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| Shilha | |
|---|---|
| Tachelhit; Tashelhiyt | |
| Taclḥiyt -ⵜⴰⵛⵍⵃⵉⵢⵜ -تشلحيت | |
| Pronunciation | /ˈtæʃəlhɪt/ |
| Native to | Morocco |
| Region | Souss-Massa,Guelmim-Oued Noun,Drâa-Tafilalet,Marrakesh-Safi,Béni Mellal-Khénifra,Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra andDakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab |
| Ethnicity | Shilha,Berber Jews |
Native speakers | 5.2 million (2024)[1] |
| Dialects | |
| Arabic,Latin,Tifinagh | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | shi |
| Glottolog | tach1250 |
 Tashelhit language area | |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
| Person | Aclḥiy (male) Taclḥiyt (female) |
|---|---|
| People | Iclḥiyn (male) Ticlḥiyin (female) |
| Language | Taclḥiyt |
Tashelhiyt orTachelhit (/ˈtæʃəlhɪt/TASH-əl-hit; from theendonymTaclḥiyt,IPA:[tæʃlħijt]),[a] or also known asShilha (/ˈʃɪlhə/SHIL-hə; from its name inMoroccan Arabic,Šəlḥa) is aBerber language spoken in southernMorocco. When referring to the language, anthropologists and historians prefer the nameShilha, which is in theOxford English Dictionary (OED). Linguists writing in English preferTashelhit (or a variant spelling). In French sources the language is calledtachelhit,chelha orchleuh.
As of the 2024 Moroccan census, Shilha is spoken by 14.2% of the population, or approximately 5.2 million people.[1] The area comprises the western part of theHigh Atlas mountains and the regions to the south up to theDraa River, including theAnti-Atlas and the alluvial basin of theSous River. The largest urban centres in the area are the coastal city ofAgadir (population over 400,000) and the towns ofGuelmim,Taroudant,Oulad Teima,Tiznit andOuarzazate.[2][3][citation needed]
In the north and to the south, Shilha bordersArabic-speaking areas. In the northeast, roughly along the lineDemnate-Zagora, there is adialect continuum withCentral Atlas Tamazight. Within the Shilha-speaking area, there are several Arabic-speaking enclaves, notably the town of Taroudant and its surroundings. Substantial Shilha-speaking migrant communities are found in most of the larger towns and cities of northernMorocco and outside Morocco inBelgium,France,Germany,Canada, theUnited States andIsrael.[3][citation needed]
Shilha possesses a distinct and substantial literary tradition that can be traced back several centuries before theprotectorate era. Many texts, written in Arabic script and dating from the late 16th century to the present, are preserved in manuscripts. A modern printed literature in Shilha has developed since the 1970s.[4]
Shilha speakers usually refer to their language asTaclḥiyt.[5] This name is morphologically a feminine noun, derived from masculineAclḥiy "male speaker of Shilha". Shilha names of other languages are formed in the same way, for exampleAɛṛab "an Arab",Taɛṛabt "the Arabic language".[6]
The origin of the namesAclḥiy andTaclḥiyt has recently become a subject of debate (seeShilha people#Naming for various theories). The presence of the consonantḥ in the name suggests an originallyexonymic (Arabic) origin. The first appearance of the name in a western printed source is found inMármol'sDescripcion general de Affrica (1573), which mentions the "indigenous Africans called Xilohes or Berbers" (los antiguos Affricanos llamados Xilohes o Beréberes).[7]
The initialA- inAclḥiy is a Shilha nominal prefix (see§ Inflected nouns). The ending-iy (borrowed from theArabic suffix-iyy) forms denominal nouns and adjectives. There are also variant formsAclḥay andTaclḥayt, with-ay instead of-iy under the influence of the preceding consonantḥ.[8] The plural ofAclḥiy isIclḥiyn; a single female speaker is aTaclḥiyt (noun homonymous with the name of the language), pluralTiclḥiyin.
In Moroccan colloquial Arabic, a male speaker is called aŠəlḥ, pluralŠluḥ, and the language isŠəlḥa,[9] a feminine derivation calqued onTaclḥiyt. The Moroccan Arabic names have been borrowed into English asa Shilh,the Shluh, andShilha, and into French asun Chleuh,les Chleuhs, andchelha or, more commonly,le chleuh.
The now-usual namesTaclḥiyt andIclḥiyn in their endonymic use seem to have gained the upper hand relatively recently, as they are attested only in those manuscript texts which date from the 19th and 20th centuries. In older texts, the language is still referred to asTamaziɣt orTamazixt "Tamazight". For example, the authorAwzal (early 18th c.) speaks ofnnaḍm n Tmazixt ann ifulkin "a composition in that beautiful Tamazight".[10]
Because Souss is the most heavily populated part of the language area, the nameTasusiyt (lit. "language of Souss") is now often used as apars pro toto for the entire language.[11] A speaker ofTasusiyt is anAsusiy, pluralIsusiyn, feminineTasusiyt, pluralTisusiyin.
With 4.7 million speakers or 14% of Morocco's population, Tachelhit is the most widely spoken Amazigh language in the Kingdom, ahead of Tamazight andTarifit. Its speakers represent more than half of the 8.8 million Amazighophones.[2]
It is also the Amazigh language that has the greatest geographical extension in the country. Its speakers are present in 1512 of the 1538 municipalities in the kingdom. This distribution is notably the result of a large diaspora of small traders who have settled throughout the country, but also of workers in search of employment opportunities.[2][13]
Five Moroccan regions have a rate of Tachelhit speakers higher than the national average:Souss-Massa,Guelmim-Oued Noun,Marrakesh-Safi andDrâa-Tafilalet andBéni Mellal-Khénifra. However, only one of them has a majority of Tachelhit speakers: Souss–Massa with 63.2% of its population. This rate drops to 48.1% for Guelmin-Oued Noun, 25.8% for Drâa-Tafilalet, 24.5% for Marrakesh–Safi, and 14.4% in Béni Mellal-Khénifra.[1]
Like the high concentration of Tachelhit-speaking speakers in Dakhla, Tachelhit is spoken significantly by many inhabitants, in Moroccan municipalities outside the area where the language historically originated. With 49% of its speakers living in cities, Tachelhit has become highly urbanized. Thus, 10% of Casablancais speak Tachelhit, i.e. more than 334,000 people. Casablanca is therefore the first Tachelhit city in Morocco, ahead of Agadir (225,000 speakers). Similarly, 9.2% of Rbatis speak Tachelhit, i.e. more than 52,000 people, or 4% of Tangiers and Oujdis. Finally, there are singular cases of very outlying municipalities such as the fishing village of Imlili, south of Dakhla (60% of speakers) or the rural municipality of Moulay Ahmed Cherif, 60 km west of the city of Al Hoceima (54% speakers). These situations are reminiscent of the historical migrations that have followed one another over the long term and especially the massive rural exodus that began in the 20th century towards the economic metropolises.[13][2]
Dialect differentiation within Shilha, such as it is, has not been the subject of any targeted research, but several scholars have noted that all varieties of Shilha are mutually intelligible. The first was Stumme, who observed that all speakers can understand each other, "because the individual dialects of their language are not very different."[14] This was later confirmed by Ahmed Boukous, a Moroccan linguist and himself a native speaker of Shilha, who stated: "Shilha is endowed with a profound unity which permits the Shluh to communicate without problem, from the Ihahan in the northwest to the Aït Baamran in the southwest, from the Achtouken in the west to the Iznagen in the east, and from Aqqa in the desert to Tassaout in the plain of Marrakesh."[15]
There exists no sharply defined boundary between Shilha dialects and the dialects ofCentral Atlas Tamazight (CAT). The dividing line is generally put somewhere along the line Marrakesh-Zagora, with the speech of the Ighoujdamen, Iglioua and Aït Ouaouzguite ethnic groups[b] belonging to Shilha, and that of the neighboring Inoultan, Infedouak and Imeghran ethnic groups counted as CAT.
Though Tashelhit has historically been an oral language, manuscripts of mostly religious texts have been written in Tashelhit using theArabic script since at least the 16th century.[16][17] Today, Tashelhit is most commonly written in the Arabic script, althoughNeo-Tifinagh is also used.[18]
Shilha has an extensive body oforal literature in a wide variety of genres (fairy tales, animal stories, taleb stories, poems, riddles, and tongue-twisters). A large number of oral texts and ethnographic texts on customs and traditions have been recorded and published since the end of the 19th century, mainly by European linguists.[19][20][21]
Shilha possesses an old literary tradition. Numerous texts written in Arabic script are preserved in manuscripts dating from the 16th century.[17] The earliest datable text is a compendium of lectures on the "religious sciences" (lɛulum n ddin) composed in metrical verses byBrahim u Ɛbdllah Aẓnag, who died in 1597. The best known writer in this tradition isMḥmmd u Ɛli Awzal, author ofal-Ḥawḍ "The Cistern" (a handbook ofMaliki law in verse),Baḥr al-Dumūʿ "The Ocean of Tears" (an adhortation, with a description of Judgment Day, in verse) and other texts.[22]
Modern Tashelhit literature has been developing since the end of the 20th century.[23][24]
The first attempt at a grammatical description of Shilha is the work of the German linguistHans Stumme (1864–1936), who in 1899 published hisHandbuch des Schilḥischen von Tazerwalt. Stumme's grammar remained the richest source of grammatical information on Shilha for half a century. A problem with the work is its use of an over-elaborate, phonetic transcription which, while designed to be precise, generally fails to provide a transparent representation of spoken forms. Stumme also published a collection of Shilha fairy tales (1895, re-edited in Stroomer 2002).
The next author to grapple with Shilha isSaïd Cid Kaoui (Saʿīd al-Sidqāwī, 1859-1910), a native speaker ofKabyle from Algeria. Having published a dictionary ofTuareg (1894), he then turned his attention to the Berber languages of Morocco. HisDictionnaire français-tachelh’it et tamazir’t (1907) contains extensive vocabularies in both Shilha and Central Atlas Tamazight, in addition to some 20 pages of useful phrases. The work seems to have been put together in some haste and must be consulted with caution.
On the eve of the First World War there appeared a small, practical booklet composed by Captain (later Colonel)Léopold Justinard (1878–1959), entitledManuel de berbère marocain (dialecte chleuh). It contains a short grammatical sketch, a collection of stories, poems and songs, and some interesting dialogues, all with translations. The work was written while the author was overseeing military operations in the region ofFez, shortly after the imposition of the French protectorate (1912). Justinard also wrote several works on the history of the Souss.
Emile Laoust (1876–1952), prolific author of books and articles about Berber languages, in 1921 published hisCours de berbère marocain (2nd enlarged edition 1936), a teaching grammar with graded lessons and thematic vocabularies, some good ethnographic texts (without translations) and a wordlist.
Edmond Destaing (1872–1940) greatly advanced knowledge of the Shilha lexicon with hisEtude sur la tachelḥît du Soûs. Vocabulaire français-berbère (1920) and hisTextes berbères en parler des Chleuhs du Sous (Maroc) (1940, with copious lexical notes). Destaing also planned a grammar which was to complete the trilogy, but this was never published.
Lieutenant-interpreter (later Commander) Robert Aspinion is the author ofApprenons le berbère: initiation aux dialectes chleuhs (1953), an informative though somewhat disorganized teaching grammar. Aspinion's simple but accurate transcriptions did away with earlier phonetic and French-based systems.
The first attempted description in English isOutline of the Structure of Shilha (1958) by American linguistJoseph Applegate (1925–2003). Based on work with native speakers from Ifni, the work is written in a dense, inaccessible style, without a single clearly presented paradigm. Transcriptions, apart from being unconventional, are unreliable throughout.
The only available accessible grammatical sketch written in a modern linguistic frame is "Le Berbère" (1988) byLionel Galand (1920–2017), a French linguist and berberologist. The sketch is mainly based on the speech of the Ighchan ethnic group of the Anti-Atlas, with comparative notes onKabyle of Algeria andTuareg of Niger.
More recent, book-length studies include Jouad (1995, on metrics), Dell & Elmedlaoui (2002 and 2008, on syllables and metrics), El Mountassir (2009, a teaching grammar), Roettger (2017, on stress and intonation) and the many text editions by Stroomer (see also§ Cited works and further reading).
There is currently no evidence of word stress in Tashlhiyt.[25]
Shilha has three phonemic vowels, with length not a distinctive feature.[26] The vowels show a fairly wide range of allophones.[27] The vowel /a/ is most often realized as [a] or [æ], and /u/ is pronounced without any noticeable rounding except when adjacent tow. The presence of a pharyngealized consonant invites a more centralized realization of the vowel, as inkraḍ[krɐdˤ] "three",kkuẓ[kkɤzˤ] "four",sḍis[sdˤɪs] "six" (compareyan[jæn] "one",sin[sin] "two",smmus[smmʊs] "five").
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Open | a |
Additional phonemic vowels occur sporadically in recent loanwords, for example/o/ as inrristora "restaurant" (from French).
In addition to the three phonemic vowels, there are non-phonemic transitional vowels, often collectively referred to as "schwa". Typically, a transitional vowel is audible following the onset of a vowelless syllable CC or CCC, if either of the flanking consonants, or both, are voiced,[28] for exampletigmmi[tiɡĭmmi] "house",amḥḍar[amɐ̆ʜdˤɐr] "schoolboy". In the phonetic transcriptions of Stumme (1899) and Destaing (1920, 1940), many such transitional vowels are indicated.
Later authors such as Aspinion (1953), use the symbol⟨e⟩ to mark the place where a transitional vowel may be heard, irrespective of its quality, and they also write⟨e⟩ where in reality no vowel, however short, is heard, for example⟨akessab⟩/akssab/ "owner of livestock",⟨ar icetta⟩/ariʃtta/ "he's eating". The symbol⟨e⟩, often referred to as "schwa", as used by Aspinion and others, thus becomes a purely graphical device employed to indicate that the preceding consonant is a syllable onset:[a.k(e)s.sab],[a.ri.c(e)t.ta].[29] As Galand has observed, the notation of "schwa" in fact results from "habits which are alien to Shilha".[30] And, as conclusively shown by Ridouane (2008), transitional vowels or "intrusive vocoids" cannot even be accorded the status ofepenthetic vowels. It is therefore preferable not to write transitional vowels or "schwa", and to transcribe the vowels in a strictly phonemic manner, as in Galand (1988) and all recent text editions.[c]
The chart below represents Tashlhiyt consonants in IPA, with orthographical representations added between angled brackets when different:[31]
| Labial | Dental | Post- alveolar | Velar | Uvular | Pharyn- geal | Glottal | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | phar. | plain | lab. | plain | lab. | ||||||
| Nasal | m | n̪ | |||||||||
| Plosive | voiceless | t̪ | t̪ˤ⟨ṭ⟩ | k | kʷ⟨k°⟩ | q | qʷ⟨q°⟩ | ||||
| voiced | b | d̪ | d̪ˤ⟨ḍ⟩ | g | gʷ⟨g°⟩ | ||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s̪ | s̪ˤ⟨ṣ⟩ | ʃ⟨c⟩ | χ⟨x⟩ | χʷ⟨x°⟩ | ʜ⟨ḥ⟩ | |||
| voiced | z̪ | z̪ˤ⟨ẓ⟩ | ʒ⟨j⟩ | ʁ⟨ɣ⟩ | ʁʷ⟨ɣ°⟩ | ʢ⟨ɛ⟩ | ɦ⟨h⟩ | ||||
| Approximant | l̪ | l̪ˤ⟨ḷ⟩ | j⟨y⟩ | w | |||||||
| Trill | r̪ | r̪ˤ⟨ṛ⟩ | |||||||||
Additional phonemic consonants occur sporadically in recent loanwords, for example/bʷ/ as inbb°a "(my) father" (from Moroccan Arabic), and/p/ as inlaplaj "beach" (from French).[citation needed]
Like other Berber languages and Arabic, Tashlhiyt has bothpharyngealized ("emphatic") and plain dental consonants.[32][33] There is also a distinction betweenlabialized and plaindorsalobstruents.[33] Consonantgemination or length is contrastive.[34]
The semivowels/w/ and/j/ have vocalic allophones[u] and[i] between consonants (C_C) and between consonant and pause (C_# and #_C). Similarly, the high vowels/u/ and/i/ can have consonantal allophones[w] and[j] in order to avoid a hiatus. In most dialects,[35] the semivowels are thus in complementary distribution with the high vowels, with the semivowels occurring as onset or coda, and the high vowels as nucleus in a syllable. This surface distribution of the semivowels and the high vowels has tended to obscure their status as four distinct phonemes, with some linguists denying phonemic status to /w/ and /j/.[36]
Positing four distinct phonemes is necessitated by the fact that semivowels and high vowels can occur in sequence, in lexically determined order, for exampletazdwit "bee",tahruyt "ewe" (not *tazduyt, *tahrwit). In addition, semivowels/w/ and/j/, like other consonants, occur long, as inafawwu "wrap",tayyu "camel's hump".[37] The assumption of four phonemes also results in a more efficient description of morphology.[38]
In the examples below,w andy are transcribed phonemically in some citation forms, but always phonetically in context, for exampleysti- "the daughters of",dars snat istis "he has two daughters".
Any consonant in Tashlhiyt, in any position within a word, may be simple or geminate. There may be up to two geminates in a stem, and up to three in a word.[39]
The role of gemination varies:[39]
| Word with Simple Consonant | Word with Geminate Consonant | Role of Gemination | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tashlhiyt | Translation | Tashlhiyt | Translation | |
| tamda | pond | tamdda | brown buzzard | lexical difference |
| zdi | to stick (perfect) | zddi | to stick (imperfective) | morphology |
Gemination also may occur due to phonological assimilation. For example, the following phrase would be realized as [babllfirma]:[39]
bab
owner
n=l-firma
of=farm
bab n=l-firma
owner of=farm
the owner of the farm
Some consonants are realized differently during morphological gemination;ḍḍ asṭṭ,ww asgg°,ɣɣ asqq, andɣɣ° asqq°.[39]
Shilha syllable structure has been the subject of a detailed and highly technical discussion by phoneticians. The issue was whether Shilha does or does not have vowelless syllables. According to John Coleman, syllables which are vowelless on the phonemic level have "schwa" serving as vocalic nucleus on the phonetic level. According to Rachid Ridouane on the other hand, Shilha's apparently vowelless syllables are truly vowelless, with all phonemes, vowels as well as consonants, capable of serving as nucleus. The discussion is summed up in Ridouane (2008, with listing of relevant publications), where he conclusively demonstrates that a perfectly ordinary Shilha phrase such astkkst stt "you took it away" indeed consists of three vowelless syllables [tk.ks.tst:.], each made up of voiceless consonants only, and with voiceless consonants (not "schwa") serving as nucleus. Many definitions of the syllable that have been put forward do not cover the syllables of Shilha.[40]
The syllable structure of Shilha was first investigated by Dell and Elmedlaoui in a seminal article (1985). They describe how syllable boundaries can be established through what they call "core syllabification". This works by associating a nucleus with an onset, to form a core syllable CV or CC. Segments that are higher on the sonority scale have precedence over those lower on the scale in forming the nucleus in a core syllable, with vowels and semivowels highest on the scale, followed by liquids and nasals, voiced fricatives, voiceless fricatives, voiced stops and voiceless stops. When no more segments are available as onsets, the remaining single consonants are assigned as coda to the preceding core syllable, but if a remaining consonant is identical to the consonant that is the onset of the following syllable, it merges with it to become a long consonant. Amorpheme boundary does not necessarily constitute a syllable boundary.
ddan
they.went
s
to
yaw
one
wurti
kcmn
they.enter
iss
into-it
ad
to-
ccin
they.eat
tazart
d
with
waḍil
ddan s yaw wurti kcmn iss ad ccin tazart d waḍil
they.went to one EA-orchard they.enter into-it to- they.eat EL-figs with EA-grapes
"they went to an orchard and entered it to eat figs and grapes"
| دان سياو ورتي كشمن إيس اد شين تازارت د وضيل | ddan s yaw wurti kcmn iss ad ccin tazart d waḍil |
|---|---|
| Core syllabification | ddan syawwurti kcmn iss ad ccintazart dwaḍil |
| Coda assignment: | d:an syaw:urti kcmn is: ad ccintazart dwaḍil |
Comparative diagram of the following:
| Example of Phonological Processes in Shilha | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gloss of text | they.went | to | one | EA-orchard | they.enter | into-it | to- | they.eat | EL-figs | with | EA-grapes | |||||||||||||||||
| Shilha text | ddan | s | yaw | wurti | kcmn | iss | ad | ccin | tazart | d | waḍil | |||||||||||||||||
| Core Syll | d | (da) | (ns) | (ya) | w | (wu) | r | (ti) | k | (cm) | (ni) | s | (sa) | (dc) | (ci) | n | (ta) | (za) | r | (td) | (wa) | (ḍi) | l | |||||
| Coda Assgn. | (d:a) | (ns) | (ya) | (w:ur) | (tik) | (cm) | (ni) | (s:a) | (dc) | (cin) | (ta) | (zar) | (td) | (wa) | (ḍil) | |||||||||||||
| English trans | "they went to an orchard and entered it to eat figs and grapes" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Application of core syllabification produces the following Shilha syllable types:
| C V | C: V | ||
| C V C | C: V C | C V C: | C: V C: |
| C C | C: C | C C: | C: C: |
| C C C | C: C C | C C C: | C: C C: |
Shilha syllable structure can be represented succinctly by the formula CX(C), in which C is any consonant (single/long), and X is any vowel or consonant (single) and with the restriction that in a syllable CXC the X, if it is a consonant, cannot be higher on the resonance scale than the syllable-final consonant, that is, syllables such as [tsk.] and [wrz.] are possible, but not *[tks.] and *[wzr.].
Exceptional syllables of the types X (vowel or single/long consonant) and V(C) (vowel plus single/long consonant) occur in utterance-initial position:
Another exceptional syllable type, described by Dell and Elmedlaoui (1985), occurs in utterance-final position, when a syllable of the type CC or CC: is "annexed" to a preceding syllable of the type CV or C:V, for examplefssamt فسامت"be silent!" is [fs.samt.] not *[fs.sa.mt.].
Since any syllable type may precede or follow any other type, and since any consonant can occur in syllable-initial or final position, there are no phonotactical restrictions on consonant sequences. This also means that the concept of the consonant cluster is not applicable in Shilha phonology, as any number of consonants may occur in sequence:
frḥɣ
I.am.glad
s
by.means.of
lmɛrft
the.acquaintance
nnk
of.you
frḥɣ s lmɛrft nnk
I.am.glad by.means.of the.acquaintance of.you
"I'm glad to make your acquaintance"
فرحغس لمعرفت أنك
The metrics of traditional Shilha poems, as composed and recited by itinerant bards (inḍḍamn), was first described and analyzed by Hassan Jouad (thesis 1983, book 1995; see also Dell and Elmedlaoui 2008). The traditional metrical system confirms the existence of vowelless syllables in Shilha, and Jouad's data have been used by Dell and Elmedlaoui, and by Ridouane to support their conclusions.
The metrical system imposes the following restrictions:
Within these restrictions, the poet is free to devise his own metrical form. This can be recorded in a meaningless formula calledtalalayt which shows the number and the length of the syllables, as well as the place of the obligatory voiced consonant (Jouad lists hundreds of such formulae).
The system is illustrated here with aquatrain ascribed to the semi-legendary Shilha poetSidi Ḥammu (fl. 18th century) and published by Amarir (1987:64):
a titbirin a tumlilin a timgraḍ
ab bahra wr takkamt i lxla hann lbaz
igan bu tassrwalt ig lxatm ɣ uḍaḍ
ak k°nt yut ukan iɣli d ignwan izug
"O white doves, O pets!
Do not venture into the desert too often, for there is the falcon,
Wearing small trousers; he'll put a ring on [your] finger,
To strike you but once — then he ascends into the sky and is gone!"
Application of Dell and Elmedlaoui's core syllabification reveals a regular mosaic of syllables:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Line 1 | a | t í t | b i | r i | n a | t ú m | l i | l i | n a | t í | m g | r á ḍ | |||
| Line 2 | a | b: á h | r a | w r | t a | k: á m | t i | l x | l a | h á | n: l | b á z | |||
| Line 3 | i | g á n | b u | t a | s: r | w á l | t i | g l | x a | t ḿ | ɣ u | ḍ á ḍ | |||
| Line 4 | a | k°: ń t | y u | t u | k a | n í ɣ | l i | d i | g n | w á | n i | z ú g |
The poem is composed in a metre listed by Jouad (1995:283) and exemplified by the formulaa láy,la li la láy,la li la lá,li lád (thed in the last syllable indicates the position of the compulsory voiced consonant).
On the basis of their morphology, three types of Shilha nouns can be distinguished, two indigenous types and one type of external origin:
The relevant morpho-syntactic categories are gender, number and state.[41]
Inflected nouns are by far the most numerous type. These nouns can be easily recognised from their outward shape: they begin with a nominal prefix which has the form (t)V-:
Inflected nouns distinguish two genders, masculine and feminine; two numbers, singular and plural; and two states, conventionally referred to by their French names asétat libre ("free state") andétat d'annexion ("annexed state")[42] and glossed asEL andEA. Gender and number are all explicitly marked, but historical and synchronic sound changes have in some cases resulted in the neutralization of the difference between EL and EA.
The nominal prefix has no semantic content, i.e. it is not a sort of (in)definite article, although it is probably demonstrative in origin. It is made up of one or both of two elements, a gender prefix and a vocalic prefix. Singular feminine nouns may also have a gender suffix. For example, the nountazdwit "bee" has the feminine prefixt-, the vocalic prefixa- and the feminine singular suffix-t added to the nominal stemzdwi. While feminine inflected nouns always have the feminine prefix, masculine nouns do not have a gender prefix in the free state (EL); for exampleabaɣuɣ "fox" has no gender prefix, but only a vocalic prefixa- added to the nominal stembaɣuɣ.
Gender is thus marked unambiguously, albeit asymmetrically. In just a handful of nouns, the morphological gender does not conform to the grammatical gender (and number):ulli "sheep and goats" is morphologically masculine singular, but takes feminine plural agreement;alln "eyes" is morphologically masculine plural, but takes feminine plural agreement;tarwa "(someone's) children, offspring" is morphologically feminine singular, but takes masculine plural agreement.
The annexed state (EA) is regularly formed by reducing the vocalic prefix to zero and, with masculine nouns, adding the masculine gender prefixw-:[43]
With some nouns, the original vocalic prefix has fused with a stem-initial vowel, to produce an inseparable (and irreducible) vowel:
With feminine nouns that have an inseparable vocalic prefix, the difference between EL and EA is thus neutralized.
While most inflected nouns have a vocalic prefixa-, some havei- (in some cases inseparable), and a few haveu- (always inseparable). When a masculine noun has the vocalic prefixi- (separable or inseparable), the masculine gender prefixw- changes toy-. The table below presents an overview (all examples are singular; plurals also distinguish EL and EA):
| Masculine | Feminine | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EL | EA | EL | EA | ||
| "fox" | a-baɣuɣ | w-baɣuɣ | "bee" | t-a-zdwi-t | t-zdwi-t |
| "moon" | ayyur | w-ayyur | "sun" | t-afuk-t | t-afuk-t |
| "cave" | i-fri | y-fri | "meat" | t-i-fiyi | t-fiyi |
| "ash" | iɣd | y-iɣd | "salt" | t-isn-t | t-isn-t |
| "moufflon" | udad | w-udad | "light" | t-ufaw-t | t-ufaw-t |
The EA is not predictable from the shape of the noun, compare:
The phonological rules on the realization of /w/ and /j/ apply to the EA as well. For example, the EA ofa-mɣar "chief" is /w-mɣar/, realized aswmɣar after a vowel,umɣar after a consonant:
Inflected nouns show a great variety of plural formations, applying one or more of the following processes:
There are also irregular and suppletive plurals. The feminine singular suffix-t is naturally lost in the plural.
Independent from these processes, the separable vocalic prefixa- is always replaced withi-. An inseparable vocalic prefix either remains unchanged, or changes as part of vowel change (but if the vocalic prefix is inseparable in the singular, it may be separable in the plural, as withaduz "dune", and vice versa, as withaydi "dog"; see table below).
Below is a sample of nouns, illustrating various plural formations.
| Singular | Plural | Process(es) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| "mountain" | a-drar | i-drar-n | suffixation |
| "dune" | aduz | i-dazz-n | vowel change, gemination, suffixation |
| "head" | a-gayyu | i-guyya | vowel change |
| "ear" | a-mẓẓuɣ | i-mzga-n | (irregular plural) |
| "waterhole" | anu | una | vowel change |
| "document" | arra | arra+t-n | stem extension, suffixation |
| "day" | ass | ussa-n | vowel change, suffixation |
| "dog" | a-ydi | iḍa-n | (irregular plural) |
| "forehead" | i-gnzi | i-gnzi+t-n | stem extension, suffixation |
| "forearm" | i-ɣil | i-ɣall-n | vowel change, gemination, suffixation |
| "scorpion" | iɣirdm | iɣardm+iw-n | vowel change, stem extension, suffixation |
| "witness" | i-nigi | i-naga-n | vowel change, suffixation |
| "slave" | i-smg | i-smga-n | vowel change, suffixation |
| "face" | udm | udm+aw-n | stem extension, suffixation |
| "song" | urar | urar-n | suffixation |
| "jackal" | uccn | uccan-n | vowel change, suffixation |
| "egg" | t-a-glay-t | t-i-glay | (irregular plural) |
| "thing" | t-a-ɣawsa | t-i-ɣaws+iw-in | stem extension, suffixation |
| "mouse" | t-a-ɣrday-t | t-i-ɣrday-in | suffixation |
| "churn" | t-a-gccul-t | t-i-g°cl-in | vowel change, suffixation, degemination |
| "fireplace" | t-aka-t | t-aka+t-in | stem extension, suffixation |
| "woman" | t-a-mɣar-t | t-u-mɣar-in[d] | suffixation |
| "porcupine" | t-aruc-t | t-urac | vowel change |
| "key" | t-a-saru-t | t-i-sura | vowel change |
| "house" | t-i-gmmi | t-i-g°mma | vowel change |
| "ewe" | t-ili | t-att-n | (suppletive plural) |
| "meal" | t-irm-t | t-iram | vowel change |
| "eye" | t-iṭṭ | all-n | (suppletive plural) |
| "mountain pass" | t-izi | t-izza | vowel change, gemination |
| "lioness" | t-izm-t | t-izm+aw-in | suffixation, stem extension |
| "light" | t-ifaw-t | t-ifaw-in | suffixation |
The plural is generally not predictable from the shape of the singular, compare:
Many nouns have more than one plural, for examplea-jnwiy "knife", plurali-jnway (vowel change) ori-jnwiy-n (suffixation).
Many Shilha place-names are morphologically inflected nouns:
The same is the case with Shilha ethnic names:
Among the inflected nouns are found many incorporated loans. Examples include:
This is the least common type, which also includes some loans. Examples:
It is probable that all uninflected nouns were originally masculine. The few that now take feminine agreement contain elements that have been reanalyzed as marking feminine gender, for examplettjdmnni "kind of spider" (initialt seen as feminine prefix),hlima "bat" (not an Arabic loanword, but finala analyzed as the Arabic feminine ending).
Many uninflected nouns are collectives or non-count nouns which do not have a separate plural form. Those that have a plural make it by preposing the pluralizerid, for exampleid lagar "stations".
The uninflected nounmddn ormiddn "people, humans" is morphologically masculine singular but takes masculine plural agreement.
Names of people and foreign place-names can be seen as a subtype of uninflected nouns, for exampleMusa (man's name),Muna (woman's name),Fas "Fès",Brdqqiz "Portugal". Gender is not transparently marked on these names, but those referring to humans take gender agreement according to the natural sex of the referent (male/masculine, female/feminine).
These are nouns of Arabic origin (including loans from French and Spanish through Arabic) which have largely retained their Arabic morphology. They distinguish two genders (not always unambiguously marked) and two numbers (explicitly marked). A notable feature of these nouns is that they are borrowed with the Arabic definite article, which is semantically neutralized in Shilha:
The Arabic feminine ending-a is often replaced with the Shilha feminine singular suffix-t:
Arabic loans usually retain their gender in Shilha. The exception are Arabic masculine nouns which end int; these change their gender to feminine in Shilha, with the finalt reanalyzed as the Shilha feminine singular suffix-t:
Arabic plurals are usually borrowed with the singulars. If the borrowed plural is not explicitly marked for gender (according to Arabic morphology) it has the same gender as the singular:
Loanwords whose singular is masculine may have a plural which is feminine, and marked as such (according to Arabic morphology), for examplelɛlam "flag" (masculine), plurallɛlum-at (feminine).
The annexed state (EA) of an inflected noun is used in a number of clearly defined syntactical contexts:[43]
tfulki it.is.beautiful tmazirt nnun of.you tfulki tmazirt nnun it.is.beautiful EA-country of.you "your country is beautiful" | tamazirt nnun of.you tfulki it.is.beautiful tamazirt nnun tfulki EL-country of.you it.is.beautiful "[as for] your country, it is beautiful"
|
|
|
wan
like
uɣu
smmiḍn
which.is.cold
wan uɣu smmiḍn
like EA-milk which.is.cold
"like cold milk, such as cold milk"
Outside these contexts, the EL is used. Uninflected nouns and unincorporated loans, which do not distinguish state, remain unchanged in these contexts.
The formation of feminine nouns from masculine nouns is a productive process. A feminine noun is formed by adding both the feminine nominal prefixt- (and, if necessary, a vocalic prefix), and the feminine singular suffix-t to a masculine noun. The semantic value of the feminine derivation is variable.
For many nouns referring to male and female humans or animals (mainly larger mammals), matching masculine and feminine forms exist with the same nominal stem, reflecting the sex of the referent:
In a few cases there are suppletive forms:
Feminine nouns derived from masculine nouns with inanimate reference have diminutive meaning:
Conversely, a masculine noun derived from a feminine noun has augmentative meaning:
Feminine nouns derived from masculine collective nouns have singulative meaning:
Feminine derivations are also used as names of languages, professions and activities:
There is an overlap here with feminine nouns denoting females:
There are three deictic clitics which can follow a noun: proximala-d "this, these", distala-nn "that, those" (compare§ Verbal deictic clitics) and anaphoriclli "the aforementioned":
There are three basic sets of personal pronouns:
In addition, there are two derived sets which contain the suffixed pronouns (except in 1st singular):
Gender is consistently marked on 2nd singular, and on 2nd and 3rd plural. Gender is not consistently marked on 3rd singular and 1st plural. Gender is never marked on 1st singular.
| Independent | Direct object clitics | Suffixes | Indirect object clitics | Possessive complements | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | sg. | nkki(n) | yyi | V-Ø / C-i | yyi | Vnw / Cinw | |
| pl. | m. | nkk°ni(n) | a(n)ɣ | -nɣ | a-(n)ɣ | nnɣ | |
| f. | nkk°nti(n) | ||||||
| 2 | sg. | m. | kyyi(n) | k | -k | a-k | nn-k |
| f. | kmmi(n) | km | -m | a-m | nn-m | ||
| pl. | m. | k°nni(n) | k°n | V-wn / C-un | a-wn | nn-un | |
| f. | k°nnimti(n) | k°nt | V-wnt / C-unt | a-wnt | nn-unt | ||
| 3 | sg. | m. | ntta(n) | t | -s | a-s | nn-s |
| f. | nttat | tt /stt | |||||
| pl. | m. | nttni(n) | tn | -sn | a-sn | nn-sn | |
| f. | nttnti(n) | tnt | -snt | a-snt | nn-snt | ||
| ∅ = zero morpheme | |||||||
The independent ("overt") pronouns are used to topicalize the subject or the object.
nkk°ni
wie
wr
not
a
we.wear
nlssa
turẓyin
of
wagg°ri
nkk°ni wr a nlssa turẓyin n wagg°ri
wie not we.wear EL-sandals of EA-alfa
"as for us, we don't wear sandals [made] of alfa" Mismatch in the number of words between lines: 7 word(s) in line 1, 6 word(s) in line 2 (help);
tumɣarin
nttntin
they
a
it.is.that
ybnnun
who.is.building
andaru
n
of
ifullusn
tumɣarinnttntin a ybnnun andaru n ifullusn
EL-women they it.is.that who.is.building EL-coop of EA-chickens
"the women, they're the ones who (usually) build a chicken coop"
They are also used with certain pseudo-prepositions such aszund "like",abla "except":
ɛlah,
why
nkki,
I
giɣ
I.am
aɣyul
zund
like
kyyi?
you
ɛlah,nkki, giɣ aɣyul zundkyyi?
why I I.am EL-ass like you
"why, [as for] me, am I an ass like you?"
ur
not
iqqadda
it.is.likely
ay
that
yak°r
he.steals
abla
except
k°nni
you.mpl
ur iqqadda ay yak°r ablak°nni
not it.is.likely that he.steals except you.mpl
"no one could have stolen [it] except you lot"
The direct object clitics are used with transitive verbs:
yuzn
he-sent
tn
them
s
to
tmzgida
yuzntn s tmzgida
he-sent them to EA-Koranic.school
"he sent them to the Koranic school"
iɣ
when
yyi
me
yut
he.beats
ar
I.am.running.away
ttrwalɣ
iɣyyi yut ar ttrwalɣ
when me he.beats I.am.running.away
"when he beats me I run away" Mismatch in the number of words between lines: 5 word(s) in line 1, 4 word(s) in line 2 (help);
The 3rd singular feminine variantstt is used after a dental stop, compare:
The direct object clitics are also used to indicate thesubject with pseudo-verbs,[44] and with thepresentative particleha "here is,voici":
The pronominal suffixes are used with prepositions to indicate the object (see§ Prepositions), and with a closed set of necessarily possessed kinship terms to indicate possession (see§ Possessed nouns). The plural forms add an infix-t- before the suffix with kinship terms, for examplebaba-t-nɣ "our father" (never *baba-nɣ); this infix also occurs with some prepositions as a free or dialectal variant of the form without the-t-:
The indirect object clitics convey both benefactive and detrimental meaning:
alliɣ
when
immut
he.died
babas
father-her
ifl
he.left
as
to.her
d
hither
ayda
nns
of.him
alliɣ immut babas iflas d ayda nns
when he.died father-her he.left to.her hither EL-possessions of.him
"when her father died he left her his possessions"
tamurɣi
tcca
she.ate
y
to.her
tibḥirt
of.her
nns
tamurɣi tcca yas tibḥirt nns
EL-locust she.ate to.her EL-vegetable.patch of.her
"the locusts, they've eaten her vegetable patch" Mismatch in the number of words between lines: 6 word(s) in line 1, 5 word(s) in line 2 (help);
The possessive complements follow the noun (see§ Possession).
Prepositions can have up to three different forms, depending on the context in which they are used:
The form before nouns and demonstrative pronouns and the independent form are identical for most prepositions, the exception being the dative prepositioni (independentmi,mu).
| Before noun or demonstrative pronoun | Independent | With pronominal suffix | Translation equivalents |
|---|---|---|---|
| ar | — | — | terminative: "until, as far as" |
| d | d | id-, did- | comitative: "with, in the company of; and" |
| dar | dar | dar- | "at the place of,chez" |
| ddu | … | ddaw-, ddawa- | "beneath, under" |
| f | f | flla- | "on; because of" |
| gr | … | gra- | "between" |
| (i)ngr | … | (i)ngra- | "among" |
| ɣ | ɣ | gi(g)- | locative: "in, at" |
| i | mi, mu | (indirect object clitics) | dative: "for, to" |
| n | — | (possessive complements) | possessive: "of" |
| nnig | … | nniga- | "above" |
| s | s | is- | instrumental: "with, by means of" |
| s | s | sr- | allative: "to, toward" |
| zɣ | zɣ | zgi(g)- | ablative: "from" |
| — inexistent … unattested, probably inexistent | |||
Most prepositions require a following inflected noun to be in the annexed state (EA) (see§ Use of the annexed state). Exceptions arear "until",s "toward" (in some modern dialects, and in premodern texts) and prepositions borrowed from Arabic (not in the table) such asbɛd "after" andqbl "before".
The instrumental and allative prepositionss "by means of" (with EA) ands "toward" (with EL) were still consistently kept apart in premodern manuscript texts. In most modern dialects they have been amalgamated, with both now requiring the EA, and with the pre-pronominal forms each occurring with both meanings:sr-s "toward it" (now also "with it"),is-s "with it" (now also "toward it").
The use of the different forms is illustrated here with the prepositionɣ "in":
iḍr
it.fell
unẓar
izwarn
in
ukccum
of
n
October
ktubr
(with noun)
iḍr unẓar izwarnɣ ukccum n ktubr
it.fell EA-rain in EA-beginning of October
"the first rain fellin the beginning of October" Mismatch in the number of words between lines: 7 word(s) in line 1, 6 word(s) in line 2 (help);
ggawrn
the
gisnt
sit
ar
in.them
ssan
the're.drinking
lqhwa
coffee
(with pronominal suffix)
ggawrngisnt ar ssan lqhwa
the sit in.them the're.drinking coffee
"they sitin them [i.e., cafés] drinking coffee"
urti
ɣ
in.which
llan
they.exist
lacjar
trees
lli
that
stɣllanin
they.are.bearing.fruit
ar
it.is.irrigated
ittyiswa
(independent)
urtiɣ llan lacjar lli stɣllanin ar ittyiswa
EL-orchard in.which they.exist trees that they.are.bearing.fruit it.is.irrigated
"an orchardin which there are fruit-bearing trees is usually irrigated" Mismatch in the number of words between lines: 8 word(s) in line 1, 7 word(s) in line 2 (help);
Two prepositions can be combined:
illa
it.exists
yglgiz
lli
that
yttzdaɣn
it.is.living
ɣ ddu
in
tsbnit
under
illa yglgiz lli yttzdaɣn {ɣ ddu} tsbnit
it.exists EA-beetle that it.is.living in under EA-dung
"there is a [kind of] beetle that lives beneath the dung" Mismatch in the number of words between lines: 6 word(s) in line 1, 7 word(s) in line 2 (help);
ar
they.are.going
ttddan
to
s dar
at.the.place.of
uḥjjam
ɣ
in
Tfrawt
ar ttddan {s dar} uḥjjam ɣ Tfrawt
they.are.going to at.the.place.of EA-barber in EA-Tafraout
"they always go to a barber in Tafraout"
Spatial relations are also expressed with phrases of the type "on top of":
The prepositiongi(g)- "in" with pronominal suffixes, with all its free and dialectal variants,[45] is presented below. The other prepositions display a much smaller variety of forms.
| gig- | gi- | with-t- | irregular | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 sg. | gig-i | gi-Ø | gi-t-i | |
| 2 sg.m. | gik-k | gi-k | ||
| 2 sg.f. | gig-m | gi-m | ||
| 3 sg. | gi-s | giz, gid, git | ||
| 1 pl. | gig-nɣ | gi-(n)ɣ | gi-t-nɣ | |
| 2 pl.m. | gig-un | gi-wn | gi-t-un | |
| 2 pl.f. | gig-unt | gi-wnt | gi-t-unt | |
| 3 pl.m. | gi-sn | gi-t-sn | gizn, gidsn | |
| 3 pl.f. | gi-snt | gi-t-snt | giznt, gidsnt |
The inherited cardinal numeral system consists of ten numerals (still in active use) and three numeral nouns (now obsolete) for "a tensome", "a hundred" and "a thousand". There is also an indefinite numeral meaning "several, many" or "how many?" which morphologically and syntactically patterns with the numerals 1 to 10. For numbers of 20 and over, Arabic numerals are commonly used.
These are listed below.[43] The formation of feminine "one" and "two" is irregular.
| Masculine | Feminine | |
|---|---|---|
| "one" | ya-n | ya-t |
| "two" | sin | sna-t |
| "three" | kraḍ | kraṭ-ṭ |
| "four" | kkuẓ | kkuẓ-t |
| "five" | smmus | smmus-t |
| "six" | sḍis | sḍis-t |
| "seven" | sa | sa-t |
| "eight" | tam | tam-t |
| "nine" | tẓa | tẓa-t |
| "ten" | mraw | mraw-t |
| indefinite | mnnaw | mnnaw-t |
The numerals 1 to 10 are constructed with nouns (inflected nouns in the EA), the gender of the numeral agreeing with that of the noun:
|
[e]The same obtains with the indefinite numeral:
Numeralsyan,yat "one" also serve as indefinite article, for exampleyan urumiy "one Westerner, a Westerner", and they are used independently with the meaning "anyone" (yan), "anything" (yat):
The finaln of masculineyan "one" andsin "two" is often assimilated or fused to a followingw,y orl:
The teens are made by connecting the numerals 1 to 9 to the numeral 10 with the prepositiond "with". In the premodern language, both numerals took the gender of the counted noun, with the following noun in the plural (EA):
|
In the modern language, fused forms have developed in which the first numeral is always masculine,[46] while the following noun is in the singular, and connected with the prepositionn "of":[47]
|
There are three inherited nouns to denote "a tensome", "a hundred" and "a thousand". These now seem to be obsolete, but they are well attested in the premodern manuscripts.[48] Morphologically, they are ordinary inflected nouns.
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EL | EA | EL | EA | |
| "a tensome" | t-a-mraw-t | t-mraw-t | t-i-mraw-in | t-mraw-in |
| "a hundred" | t-i-miḍi | t-miḍi | t-i-maḍ | t-maḍ |
| "a thousand" | ifḍ | y-ifḍ | afḍa-n | w-afḍa-n |
The tens, hundreds and thousand were formed by combining the numerals 1 to 10 with the numeral nouns:
|
The numeral nouns are connected with the prepositionn "of" to a noun, which is most often in the singular:
snat two tmaḍ n of wag°mar snat tmaḍ n wag°mar two EA-hundreds of EA-horse "two hundred horses" | sin two wafḍan n of tfunast sin wafḍan n tfunast two EA-thousands of EA-cow "two thousand cows"
|
In the modern language the Arabic tens are used, which have developed a separate feminine form:
|
The numerals between the tens are most frequently made with the Arabic numerals 1 to 10:
xmsa five w and ɛcrin twenty n of wag°mar xmsa w ɛcrin n wag°mar five and twenty of EA-horse "twenty-five horses" | xmsa five w and ɛcrint twenty n of tfunast xmsa w ɛcrint n tfunast five and twenty of EA-cow "twenty-five cows"
|
The Arabic hundreds and thousands are used in the modern language, taking the places of the original numeral nouns while the original syntax is maintained:
sin two walfiwn n of tfunast sin walfiwn n tfunast two EA-thousands of EA-cow "two thousand cows"
|
There is also a vigesimal system built on the Arabic numeralɛcrin "twenty, score",[49] for example:
First andlast are usually expressed with relative forms of the verbsizwur "to be first" andggru "to be last":
tawriqqt page izwarn which.is.first tawriqqt izwarn page which.is.first "the first page" | ussan days gg°ranin which.are.last ussan gg°ranin days which.are.last "the last days"
|
There are also agent nouns derived from these verbs which are apposed to a noun or used independently:
aḍrf furrow amzwaru the.first.one aḍrf amzwaru furrow the.first.one "the first furrow" | tucka she.arrived d hither tamggarut the.last.one tucka d tamggarut she.arrived hither the.last.one "she arrived last"
|
The other ordinals are formed by prefixing masc.wis-, fem.tis- to a cardinal numeral,[50] which is then constructed with a plural noun in the usual manner:
|
The ordinal prefixes is also used with Arabic numerals and with the indefinite numeral:
Because four of the numerals 1 to 10 begin withs, the geminatedss that results from the prefixation ofwis-,tis- (as inwissin,wissmmus, etc.) is often generalized to the other numerals:wissin,wisskraḍ,wisskkuẓ, etc.
A Shilha verb form is basically a combination of a person-number-gender (PNG) affix and a mood-aspect-negation (MAN) stem.
The workings of this system are illustrated here with the full conjugation of the verbfk "to give". The perfective negative goes with the negationwr "not". The imperfective goes with the preverbal particlear (except usually the imperative, and the relative forms).
| Aorist | Perfective | Perfective negative | Imperfective | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAN stem→ | fk(i) | fki/a | fki | akka |
| 1 sg. | fk-ɣ | fki-ɣ | ur fki-ɣ | ar akka-ɣ |
| 2 sg. | t-fk-t | t-fki-t | ur t-fki-t | ar t-akka-t |
| 3 sg.m. | i-fk | i-fka | ur i-fki | ar y-akka |
| 3 sg.f. | t-fk | t-fka | ur t-fki | ar t-akka |
| 1 pl. | n-fk | n-fka | ur n-fki | ar n-akka |
| 2 pl.m. | t-fki-m | t-fka-m | ur t-fki-m | ar t-akka-m |
| 2 pl.f. | t-fki-mt | t-fka-mt | ur t-fki-mt | ar t-akka-mt |
| 3 pl.m. | fki-n | fka-n | ur fki-n | ar akka-n |
| 3 pl.f. | fki-nt | fka-nt | ur fki-nt | ar akka-nt |
| Imperative | ||||
| 2 sg. | fk | akka | ||
| 2 pl.m. | fk-at | akka-y-at | ||
| 2 pl.f. | fk-amt | akka-y-amt | ||
| Relative | ||||
| sg. | i-fka-n | ur i-fki-n | y-akka-n | |
| pl. | fka-n-in | ur fki-n-in | akka-n-in |
The verbfk "give" has the full complement of four different MAN stems:
There are two basic sets of PNG affixes, one set marking the subject of ordinary verb forms, and another set marking the subject of imperatives.
Two suffixes (singular-n, plural-in) are added to the 3rd singular and masculine 3rd plural masculine verb forms respectively to make relative forms (also known as "participles"), as ini-fka-n "who gives",fka-n-in "who give".[f]
| 1 sg | … | -ɣ | |
| 2 sg. | t- | … | -t |
| 3 sg.m. | y- | … | |
| 3 sg.f. | t- | … | |
| 1 pl. | n- | … | |
| 2 pl.m. | t- | … | -m |
| 2 pl.f. | t- | … | -mt |
| 3 pl.m. | … | -n | |
| 3 pl.f. | … | -nt | |
| Imperative | |||
| 2 sg. | … | -Ø | |
| 2 pl.m. | … | -at | |
| 2 pl.f. | … | -amt | |
| Relative | |||
| 3 sg. | y- | … | -n |
| 3 pl. | … | -n-in |
A few verbs have just one MAN stem. The majority of verbs have two, three or four different MAN stems.[51] The Aorist stem serves as thecitation form of a verb. The list below offers an overview of MAN stem paradigms. Around 15 paradigms of non-derived verbs can be recognized, based on the formation of the Perfective and the Perfective negative. Further subdivisions could be made on the basis of the formations of the Imperfective. All sections in the list contain a selection of verbs, except sections 12, 14, and 15, which contain a full listing.
| Aorist | Perfective | Perfective negative | Imperfective | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "laugh" | ḍssa | ḍssa | ḍssa | ḍssa |
| "bark" | ttaɣ | ttaɣ | ttaɣ | ttaɣ | |
| 2 | "accompany" | mun | mun | mun | tt-mun |
| "sit" | skkiws | skkiws | skkiws | skkiwis, tt-skiwis | |
| "be crazy" | nufl | nufl | nufl | tt-nuful | |
| 3 | "enter" | kcm | kcm | kcim | kccm |
| "graze" | frd | frd | frid | ffrd | |
| "mention" | bdr | bdr | bdir | addr, tt-bdar | |
| "ascend, climb" | ɣly | ɣly | ɣliy | aqqlay | |
| "open, be open" | rẓm | rẓm | rẓim | tt-nurẓum | |
| 4 | "fall" | ḍr | ḍr | ḍir | ṭṭar |
| "hit" | wt | wt | wit | kkat | |
| 5 | "break, be broken" | rẓ(i) | rẓi/a | rẓi | rẓẓa |
| "eat" | cc(i) | cci/a | cci | ctta | |
| "give" | fk(i) | fki/a | fki | akka | |
| "show, explain" | ml(i) | mli/a | mli | mmal | |
| "drink" | sw(i) | swi/a | swi | ssa | |
| "call" | ɣr(i) | ɣri/a | ɣri | aqqra | |
| "be; put" | g(i) | gi/a | gi | tt-gga | |
| 6 | "sew" | gnu | gni/a | gni | gnna, gnnu, tt-gnu |
| "go" | ftu | fti/a | fti | fttu, tt-ftu | |
| "go" | ddu | ddi/a | ddi | tt-dda, tt-ddu, tt-udu | |
| "divide" | bḍu | bḍi/a | bḍi | aṭṭa | |
| 7 | "be better" | af | uf | uf | tt-afa |
| "fly" | ayll | uyll | uyll | tt-aylal | |
| "give back" | rar | rur | rur | tt-rara | |
| "inherit" | kkas | kkus | kkus | tt-kasa | |
| 8 | "take" | amẓ | umẓ | umiẓ | tt-amẓ |
| "steal" | ak°r | ukr | ukir | tt-ak°r | |
| "help" | aws | iws | iwis | tt-aws | |
| "run" | azzl | uzzl | uzzil | tt-azzal | |
| 9 | "find" | af(i) | ufi/a | ufi | tt-afa |
| "come" | ack(i) | ucki/a | ucki | tt-acka | |
| 10 | "flay" | azu | uzi/a | uzi | tt-azu |
| "contain" | amu | umi/a | umi | tt-amu | |
| 11 | "hold, possess" | ṭṭf, ṭṭaf | ṭṭf, ṭṭaf | ṭṭif | tt-ṭṭf, tt-ṭṭaf |
| "take away" | kks, kkis | kks, kkis | kkis | tt-kks, tt-kkis | |
| "go out" | ffɣ, ffuɣ | ffɣ, ffuɣ | ffiɣ | tt-ffɣ, tt-ffuɣ | |
| 12 | "die" | mmt | mmut | mmut | tt-mttat |
| 13 | "be afraid" | iksuḍ, ksuḍ | ksaḍ | ksaḍ | tt-iksuḍ, tt-ksuḍ |
| "be first, precede" | izwur, zwur | zwar | zwar | tt-izwur, zgg°ur | |
| 14 | "possess" | ili | li/a | li | tt-ili |
| "want" | iri | ri/a | ri | tt-iri | |
| 15 | "exist" | ili | lli/a | lli | tt-ili |
| "say" | ini | nni/a | nni | tt-ini |
The table below is adapted from Kossmann (2012:40, table 2.12 Uses of MAN stems in Figuig Berber).
| MAN stem | Main context in which MAN stem is used | Examples | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aorist | imperative consecutive | amẓ y-amẓ | "take!" "(and then) he took" |
| ad + Aorist | non-realized | ay y-amẓ | "that he take" |
| rad + Aorist | future | ray y-amẓ | "he will take" |
| ur + Aorist | negated consecutive | ur y-amẓ | "(and then) he didn't take" |
| ad +ur + Aorist | negated imperative | ad ur t-amẓ-t | "don't take!" |
| ur +rad + Aorist | negated future | ur ray y-amẓ | "he will not take" |
| Perfective | past action state (including resultant state) | y-umẓ i-rɣa | "he took" "it was hot, it is hot" |
| ur + Perfective Negative | negated past action negated state | ur y-umiẓ ur i-rɣi | "he did not take" "it was not hot, it is not hot" |
| Imperfective | habitual/iterative imperative | tt-amẓ | "always take!" |
| ad + Imperfective | habitual/iterative imperative | at tt-amẓ-t[g] | "you must always take" |
| ad +ur + Imperfective | negated habitual/iterative imperative | ad ur tt-amẓ-t | "you should never take" |
| ar + Imperfective | simultaneous action (progressive) habitual, iterative, durative | ar i-tt-amẓ | "he is taking, he always takes" |
| ur +ar + Imperfective | negated simultaneous action negated habitual, iterative, durative | ur a y-tt-amẓ, ur aɣ i-tt-amẓ[h] | "he is not taking, he never takes" |
Shilha has around twentystative verbs which are still recognizable as a separate type of verb on the basis of their MAN stem paradigms. In earlier stages of the language, these verbs had their own separate set of PNG markers, which are sporadically found in premodern manuscripts:[52]
In the modern language, these verbs take the regular PNG markers. Only the original singular relative form without prefixy- may still be encountered, for exampleadrar mqqur-n oradrar i-mqqur-n (mountain which.is.big) "big mountain". Stative verbs do not have a separate Perfective negative form. The table shows a selection of stative verbs.
| Aorist | Perfective | Imperfective | |
|---|---|---|---|
| "be few" | idrus | drus | tt-idrus |
| "be many" | igut | ggut | tt-igut |
| "be small, young" | imẓiy | mẓẓiy | tt-imẓiy |
| "be big, old" | imɣur | mqqur | tt-imɣur |
| "be yellow" | iwriɣ | wraɣ | tt-iwriɣ |
| "be red" | izwiɣ | zgg°aɣ | tt-izwiɣ |
There are two deictic clitics which are used with verbs to indicate movement toward or away from the point of reference: centripetald "hither" and centrifugalnn "thither":
ur
not
issin
he.knew
man
which
ass
d
hither
wrrin
they-return
ur issin man assd wrrin
not he.knew which EL-day hither they-return
"he knew not on which day they would return (toward him)"
nɣiɣ
I.killed
awn
father-your
babatun
I.threw
luḥɣ
tither
nn
ixf
of.him
nns
in
wanu
nɣiɣ awn babatun luḥɣnn ixf nns ɣ wanu
I.killed father-your I.threw tither EL-head of.him in EA-waterhole
"I killed your father and threw his head (away from me) into a waterhole" Mismatch in the number of words between lines: 9 word(s) in line 1, 8 word(s) in line 2 (help);
The use of these clitics is compulsory (idiomatic) with certain verbs. For example, the verback "come" almost always goes with the centripetal particle, andaf "find" with the centrifugal clitic:
yucka
he.came
d
hither
darsn
one
yan
urqqas
from
zɣ
Ali
Ɛli
Oumhaouch
Umḥawc
yuckad darsn yan urqqas zɣ Ɛli Umḥawc
he.came hither one EA-messenger from Ali Oumhaouch
"a messenger came to their place from Ali Oumhaouch" Mismatch in the number of words between lines: 8 word(s) in line 1, 7 word(s) in line 2 (help);
igg°z
he.descended
s
to
wanu
yaf
he.finds
nn
tither
ixf
n
of
izimmr
igg°z s wanu yafnn ixf n izimmr
he.descended to EA-waterhole he.finds tither EL-head of EA-ram
"he descended into the waterhole and found the head of a ram"
When the verbal deictic clitics occur after an object pronoun, they change toid andinn:
iga
he.put
tn
them
id
hither
ɣ
in
yan
one
uqqrab
iga tnid ɣ yan uqqrab
he.put them hither in one EA-pouch
"he put them in a pouch"
ar
them
tn
tither
inn
we.are.putting
nttgga
in
txibit
ar tninn nttgga ɣ txibit
them tither we.are.putting in EA-jar
"we usually put them in a jar" Mismatch in the number of words between lines: 6 word(s) in line 1, 5 word(s) in line 2 (help);
A possessive construction within a noun phrase is most frequently expressed as Possesseen Possessor. The prepositionn "of" requires a following inflected noun to be in the annexed state. This kind of possessive construction covers a wide range of relationships, including both alienable and inalienable possession, and most of them not involving actual ownership:
Many such possessive constructions are compounds, whose meaning cannot be deduced from the ordinary meaning of the nouns:
The possessor can itself be a possessee in a following possessive construction:
As a rule, the prepositionn assimilates to, or fuses with, a followingw,y,l orm:[j]
The possessor can also be expressed with a pronominal possessive complement. This consists of a pronominal suffix added to the preposition, which then takes the shapenn- (see§ Pronouns). The form of the 1st singular possessive complement is anomalous:nw after a vowel, andinw after a consonant (or, in some dialects,niw):
There are two ways to express possession within a clause. The most common way is to use the "exist with" construction:
tlla
she.exists
dars
with.him
yat
one
txsayt
tlla dars yat txsayt
she.exists with.him one EA-pumpkin
"he has a pumpkin"
ur
not
dari
with.me
ylli
it.exists
wmya
ma
what
nn
thither
lssaɣ
I.wear
ur dari ylli wmya ma nn lssaɣ
not with.me it.exists EA-anything what thither I.wear
"I've got nothing to wear"
The verbili "exist" (perfectivelli/a) is usually omitted, leaving averbless clause:
darnɣ
with.us
argan
ar
it.is.growing
inkkr
in
tagant
darnɣ argan ar inkkr ɣ tagant
with.us EL-argan it.is.growing in EA-forest
"we have an argan tree growing in the forest" Mismatch in the number of words between lines: 6 word(s) in line 1, 5 word(s) in line 2 (help);
is
question
ur
not
dark
with.you
kra
something
yaḍnin?
other
is ur dark kra yaḍnin?
question not with.you something other
"don't you have something different?"
Alternatively, the verbṭṭf, ṭṭaf "hold, possess" can be used:
iṭṭaf
he.possesses
yan
one
uɣyul
immuddu
he.travels
srs
with.it
iṭṭaf yan uɣyul immuddu srs
he.possesses one EA-donkey he.travels with.it
"he has a donkey which he travels with"
nkki
I
wr
not
ṭṭifɣ
I.possess
luraqq
papers
inu
of.me
nkki wr ṭṭifɣ luraqq inu
I not I.possess papers of.me
"[as for] me, I haven't got my papers"
In addition, there is the verbili "possess" (perfectiveli/a), whose use is restricted to (inalienable) part-whole relationships and kinship relationships:
liɣ
I.possess
alln
ɛdlnin
which.are.good
liɣ alln ɛdlnin
I.possess EL-eyes which.are.good
"I have good eyes"
lan
they.possess
sḍis
six
tarwa
lan sḍis tarwa
they.possess six EA-children
"they have six children"
In al its usagesili can be replaced withṭṭaf or the "exist with" construction, but not the other way around:
azrg
ila
it.possesses
yan
one
uskti
(orazrg iṭṭaf yan uskti)
azrg ila yan uskti
EL-hand-mill it.possesses one EA-handle
"a hand-mill has one handle"
ṭṭafɣ
I.possess
snat
two
tg°mma
(not *liɣ snat tg°mma)
ṭṭafɣ snat tg°mma
I.possess two EA-houses
"I have two houses"
These are a subtype of uninflected nouns. As with proper names, gender is not transparently marked on possessed nouns, which take gender agreement according to the natural sex of the referent. Plurals are either suppletive or made with the preposed pluralizerid. Most possessed nouns are consanguinal kinship terms which require a possessive suffix (the table contains a selection).
| Singular | Plural | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|
| "the mother(s) of" | ma- | id ma- | |
| "the father(s) of" | baba- | id baba- | |
| "the daughter(s) of" | ylli- | ysti- | |
| "the son(s) of" | yiw-, yu-, ywi- | (t-arwa) | the plural is a pl.m. inflected noun "sons, offspring" |
| "the sister(s) of" | wlt-ma- | yst-ma- | compound, lit. "the daughter(s) of the mother of" |
| "the brother(s) of" | g°-ma- | ayt-ma- | compound, lit. "the son(s) of the mother of" |
| "grandmother: the mother of the mother of" | jdda- | Arabic loan | |
| "grandfather: the father of the mother of" | ti-ma- | compound | |
| "grandmother: the mother of the father of" | tabt-ti- | compound | |
| "grandfather: the father of the father of" | jddi- | Arabic loan |
These kinship terms cannot occur without pronominal suffix. Example:
| ultma-Ø | "my sister" |
| ultma-k | "your (sg.m.) sister" |
| ultma-m | "your (sg.f.) sister" |
| ultma-s | "her sister, his sister" |
| istma-t-nɣ | "our sisters" |
| istma-t-un | "your (pl.m.) sisters" |
| istma-t-unt | "your (pl.f.) sisters" |
| istma-t-sn | "their (m.) sisters" |
| istma-t-snt | "their (f.) sisters" |
If these nouns are part of an NP-internal possessive construction, possession must be indicated twice:
yiwi-s
son-his
n
of
g°ma-Ø
brother-my
yiwi-s n g°ma-Ø
son-his of brother-my
"my brother's son"
illi-s
daughter-its
n
of
wasif
illi-s n wasif
daughter-its of EA-river
"the daughter of the river: fever" (compound)
The suffix must also be added when possession is expressed in a clause:
ur
not
iṭṭif
he.possesses
abla
except
yat
one
ultma-s
sister.his
ur iṭṭif abla yat ultma-s
not he.possesses except one sister.his
"he only has one sister"
Some kinship terms are not possessed nouns but inflected nouns which take possessive complements (see examples above).
Another group of possessed nouns require a following noun phrase, occurring only in an NP-internal possessive phrase. A following inflected noun must be in the EA.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| "the son(s) of, native(s) of" | w | ayt |
| "the female native(s) of" | wlt | yst |
These four possessed nouns occur as first element in compound kinship terms (see above;w then becomesg° ing°-ma- "the brother of"). They also serve to indicate descent, origin and ethnicity:
Whenw is followed by another (phonemic)w the result isgg°:
Ayt occurs in many Shilha ethnonyms:
The proprietive elements masc.bu "he with, he of" and fem.mm "she with, she of" are borrowed from Arabic (original meaning "father of", "mother of"). They are used as formative elements and require a following inflected noun to be in the annexed state. The plural is formed with the pluralizerid:
|
In many cases,bu fuses with a following nominal prefix:
bu
he with
y-g°ra
→
Biyg°ra, Big°ra
"Biougra" (place-name)
bu y-g°ra → {Biyg°ra, Big°ra}
{he with} EA-frogs {} {"Biougra" (place-name)}
The femininemm is encountered less frequently:
mm
she with
lɣrur
delusion
mm lɣrur
{she with} delusion
"the world, worldly existence"
The privative elements masc.war "he without" and fem.tar "she without" are made up of a gender prefix (masculinew-, femininet-) and an elementar which is probably related to the negationwr "not". They do not require the annexed state, and should probably be translated as "who does not have", with the following noun phrase as object:
tar she without laman certainty tar laman {she without} certainty "the world, worldly existence"
|
Tashlhiyt, like other Berber languages, has a small number of loanwords fromPhoenician-Punic,Hebrew, andAramaic.[54] There are also Latin loans from the time of theRoman empire, although the region in which Tashlhiyt is spoken was never in the empire's territory.[55]
Most Tashlhiyt loanwords are Arabic in origin.Maarten Kossmann estimates that about 6% of the basic Tashlhiyt lexicon is borrowed from Arabic;Salem Chaker estimates that 25% of the stable lexicon overall is borrowed from Arabic.[56]
Although some nouns denoting typically Islamic concepts such astimzgida "mosque",taẓallit "ritual prayer",uẓum "fasting", which certainly belong to the very oldest layer of Arabic loans,[57] are fully incorporated into Shilha morphology, many equally central Islamic concepts are expressed with unincorporated nouns, for examplelislam "Islam",lḥajj "pilgrimage to Mecca",zzka "alms tax". It is possible that during the early stages of islamization such concepts were expressed with native vocabulary or with earlier, non-Arabic loans.[58][59] One such term which has survived into the modern era istafaska "ewe for slaughter on the (Islamic)Feast of Immolation",[k] frompascha,[l] the Latinized name of the Jewish festival ofPassover (Pesaḥ) or, more specifically, of thepaschal lamb (qorbān Pesaḥ) which is sacrificed during the festival.[60] Another example isibkkaḍan "sins", obsolete in the modern language, but attested in a premodern manuscript text,[61] whose singularabkkaḍu is borrowed from Romance (cf. Spanishpecado, Latinpeccātum; modern Shilha usesddnub "sins", from Arabic).[62][63]
Tashlhiyt numerals 5 to 9 may be loanwords, although their origin is unclear; they do not seem to originate from Phoenician-Punic or Arabic.[64] Additionally, all Tashlhiyt numerals agree in gender, whereas Arabic numerals do not.[65]
Destaing[66] mentions a secret language (argot) calledinman ortadubirt which is spoken by "some people of Souss, in particular the descendants of Sidi Ḥmad u Musa." He quotes an example:is kn tusat inman? "do you speak the secret language?"
Two secret languages used by Shilha women are described by Lahrouchi and Ségéral. They are calledtagnawt (cf. Shilhaagnaw "deaf-mute person") andtaɛjmiyt ortaqqjmiyt. They employ various processes, such as reduplication, to disguise the ordinary language.[67][68]
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)At present, there is no convincing phonetic or phonological evidence for the presence of word stress in Tashlhiyt.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Les nouveaux-convertis ne parlaient pas l'arabe et il fallut fabriquer un vocabulaire religieux dans leur propre langue, le berbère
The present distribution of many specifically Berber terms for Islamic religious concepts suggests that a uniform Berber Islamic terminology was consciously created in order to meet this need, no doubt by early missionaries. […] There are three types of Islamic religious terms which are possibly part of the earliest stratum of missionary activity: newly coined terms or terms taken over from Berber; ancient Christian or Jewish terms mainly from Latin (or maybe Greek); and Arabic terms.
lʕid n tfaska « la fête du mouton»
abkkaḍu, pl. ibkkaḍan ‖ «péché » [...] ddnb, pl. ddnub ‖ ◊ 1. « ①péché »
[...] one suspects that abǝkkaḍ, as a Christian term, is a relatively late borrowing.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
Definitions from Wiktionary
Media from Commons
Phrasebook from WikivoyageTachelhit edition of Wikipedia
Data from WikidataEL:free state ("état libre")EA:annexed state ("état d'annexion")ORD:ordinal numeral