Branch of Northern Berber languages
TheZenati languages are a branch of theNorthern Berber language family ofNorth Africa. They were named after the medievalZenataBerber tribal confederation. They were first proposed in the works of French linguistEdmond Destaing (1915)[1] (1920–23).[2] Zenata dialects are distributed across the central Berber world (Maghreb), from northeasternMorocco to just west ofAlgiers, and the northernSahara, from southwesternAlgeria aroundBechar toZuwara inLibya. The most widely spoken Zenati languages areTmazight of the Rif in northern Morocco andTashawit Berber in northeastern Algeria, each of which have over 3 million speakers.
According toKossmann (2013: 21–24),[3] Zenati is a rather arbitrary grouping, in which he includes the following varieties:
- Riffian (Riffian Berber, or Rif-Berber, local name:Tmaziɣt, north ofMorocco); IncludesArzew dialect, inArzew in western Algeria
- Eastern Morocco Zenati (north east of Morocco)
- Iznasen
- Eastern Middle Atlas:Ait Seghrouchen and a group of dialects includingAit Warain (Ayt Warayn) (north-central Morocco)
- Western Algerian, west ofAlgiers (a diffuse group):
- Shawiya (Chaouia), aroundBatna andKhenchela, south ofConstantine in northeastern Algeria
- Mzab–Wargla (Northern Saharan oases):
- South Oran and Figuig, in theksours along the Algerian–Moroccan border and inFiguig in southeastern Morocco
- Gourara Berber (Taznatit) (Gourara, southwestern Algeria, aroundTimimoun)
- Tidikelt andTuat (Touat, Algeria)
- Mozabite akaMzab, Tumzabt (northern Algerian Sahara, nearGhardaia)
- Wargla (Ouargli akaTagergrent, Teggargarent), northern Algerian Sahara, nearOuargla
- Oued Righ Berber (incl. Touggourt;Ethnologue name "Temacine Tamazight") inOued Righ, aroundTouggourt andTemacine, Algeria
- Southeastern Tunisian–Libyan:Djerbi (island ofDjerba),Douiret (Douiret in southernTunisia),Matmata Berber (Matmata),Sened andZuwara Berber (Zuwara in northwesternLibya)
According to Kossmann (1999:31-32, 86, 172),[4] common innovations defining the Zenati languages include:
- The vowela- in nominal prefixes is dropped in a number of words when it precedes CV, where C is a single consonant and V is a full (non-schwa) vowel. For example,afus "hand" is replaced withfus. (A similar development is found in someEastern Berber languages, but not Nafusi.)
- Verbs whose original aorist forms end in-u while their perfect forms end in-a end up with-a in the aorist as well, leaving the aorist / perfect distinction unmarked for these verbs. For example, *ktu "forget", Siwittu, becomes Ouarglitta. (This also affectsNafusi.)
- Verbs consisting (in the aorist) of two consonants with no vowel other than schwa fall into two classes elsewhere in Berber:[5][6] one where a variable final vowel appears in the perfect form, and one which continues to lack a final vowel in the perfect. In Zenati, the latter class has been entirely merged into the former in the perfect, with the single exception of the negative perfect of *əɣ s "want". For example,Kabyle (non-Zenati)gər "throw", pf.-gər (int.-ggar), corresponds to Ouargli (Zenati)gər, pf.-gru. (This change too also affectsNafusi; Basset (1929:9) gives examples where it appears not to occur in Chenoua.)
- Proto-Berber *-əβ has become-i in Zenati.[7] For example, *arəβ "write" becomesari. (This change also occurs in varieties including theCentral Atlas Tamazight dialect of theIzayan, Nafusi, andSiwi.)
- Proto-Berber palatalisedk´ andg´, corresponding tok andg in non-Zenati varieties, becomeš andž in Zenati (although a fair number of irregular correspondences for this are found.) For example,k´ăm "you (f. sg.)" becomesšəm. (This change also occurs in Nafusi and Siwi.)
In addition to the correspondence ofk andg toš andž, Chaker (1972),[8] while expressing uncertainty about the linguistic coherence of Zenati, notes as shared Zenati traits:
- A proximal demonstrative suffix "this"-u, rather than-a
- A final-u in the perfect of two-consonant verbs, rather than-a (e.g.yə-nsu "he slept" rather thanyə-nsa elsewhere)
These characteristics identify a more restricted subset of Berber than those previously mentioned, mainly northern Saharan varieties; they exclude, for example, Chaoui[9] and all but the easternmostRif dialects.[10]
- ^Edmond Destaing, "Essai de classification des dialectes berbères du MarocArchived September 4, 2011, at theWayback Machine",Etudes et Documents Berbères 19-20, 2001-2002 (1915)
- ^Edmond Destaing, "Note sur la conjugaison des verbes de forme C1eC2",Mémoires de la Société Linguistique de Paris, 22 (1920/3), pp. 139-148
- ^Maarten Kossmann (2013)The Arabic Influence on Northern Berber
- ^Maarten Kossmann,Essai sur la phonologie du proto-berbère, Rüdiger Köppe:Köln
- ^Maarten Kossmann, "Note sur la conjugaison des verbes CC à voyelle alternante en berbère", Etudes et Documents Berbères 12, 1994, pp. 17-33
- ^André Basset,La langue berbère. Morphologie. Le verbe.-Étude de thèmes. Paris 1929, pp. 9, 58
- ^See also Maarten Kossmann, "Les verbes à i finale en zénèteArchived July 18, 2011, at theWayback Machine", Etudes et Documents Berbères 13, 1995, pp. 99-104.
- ^Salem Chaker, 1972, "La langue berbère au Sahara",Revue de l'Occident musulman et de la Méditerranée 11:11, pp. 163-167
- ^# Penchoen, Th.G., 1973,Etude syntaxique d'un parler berbère (Ait Frah de l'Aurès), Napoli, Istituto Universitario Orientale (= Studi magrebini V). p. 14
- ^Lafkioui, Mena. 2007.Atlas linguistique des variétés berbères du Rif. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe. pp. 207, 178.
