords of Ingal] sg. Ingalumboro [person of Ingal]. This was the name they gave when we asked what they call their people group. We also heard them
refer to themselves informally as “Bingali” meaning the people of Ingal. Ingelsi Ingelshi “language of Ingal” is another term for the language, used in literature, and some use the term
Issawaghan for the people. When we asked about the term “Issawaghan”, they said this term came from Tamajaq. However, Issawaghan is also apparently the name of their most populous
clan. As far as we know, this is the only Tasawaq-speaking community in the world. From official figures and their own estimate, we set the number of Tasawaq speakers at about 8,000.
The Ingalkoyyu cultivate date palms and vegetable gardens along the wadi where the town of Ingal is situated. They also exploit the salty springs of Teguidda n-Tessoumt, about 80 km to the
north, where they evaporate salt which is used mainly by herders to keep their livestock healthy. Money from the sale of this salt is used to buy millet and other necessities. Finely woven and
colorfully decorated mats of palm leaves are another source of cash income.
The Ingalkoyyu also play host to the nomads of the region Tuareg, Arabs, Fulani, and Igdalen for the annual Cure Salée in early September, when herds are driven to the area around Ingal to
profit from the salty water and grass found there.
2.2 Igdalen and Iberogan Tagdal-speakers
The Igdalen and the Iberogan have for many purposes been treated as one group, and their speech forms are closely related. Nicolaï uses “tihishit” as a common designator for these two
speech forms 1981b:306; however, this term is ambiguous. “Tihishit” is a term of Tamajaq origin meaning “the language of the blacks”. The Igdalen and Iberogan used it to refer to all
Northern Songhay speech forms. The Tuareg near the Niger River expand the term to include all Southern Songhay dialects as well. We observed that the Iberogan sometimes refer to their
language as “Tagdal”, which indicates that they think of Tabarog and Tagdal as the same language; thus, we have chosen to use “Tagdal” as a cover term for both speech forms. We will
use “Tabarog” to designate the speech of the Iberogan in particular, and let context indicate when “Tagdal” refers to the speech of the Igdalen particularly.
The relationship between the Igdalen and the Iberogan on a daily basis is not clear to us from our short visit. It is often said that the Iberogan were formerly the slaves of the Igdalen; however, the
apparent existence of a noble class of Iberogan makes this seem unlikely. There does seem to be a tendency for the Igdalen to want to speak for the Iberogan as well, without this necessarily
being accepted by them.
Both the Igdalen and the Iberogan reported that there were individuals and villages of their ethnic groups living north and west of Tchin-Tabaradene who no longer spoke Tagdal. On Map
1, we have shown the approximate areas where the Northern Songhay varieties are spoken today.
2.2.1 Igdalen Tagdal-speakers Tagdal is spoken by the Igdalen, a fair-skinned people, as well as by the descendants of their
former slaves. Their territory centers around the three important sites with an Agdal sg. of
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Igdalen as chief, Tamaya, Mazababu and Tiguirwit, and extends to the north of Ingal. A total of 1,500 households perhaps 6,000 individuals was reported for the area around Tamaya.
Tripling this number for a total, we estimate that there are 10–20,000 Igdalen. As far as we know this includes the black population of descendants of their former slaves. We mention the
distinction here only because it seems important to the people themselves.
The Igdalen used to be primarily herders living a nomadic lifestyle, but some have abandoned the nomadic lifestyle in exchange for small-scale commerce and gardening around water holes as
alternative sources of income. Those with substantial herds still drive them to the salty springs in the area of Ingal for the Cure Salée . The Igdalen also help to fill the role of Koranic experts in
the greater Tuareg society. They are conservative Muslims.
The Igdalen use the Arabic script or the Tamajaq script, Shifinagh, for writing those languages - or Tagdal A French primary school was established four years ago in Tamaya, and some Igdalen
children are attending.
According to a man from the Tabaho family of Idaksahak in Mali who had contact with an Igdalen family on the border of Niger, the Igdalen have a common ancestor with the Idaksahak.
The Igdalen themselves wouldn’t tell us about their history; however, although they would never intermarry with the Tuareg, they do consider the Idaksahak marriageable. Even this is very rare
though because, according to the Tabaho man, the Idaksahak women would never accept the isolated life expected of them among the Igdalen.
2.2.2 Iberogan Tabarog-speakers Tabarog is spoken by the Iberogan, a group of black origin, possibly also with associated
descendants of former slaves. This group seems to be economically inter-dependent with the Igdalen, but only marry within their own group. In the past they also were mainly herders, living
a nomadic life, but now they have become sedentary and live from subsistence farming.
The homeland of the Iberogan is mainly in the area southeast of Abalak where rainfall normally is sufficient to support extended fields. They are spread over an area organized around nine
villages, each with its chief, where they are the majority 90, and sporadically elsewhere, usually where farming is possible. We estimate their population at 7000.
Livestock still form an important part of their economy, for milk and cash income. The Iberogan are also the sole producers of a particular kind of sleeping mat, made of thin, straw-like sticks
woven together with thin strips of leather. These mats usually form the sleeping surface on the portable wooden beds used by many nomadic peoples in the area Tuareg, Igdalen, Fulani and
others.
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3 Methodology
3.1 Choice of test sites
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