Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 8, 2026

Tso language

Tso is one of the Savanna languages of eastern Nigeria.

Last revised
Jun 8, 2026
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≈ 1 min
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113 w
Citations
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Source
Wikipedia ↗
Tso
nyi tsó
Native toeastern Nigeria
Native speakers
(16,000 cited 1992)1
Language codes
ISO 639-3ldp
Glottologtsoo1241
Tsó
Peopletsó-bó
Languagenyi tsó

Tso (Tsóbó, Lotsu, Cibbo) is one of the Savanna languages of eastern Nigeria.

Dialects

The language is known as nyi tsó, while the people are known as Tsobo [tsó-bó]. The ethnic subgroups are,2

  • Bərbou
  • Swaabou
  • Gusobu

A subsection of the Gusobu may also live in Luzoo settlement.

Each ethnic subgroup speaks a different Tso dialect. The Swaabou and Gusobu reportedly have trouble understanding each other. Tso lexical diversity is partly due to the tradition of word tabooing.2

References

References

  1. Tso at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Kleinewillinghöfer, Ulrich. 2014. The languages of the Tula – Waja Group. Adamawa Languages Project.