Central Morocco Tamazight

Central Morocco Tamazight
ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ tamaziɣt
Spoken in	Morocco, much fewer in:  Algeria  France[1]
Region	Central Morocco – Middle Atlas
Total speakers	Between 3 and 5 million[1][2]
Ranking	34 (rank of Berber languages as a whole)
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Berber Northern Berber Atlas Central Morocco Tamazight
Writing system	Latin, Tifinagh, Arabic
Official status
Official language in	None
Regulated by	IRCAM
Language codes
ISO 639-1	None
ISO 639-2	ber
ISO 639-3	tzm
Location of Central Morocco Tamazight speakers in Morocco
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

For a correct Tifinagh font display, please install this IRCAM font.

Central Morocco Tamazight (Central Atlas Tamazight, Tamazight, Braber, native name: ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ tamaziɣt) is a Berber language^{[nb 1]} of the Afro-Asiatic language family, primarily spoken by 3 to 5 million people in Central Morocco, as well as in Algeria and France.^[1][2] Beginning in the seventh century, the influx of Arabs and the resulting cultural influences subjected native Berbers of Morocco to constant forces of assimilation.^[3][4] Currently Berber languages are not official state languages in Morocco and Algeria, maintaining a secondary status, and are primarily spoken in the private sphere.^[5]

Originally Tamazight, as other Berber languages, was an unwritten language.^[6] Currently, however, three writing systems exist for the language: Tifinagh, the Latin alphabet and the Arabic script,^[7] Beginning in September, 2003, Tifinagh has been used to teach children Tamazight in Moroccan schools,^[8][9] whereas the Latin script, which has a great deal of established writing, is preferred among Amazigh linguists and researchers.^[7] Finally, the Arabic script is the predominant orthography for Berber literature in Morocco,^[9] and Islamists support its use,^[10] despite associations of pan-Arabism, although it does not have popular support. As a result, the three writing systems conflict, causing political tension.^[7]

Tamazight is one of the four most-spoken Berber languages, in addition to Kabyle, Tashelhiyt, and Tarifit,^[11][12] and rivals Tashelhiyt as the most-spoken Berber language in Morocco.^[13][14][15] Differentiating these dialects is complicated by the fact that speakers of other languages may also refer to their language as 'Tamazight'.^[2] Additionally, the differences between all three groups are largely phonological and lexical, rather than syntactic.^[16] Tamazight itself has a relatively large degree of internal diversity, including whether spirantization occurs.^[2][17] As is typical of Afro-Asiatic languages, Tamazight has a series of "emphatic consonants" (realized as pharyngealized), as well as uvulars and pharyngeals, and it lacks /p/ in its stop inventory. Tamazight has a phonemic three-vowel system, but also has numerous words without phonemic vowels, and those consisting entirely of voiceless consonants do not phonetically contain voiced vowels.

The standard word order is Verb-Subject-Object (with the subject in construct state) but sometimes Subject-Verb-Object (with the subject in free state).^[18] Words inflect for gender, number, and state, using prefixes, suffixes, and circumfixes. Verbs are heavily inflected, being marked for tense, aspect, mode, voice, person of subject and object, and polarity, sometimes undergoing ablaut. Even borrowed verbs will undergo native patterns, including ablaut, due to the thoroughness of Tamazight borrowing from Arabic.^[19][20]

Contents 1 Classification 2 History 3 Geographic distribution 4 Status 4.1 Official status 5 Orthography 6 Phonology 6.1 Consonants 6.2 Vowels 6.3 Stress 7 Grammar 7.1 Morphology 7.2 Syntax 8 Vocabulary 9 Examples 10 See also 11 Notes 12 References 13 Bibliography 14 External links

Classification

Central Morocco Tamazight speakers refer to themselves as Amazigh. The plural is Imazghen, an endonymic ethnonym that translates as "free people".^[21] The term Tamazight, the feminine form of Amazigh, refers to the language. Both words are also used self-referentially by other Berber groups; although Central Morocco Tamazight speakers use them regularly and exclusively to replace local terms such as ašəlḥi or rifi.^[2](Using <gh> for <ɣ> when embedding Berber words in English text follows the tradition set by French-language publications, even those written by Berbers.^[22]) Other forms of nomenclature for Central Morocco Tamazight include the traditional "Braber" in dialetical Arabic which exists in older studies,^[2] as well as the terms "Beraber" and "Taberbrit".^[23] The name "Tamazirt" resulted from French transcription of Tamazight /ɣ/ with the letter <r>, which in French represents the similar-sounding phoneme /ʁ/.^{[nb 2]} "Berber" may also be used to refer to all Berber dialects/languages, though its etymology is pejorative and is eschewed by Berber people and intellectuals.^[24]

Tamazight belongs to the linguistic family of (or in linguistic terms is related genetically to) languages in North Africa and Southwest Asia, including the Semitic languages, the Egyptian language, and the Chadic languages. Tamazight is consistent with the Afro-Asiatic linguistic family in that it has a two-gender system, verb-subject-object (VSO) typology, emphatic consonants (realized in Tamazight as pharyngealized), and a templatic morphology. Moreover, Central Morocco Tamazight contains a causative morpheme /s/, evident in all Afro-Asiatic subfamilies, as well as in other macrofamilies, such as the Niger-Congo languages. It belongs to the Atlas subgroup of the Northern Berber language family. Central Morocco Tamazight belongs in the class of Berber languages in which phonemes, originally plosives, shifted into fricatives. Therefore, Tamazight contrasts with the group of Berber languages in which phonemes remained plosives, and another group in which phonemes shifted to affricates.^[25]

Tamazight is in the middle of a dialect continuum. Tarifit is primarily spoken in the north-east region, and Tashelhiyt is primarily spoken in the south-west region, with a smooth transition between the dialects.^[2] The basic lexicon of Tamazight differs markedly from Tashelhiyt, and its verbal system is more similar to Tarifit or Kabyle.^[2] Moreover, Tamazight has a greater amount of internal diversity than Tashelhiyt.^[17]

Tamazight's dialects are divided into three distinct subgroups and geographic regions: those spoken in the Middle Atlas mountains; those spoken in the High Atlas mountains; and those spoken in Djebel Sargho and its foothills.^[2] Although the characteristic spirantization of /b/ > [β],/t/ > [θ] or [h], /d/ > [ð], /k/ > [ç] or [ʃ], and /g/ > [ʝ], [ʃ] or [j] is apparent in Berber languages in central and northern Morocco and Algeria, as in many Middle Atlas dialects, it is more rare in High Atlas Tamazight speakers, and is absent in Tamazight speakers from the foothills of Djebel Sargho.^[2][26] Southern dialects (e.g. Ayt Atta) may also be differentiated syntactically: while other dialects predicate with the auxiliary /d/ (e.g. /d argaz/ "it's a man"), Southern dialects use the typically Chleuh auxiliary verb /g/ (e.g. /iga argaz/ "it's a man").^[2]

The differences between each of the three groups are primarily phonological and lexical.^[16] Ayt Ayache (AA) and Ayt Seghrouchen (AS) are two mutually intelligible dialects of Tamazight (Ayt Seghrouchen being a much larger tribe).^[27] South Oran is a third dialect.^[1] Additional groups speaking Tamazight include: Beni Ouarain, Ait Morghi, Ait Alaham, Ait Youb, Marmoucha, Ait Youssi, Beni Mguild, Zaiane, Zemmour, Ait Rbaa, Ait Seri, Beni Mtir, Guerouane, Ait Segougou, Ait Morghad, Ait Hadiddou, Ait Izdeg, Ait Sikhmane, Ayt Ndhir, and Ait Atta.^{[28][29][nb 3]}

History

Amazigh languages have a history going back for 33 centuries.^[30] The Berbers have lived in North Africa between western Egypt and the Atlantic Ocean for as far back as records of the area go, and they were the first people to live in Morocco.^[3][16] The Berber states of Numidia and Mauretania existed from the third century BC to Roman colonization early in the first century AD, and subsequently were conquered by the Arabs around the seventh century.^[31][16][32] The Berbers willingly accepted Islam upon the waves of Arab migration in the mid seventh century.^[4]

Before the 9th century, most of Northwest Africa was a Berber-speaking Muslim area. The process of Arabization only became a major factor with the arrival of the Banu Hilal in the 11th century, a tribe sent by the Fatimids of Egypt to punish the Berber Zirid dynasty for having abandoned Shiism. The Banu Hilal reduced the Zirids to a few coastal towns, and took over much of the plains; their influx was a major factor in the Arabization of the region, and in the spread of nomadism in areas where agriculture had previously been dominant. Since then the Berbers have been mainly culturally assimilated in much of North Africa by Arabs. However, Berber languages continued to be spoken, and unlike the experiences of other groups indigenous to the Middle East, Arabic never became a 'native' language for the Berbers, despite its use as a lingua franca, due to the popular Berber culture and the weakness of the central power (makhzan).^[33]

Morocco remained ruled by the Sherifian sultanate, except for northern areas under Spanish control, until the 1912 Treaty of Fez made most of Morocco a French protectorate, leaving the Sherifian monarchy but establishing a French military presence and installing a French commissioner-general.^[34] In the 1930s the French created separate laws for Arabs and Berbers, which sparked Arab nationalism.^[35] The "Berber Dahir", promulgated in 1930 by the French, separated the Berber legal system from that of the Arabs, letting them follow their established laws, without being under the authority of the Moroccan sultan.^[36][37][38] The French believed the Berbers to be closer to Europeans than the Arabs, and saw them as a possible ally against the Arabs, to be drawn into French culture.^[37] The French encouraged Berber culture, and used Berber recruits in the French army, causing Berbers to adopt Arabic language and culture and migrate to farms and cities.^[4] Berbers also played an important role in the Moroccan war of independence.^[4]

Soon after the independence in the middle of the 20th century, all the Maghreb countries to varying degrees pursued a policy of Arabization, aimed primarily at displacing French from its colonial position as the dominant language of education and literacy, but under these policies the use of Berber languages was suppressed or even banned. The countries of North Africa established Arabic as their official language, replacing French (except in Libya), although the shift from French to Arabic for official purposes continues even to this day. As a result, most Berbers had to study and know Arabic, and had no opportunities until the 21st century to use their mother tongue at school or university. This may have accelerated the existing process of Arabization of Berbers, especially in already bilingual areas, such as among the Chaouis.

After Morocco's independence in 1956, the Arab-Islamic sentiment which was sparked by the French policy of dividing the populace on socioethnic lines lead to increased emphasis on Arabization.^[37]

Berberism had its roots before the independence of these countries, but was limited to some Berber elite. It only began to gain success when North African states replaced the colonial language with Arabic and identified exclusively as Arab nations, downplaying or ignoring the existence and the cultural specificity of Berbers. Berbers in Morocco were also disadvantaged after the independence of 1956,^[39] as while they were well-represented in the police force and army, they were not in government, and their French patrons had lost power.^[4] However, its distribution remains highly uneven. In response to its demands, Morocco and Algeria have both modified their policies, with Algeria redefining itself constitutionally as an "Arab, Berber, Muslim nation". Now, Berber is a "national" language in Algeria and is taught in some Berber speaking areas as a non-compulsory language. In Morocco, Berber has no official status, but is now taught as a compulsory language regardless of the area or the ethnicity. Additionally, on October 17, 2001 King Mohammed VI sealed the decree (Dahir 1–01–299) creating and organizing the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture (IRCAM).^[40][41]

Geographic distribution

Morocco has retained Berber languages due to its mountainous terrain, its distance from the epicenter of the Arabic world, and its governmental structure.^[4] The Berber language and traditions generally have been maintained most prominently in the highlands of Kabylie and Morocco, most of which remained largely independent during the Roman and Ottoman colonizations, and where the Phoenicians were unable to penetrate much beyond the coast. However, the highlands were affected by North African invasions, including, most recently, French occupation.^[4]

Central Morocco Tamazight is among the four most-spoken Berber languages (the other three being Kabyle, Tashelhiyt, and Tarifit),^[11][12] and rivals Tashelhiyt as the most-spoken Berber language in Morocco.^[13][14][15] Central Morocco Tamazight is mostly spoken in the entire Middle Atlas and its outcroppings, reaching east to Taza and west to the region near Rabat. ^[1][2][42] It is also spoken in the central and eastern High Atlas mountains, largely in Morocco but also in Algeria.^[1][2] It is thus spoken across areas with widely varying ecological conditions — from the mountainous and forested regions of the Middle Atlas mountains to the Eastern Sahara (Tifilalet).^[2] Berber in Morocco is spread into three areas: Tarifit in the north, Tamazight in the center, and Tashelhiyt in the south/southwest.^[43] Tamazight is mutually intelligible with the dialects Tarift and Tashelhiyt; but Tashelhiyt- and Tarifit-speakers cannot understand each other,^[44] although transitional varieties exist between these dialects, creating a smooth transition.^[45]

Figures for the number of speakers of Berber languages are generally a matter of estimates rather than linguistic censuses.^[12][46] At least a third of Moroccans seem to be Berberphones.^{[47][48][49][50][51]} Tamazight is spoken by about 40~49% of Morocco's Berber-speakers, while Tashelhiyt commands 32~40% and Tarifit 20~25%.^[14][51]

In Algeria, Berber speakers are located in the Kabylie, M'zab, and Aure.^[52] Central Morocco Tamazight is spoken in the Atlas mountains in western Algeria, in valleys next to Taza, near Rabat, and close to the Moroccan border in the south.^[1]

Status

The two native languages of Morocco are Berber dialects and Moroccan Arabic. Modern Arabic is used for government, mass media, education, the legal system, and religion. Berbers, as well as most other Moroccans, are Muslims and as such consider Arabic a holy language.^[53] In both Morocco and Algeria, Berber languages are of low status, used mainly in the home, and not official state languages.^[5] However, media broadcasts, music, and newspapers are available in Berber languages.^[54]

Of the Central Morocco Tamazight speakers, 40–45% are monolingual, while the others use Arabic as a second language.^[1] Monolingual speakers consist mostly of an older population and children in the Rif and Atlas Mountains or in the desert.^[24] Women are more likely to be monolingual than men, since they typically stay in the village while the men go to work in the cities.^[37] Bilingual Berber speakers have learned Moroccan Arabic via schooling, migration, media, or through the administration.^[24] Most rural Berber children are monolingual, and must struggle to succeed in schools where the teachers do not speak Berber, and require them to learn both Arabic and French.^[24]

The majority of Berbers in Morocco are poor and live in rural areas, though there is a class of rich Berbers who have even created neighborhoods in Casablanca.^[55][1] Tamazight speakers reportedly have a lower birth rate than the country of Morocco as a whole.^[56] Being the language of the home, girls especially grow up with Berber language and pass it on to their children — this gender stratification helps to preserve the language.^[57]

Berbers have reached high positions in the social hierarchy of North African countries; good examples are the former president of Algeria, Liamine Zeroual, and the former prime minister of Morocco, Driss Jettou. In Algeria, furthermore, Chaoui Berbers are over-represented in the Army for historical reasons. However, Berberists who openly show their political orientations rarely reach high hierarchical positions, Khalida Toumi (a feminist and Berberist militant, nominated as head of the Ministry of Communication in Algeria) being a notable exception.

Berber resentment is largely caused by economic issues and the feeling that their interests are not represented in government, along with the reduction in importance of the language which is brought about by the necessity to migrate to cities where Arabic is needed for communication.^[4] Tamazight along with its relative Tashelhiyt are undergoing "contraction" as rural families move to cities and stop speaking Tamazight, leading many intellectuals to fear Berber language shift or regression.^[58][24] However, Tamazight speakers are reported to immigrate less than many other Berber groups.^[56] Moreover, Tamazight has a large enough body of native speakers not to be considered under risk of endangerment.^[9]

Official status

Morocco

There are multiple political parties and cultural associations in Morocco that advocate for the advancement of Berber, calling for it to be recognized as an official language, used in the mass media, and taught in schools.^[59][30] Since 1994 the situation has improved: King Hassan II declared that a national Berber dialect would acquire a formal status; television broadcasts are summarized in three Berber languages (Tamazight, Tashelhiyt, and Tarifit) three times a day; and educational materials for schools are being developed.^[35][60][61] Tamazight was also declared to be part of the national heritage of Morocco.^[62] However, Berber names are in effect not permitted in Morocco — Moroccan law stipulates that first names must have a "Moroccan character", and uncommon names are usually only permitted if found a lists of allowed names prepared by the High Commission of the Civil Registry, most of which are Arab.^[35][63][64] Berber is banned in courts, and monolingual Berber speakers are barred from government jobs.^[55]

On October 17, 2001 King Mohammed VI sealed the decree (Dahir 1–01–299) creating and organizing the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture (IRCAM).^[40][65] IRCAM's board is composed of Amazigh experts, artists, and activists, all of whom are appointed by the king.^[7]

Algeria

Tamazight—referring to Berber languages in general, rather than to Central Moroccan Tamazight specifically— has recently been recognized as a national language^[66] (but not the official language^[67]) of Algeria. In 2007, Algeria's Government Council also approved the creation of the Academy of the Tamazight Language, and of the Higher Council of the Tamazight Language, which control standardization of Tamazight and political integration of the language, respectively.^[67]

Orthography

Originally Tamazight, along with most other Berber languages, was exclusively unwritten.^[6][33] It was preserved through oral use in rural areas, isolated from urban hubs.^[33] While Berber scholars (like Al-Youssi and Al-Mokhtar Soussi) did exist, they felt the need to 'integrate' into Arab Moroccan culture, and wrote only in Arabic, though they lead the masses in Berber.^[33]

Currently three writing systems exist for Tamazight: Tifinagh, the Latin alphabet and the Arabic script.^[7] To some extent, the choice of writing system is a political one, with various subgroups expressing preference based on ideology and politics.^[7]

Tifinagh

Neo-Tifinagh,^{[nb 4]} a resurrected version of an alphabetic script found in historical engravings, is currently the de jure writing system for Tamazight in Morocco,^[68] made official by a Dahir of King Mohammed VI, based on the recommendation of IRCAM.^[7] It was recognized in the Unicode standard on June 2004.^[30]

Tifinagh was chosen to be official after consideration of its univocity (one sound per symbol), economy, consistency, and historicity.^[69] Its graphemes' pronunciation may vary regionally, e.g. ⴳ (g) may also be pronounced [j] or [dʒ].^[69]

Although it avoids the negative connotations of the Latin and Arabic scripts,^[70] Tifinagh has been criticized for not being historically authentic, being designed specifically for Kabyle, and being impractical to implement.^[71][72] Despite being used to teach children Tamazight in Moroccan schools since September 2003,^[8] Tifinagh is not found on public signs or buildings in Morocco.^[73] (Following the Tifinagh Dahir road signs were installed in the Riffian city of Nador in Arabic and Tinifagh—these were removed by security forces in the middle of the night soon after.^[7]) It is preferred by young people as a symbol of identity and has popular support.^[7][73] Until recently, virtually no books or websites were published in this alphabet, with activists favouring Latin (or, more rarely, Arabic) scripts for serious usage; however, it is extremely popular for symbolic use, with many books and websites written in a different script featuring logos or title pages using Neo-Tifinagh. However, in Morocco, the king took a "neutral" position between the claims of Latin script and Arabic script by adopting the Neo-Tifinagh script in 2003; as a result, books are beginning to be published in this script, and it is taught in some schools. Outside Morocco, it has no official status. Ironically, the Moroccan state arrested and imprisoned people using this script during 1980s and the 1990s.^[74]

Latin

The Latin script has its origins in French colonialism.^[75] French missionaries and linguists found the Arabic script inconvenient, so they adapted the Latin alphabet to various Berber languages and Arabic vernaculars.^[75] While the established body of literature in the Arabic script was a barrier to wider adoption of the Latin script, it caught on among the French-educated minority, particularly in Algeria.^[75] Since independence, the Latin alphabet has been largely favored by the intelligentsia, especially in the Kabylia where the Berberists are largely pro-Westernization and French-educated.^[75] A standard transcription for Kabylie was established in 1970, and most other Northern Berber dialects have to varying extents published literature in the Latin alphabet.^[75]

The Latin alphabet has been preferred among Amazigh linguists and researchers, and also has a great deal of established writing, including newspapers, periodicals, and magazines.^[7][9][76] It is not as popular in Morocco as in Algeria, but it is found particularly in the Riffian area.^[76] It is backed by the Amazigh elite, but is vehemently opposed by the Moroccan pro-Arab establishment.^[7] However, it is not nearly as ensconced for Tamazight as for Kabyle.^[77]

The orthography used in most modern printed works is the INALCO standard, designed for phonemicity.^[75] Older systems from the colonial French era are still found in place names and personal names.^[75] The older colonial system showed marked influence from French, for instance writing /u, w/ as <ou> and /sˤ/ as <ç>, and was inconsistent in marking many Berber sounds, for instance writing /ʕ/ as a circumflex over the vowel, and often leaving emphatics unmarked.^[75]

Arabic

The Arabic script traditionally has been used consistently by all Berbers to write their language, and is the predominant orthography for Berber literature for the general public in Morocco.^[76][78] Some Tamazight newspapers, periodicals, and magazines are written in Arabic script, although the Latin alphabet is preferred.^[9] Islamists support the use of Arabic script, wanting Morocco to be an Islamic country that shuns Western secularism and colonial practices.^[10] Amazigh activists, however, eschew Arabic script which is generally unpopular among Berbers who believe it is symptomatic of North African governments' pan-Arabist views.^[7]

The oldest examples of Berber written in the Arabic script date back to the 10th century, and the youngest examples of medieval Berber spelling date to the 14th century.^[79] The spelling was remarkably consistent, unlike old orthographies for European languages, suggesting deliberate design.^[79] Older manuscripts show more consistency, while newer ones display corruption from copying by non-Berberphones, or by speakers of Tashelhiyt who were familiar with the different Arabic orthography for Tashelhiyt that has been in use from the 16th century to the present.^[79]

Phonology

Consonants

Tamazight has a contrastive set of "flat" consonants, manifested in two ways:

• For front segments, pharyngealization: /tˤ dˤ sˤ zˤ lˤ nˤ rˤ/)
• For back segments, labialization: /ɡʷ kʷ qʷ xʷ ɣʷ/)

Note that pharyngealization may spread to a syllable or even a whole word.^[80] Historically Proto-Berber only had two pharyngealized phonemes (/dˤ, zˤ/), but modern Berber languages have borrowed others from Arabic and developed new ones through sound shifts.^[81]

In addition Tamazight has uvular and pharyngeal consonants, as well as a conspicuous lack of /p/ in its plosive inventory.^{[nb 5]} The lateral fricative [ɬ] occurs in the Ayt Seghrouchen dialect as an allophone of the sequence /lt/.^[82]

All segments may be geminated except for the pharyngeals /ʕ ħ/. In Ayt Ndhir, which is a dialect of Tamazight with spirantization, the spirantizeable consonants appear in their stop forms when geminated, and additionally the geminate correspondents of /ɣ, dˤ, ʃ, ʒ, w, j/ are usually /qː, tˤː, t͡ʃː, d͡ʒː, gʷː, gː/ respectively. However some native Berber words have /ɣː/ (not /qː/) where other dialects have singleton /ɣ/, and similarly for /ʃː, ʒː/.^[83] In addition, in Arabic loans singleton non-spirantized [b, t, tˤ, d, k, g, q] occur (though [b t d] and somewhat [tˤ] often alternate with their spirantized versions in loans), giving this alternation marginal phonemic status.^[80]

In the table below, when consonants appear in pairs, the one on the left is voiceless.

IPA chart Tamazight consonants (AA and AS)^[84][85]

	Labial		Dental/ Alveolar				Post- alveolar/ Palatal		Post-palatal				Velar	Uvular				Pharyn- geal4		Glottal4
			plain		flat				plain1		flat2			plain		flat2
Nasal	m		n		nˤ
Plosive		b6	t7	d	tˤ	dˤ			k	ɡ				q		qʷ
Fricative	f		s	z	sˤ	zˤ	ʃ	ʒ			kʷ	gʷ		x	ɣ	xʷ3	ɣʷ3	ħ	ʕ	h
Approximant							j						w
Lateral			(ɬ)5	l	lˤ
Flap/Trill[nb 6]			r		rˤ

Phonetic notes:

1. pronounced as fricatives in Ayt Ayache and stops in Ayt Seghrouchen
2. only occur in Ayt Ayache
3. rare—native speakers can freely substitute /x ɣ/
4. mainly in Arabic borrowings
5. in Ayt Seghrouchen, realization of the sequence /-lt-/ for some speakers, e.g. ultma 'sister', altu 'not yet'
6. For a small number of speakers, /b/ is sometimes lenited to [β].^[86]
7. /t/ is aspirated [tʰ].^[86]

Example words

Phoneme	Example	Gloss	Phoneme	Example	Gloss	Phoneme	Example	Gloss
/m/	/ma/	'what?'	/n/	/ini/	'say!'	/b/	/bab/	'owner'
/t/	/isalt/	'he asked him'	/d/	/da/	'here'	/tˤ/	/tˤalˤb/	'to demand'
/dˤ/	/dˤmn/	'to guarantee'	/k/	/ks/	'to tend sheep'	/ɡ/	/iɡa/	'he did'
/kʷ/	/kʷulː/	'all'	/ɡʷ/	/aɡʷːa/	'a burden'	/q/	/iqrˤːa/	'he confessed'
/qʷ/	/iqʷmːrˤ/	'he gambled'	/f/	/fa/	'to yawn'	/s/	/sus/	'to shake off'
/z/	/zːr/	'to pluck'	/sˤ/	/sˤbrˤ/	'to be patient'	/zˤ/	/zˤdˤ/	'to weave'
/ʃ/	/ʃal/	'to buy grain'	/ʒ/	/ʒhd/	'to be strong'	/x/	/xulf/	'to be different'
/ɣ/	/ɣal/	'to think'	/xʷ/	/axʷmːas/	'share-cropper'	/ɣʷ/	/ɣʷzif/	'tall'
/ħ/	/ħml/	'to flood'	/ʕ/	/ʕbd/	'to adore, worship'	/h/	/ha/	'here is, are'
/j/	/jːih/	'yes'	/w/	/waxːa/	'all right'	/l/	/la/	'no'
/lˤ/	/lˤazˤ/	'hunger'	/r/	/rdm/	'to demolish'	/rˤ/	/rˤdˤu/	'to bless'

Vowels

Tamazight has a typical phonemic three-vowel system, similarly to Classical Arabic:

Tamazight vowel phonemes^[87]

	Front	Central	Back
Close	ⵉ i		ⵓ u
Open		ⴰ a

These phonemes have numerous allophones, conditioned by the following environments:

(# denotes word boundary, X denotes C[-flat -/x/ -/ɣ/], C̣ denotes C[+flat], G denotes C̣, /x/, and /ɣ/)

Tamazight vowel allophony^[88]

Phoneme	Realization	Environment	Example	Gloss
/i/	[i]	#_X	/ili/	'to exist'
	[ɨ]	#_Xː / Xː_	/idːa/	'he went'
	[ɪ] [e]	_G / G_	/dˤːiqs/	'to burst out'
	[ɪj]	X_#	/isːfrˤħi/	'he made me happy'
/u/	[u]	#_X / X(ː)_X	/umsɣ/	'I painted'
	[ʊ] [o]	_G / G_	/idˤurˤ/	'he turned'
	[ʊw]	X(ː)_#	/bdu/	'to begin'
	[ʉ]1	kː_ / gː_	/lːajɡːur/	'he goes'
/a/	[æ]	#_X(ː) / X(ː)_X	/azn/	'to send'
	[ɐ]	X(ː)_#	/da/	'here'
	[ɑ]	_C̣ / C̣_	/ħadˤr/	'to be present'

1. only in Ayt Seghrouchen

Phonetic Schwa

There is a predictable non-phonemic vowel inserted into consonant clusters, realized as [ɪ̈] before front consonants (e.g. /b t d .../) and [ə] before back consonants (e.g. /k x .../).^[89] It is voiced before voiced consonants and voiceless before voiceless consonants, or alternatively it can be realized as a voiced or unvoiced consonant release.^[89][90] It also may be realized as the syllabicity of a nasal, lateral, or /r/.^[90]

The occurrence of schwa epenthesis is governed morphophonemically.^[90] These are some of the rules governing the occurrence of [ə]:

(# denotes word boundary, L denotes /l r m n/, H denotes /h ħ ʕ w j/)

Tamazight schwa epenthesis^[91]

Environment	Realization	Example	Pronunciation	Gloss
#C(ː)#	əC(ː)	/ɡ/	[əɡ]	'to be, to do'
#LC#	əLC or LəC	/ns/	[əns] ~ [nəs]	'to spend the night'
#CC#	CəC	/tˤsˤ/	[tˤəsˤ]	'to laugh'
#CːC#	əCːəC	/fːr/	[əfːər]	'to hide'
#CCC#	CCəC / C1C2 are not {L H}	/xdm/	[xdəm]	'to work'
		/zʕf/	[zʕəf]	'to get mad'
#CCC#	əCCəC or #CəCəC# / {C1 C3} is {L H}	/hdm/	[əhdəm] ~ [hədəm]	'to demolish'
#CCC#	CəCəC / C2C3 = {L H}	/dˤmn/	[dˤəmən]	'to guarantee'

Examples:

• /tbrˤːmnt/ > [tbərːəmənt] ('you (fp) turned')
• /datːħadˤar/ > [datːəħadˤar] ('she is present')
• /ʕadˤːrˤ/ > [ʕadˤːərˤ] ('to meet')

However note that word-initial initial /j, w/ are realized as /i, u/ before consonants. In word-medial or -final position [əj], [əʝ], and [əw] are realized as [ij], [ij], and [uw] respectively, and may become [i] and [u] in rapid speech.^[90]

Tamazight in fact has numerous words without phonemic vowels, and those consisting entirely of voiceless consonants will not phonetically contain voiced vowels.^{[nb 7]}

[ə] is written as <ⴻ> in neo-Tifinagh and as <e> in the Berber Latin alphabet. French publications tended to include [ə] in their transcriptions of Berber forms despite their predictability, perhaps due to the French vowel system. This can cause problems because alternations such as /iɣ(ə)rs/ 'he slaughtered' – /uriɣris/ 'he did not slaughter' would then have to conditioned morphologically.^[92]

Stress

Word stress is non-contrastive and predictable — it primarily falls on the last vowel in a word (including schwa).^[93][94]

Examples:

• /sal/ > [ˈsal] ('to ask')
• /dajtːħadˤarˤ/ > [dajtːəħaˈdˤarˤ] ('he is present')
• /fsːr/ > [fəsːˈər] ('to explain')
• /tfsːrnt/ > [təfəsːəˈrənt] ('you (fp) explained')

Grammar

Central Morocco Tamazight grammar has many features typical of Afro-Asiatic languages, including extensive apophony in both the derivational and inflectional morphology, gender, possessive suffixes, VSO typology, the causative morpheme /s/, and use of the status constructus.

Morphology

Tamazight nouns are inflected for gender, number, and state.

Singular masculine nouns (in the free state) usually have the prefix /a-/^{[nb 8]} (sometimes /i-/ or /u-/), and singular feminines have the circumfix /t(a)...t(ː).^[95]

Plurals may either involve a regular change ("sound plurals"), internal vowel change ("broken plurals"), or a combination of the two.^{[96][nb 9]} Masculine plurals usually take the prefix /i-/, feminines /t(i/u)-/, and sound plurals also take the suffix /-n/ in masculine and /-in/} in feminine, although many other plural patterns are found too.^[97]

Examples:^[98]

/axam/ → /ixamn/ 'big tent(s)' (m)

/amaziɣ/ → /imaziɣn/ 'Berber(s)' (m)

/adaʃu// → /iduʃa/ 'sandal(s)' (m)

/asrdun/ → /isrdan/ 'mule(s)' (m)

/taxamt/ → /tixamin/ 'tent(s)' (f)

/tafunast/ → /tifunasin/ 'cow(s)' (f)

/tagrtilt/ → /tigrtal/ 'mat(s)' (f)

/tamazirt/ → /timizar/ 'property(ies)' (f)

Nouns may be put into the construct state (contrasting with free state) to indicate possession, or when the subject of a verb follows the verb. This is also used for nouns following numerals and some prepositions, as well as the conjunction /d-/ ('and').^[99] The construct state is formed as follows: in masculines, initial /a/ becomes /u, wː, wa/, initial /i/ becomes /i, j, ji/, and initial /u/ becomes /wu/. In feminines, initial /ta/ usually becomes /t/, initial /ti/ usually becomes /t/, and initial /tu/ remains unchanged.^[100]

Examples (in Ayt Ayache):^[100]

/babuxam/ (< /axam/) 'head of the house'

/ijːs ntslit/ (< /tislit/) 'the horse of the bride'

Central Morocco Tamazight's personal pronouns distinguish three persons, and two genders.^{[nb 10]} Pronouns appear in three forms: an independent form used in the subject position, a possessive suffix (and a derived independent possessive pronoun), and an object form affixed^{[nb 11]} to the controlling verb. Ayt Seghrouchen also has a distinct set of affixed pronouns for indirect objects. /ntːat/ 'she' has the following forms in subject, possessive, object, and indirect object form:

/ntːat/ – /-n(ː)s/^{[nb 12]} – /as/ – /tː/^[101]

Demonstrative pronouns distinguish between proximate and remote. When they occur independently, they inflect for number. They may also be suffixed to nouns, e.g. /tabardaja/ 'this pack-saddle'.^[102]

Central Morocco Tamazight verbs are heavily inflected, being marked for tense, aspect, mode, voice, person, and polarity. Tamazight verbs have at their core a stem, modified by prefixes, suffixes, moveable affixes, circumfixes, and ablaut. The prefixes indicate voice, tense, aspect, and polarity, while the suffixes indicate mood (normal, horatory, or imperative). Subject markers are circumfixed to the verb, while object marking and satellite framing are accomplished via either prefixing or suffixing depending on environment^[105] Some verb forms are accompanied by ablaut, and sometimes metathesis.^[106]

Pronominal complement markers cliticize to the verb, with the indirect object preceding the direct object, e.g. /izn-as-t/ "he sold it to him".^[107]

Adjectives come after the noun they modify, and inflect for number and gender:^[108][109]

/argaz amʕdur/ 'the foolish man' (lit. 'man foolish')

/tamtˤot tamʕdurt/ 'the foolish woman'

/irgzen imʕdar/ 'the foolish men'

/tajtʃin timʕdar/ 'the foolish women'

Adjectives may also occur alone, in which case they become an NP.^[109]

Practically all adjectives also have a verbal form used for predicative purposes, which behaves just like a normal verb:^[109]

/i-mmuʕdr urgaz/ 'the man is foolish' (lit. '3ps–foolish man')

/argaz i-mmuʕdr-n/ 'the foolish man' [using a non-finite verb]

As such, adjectives may be classed as a subset of verbs which also have other non-verbal features.^[53] However Penchoen (1973:21) argues that they are actually nouns.

Prepositions include /xf/ ('on'), /qbl/ ('before'), /ɣr/ ('to'), and the proclitics /n/ ('of') and /d/ ('with, and').^{[nb 13]} These may take pronominal suffixes. Some prepositions require the following noun to be in the construct state, while others do not.^[110]

Cardinal numbers precede the noun they modify, generally connected by the preposition /n/.^[111]

Syntax

Word order is usually VSO (with the subject in construct state) but sometimes is SVO (with the subject in free state), e.g. (/ifːɣ umaziɣ/ vs. /amaziɣ ifːɣ/ 'the Berber went out').^[18] Tamazight also exhibits pro-drop behavior. ^[112]

Tamazight may use a null copula,^[113] but the words /ɡ/ /iʒ/ 'to be, to do' can function as a copula in Ayt Ayache and Ayt Seghrouchen respectively, especially in structures preceded by /aj/ 'who, which, what'.^[114]

wh- questions are always clefts, and multiple wh-questions^{[nb 14]} do not occur.^[115] Consequently Tamazight's clefting, relativisation, and wh-interrogation contribute to anti-agreement effects,^{[nb 15]} similar to Shilha,^[115] and causes deletion of the verbal person marker in certain situations.^[116]

Vocabulary

Berber borrows more from Moroccan Arabic than the reverse.^[117] Most borrowed words in Berber have native synonyms, e.g. /lbab/ or /tiflut/ 'door', /lflus/ or /iqaridn/ 'money', the latter used more in rural areas.^[118] Functional words are also borrowed, e.g. /blli/ or /billa/ 'that', /waxxa/ 'although', /ɣir/ 'just', etc.^[118]

Many nouns begin with /l-/, from the Arabic definite prefix. Some Arabic feminines may acquire the native Berber feminine ending /-t/, e.g. /lʕafit/ for /lʕafia/ 'fire'.^[119]

Many Arabic loans have been integrated into the Tamazight verb lexicon. They adhere fully to inflectional patterns of native stems, and may even undergo ablaut.^[19][20]

Central Atlas Tamazight uses a bipartate negative construction (e.g. /uriffiɣ ʃa/ 'he did not go out') which apparently was modeled after proximate Arabic varieties, in a common development known as Jespersen's Cycle.^[120] It is present in multiple Berber varieties, and is argued to have originated in neighboring Arabic and been adopted by contact.^[121]

The first few (1–3 in Ayt Ayache and Ayt Ndhir, 1–2 in Ayt Seghrouchen) cardinal numerals have native Berber and borrowed Arabic forms.^{[nb 16][122]} All higher cardinals are borrowed from Arabic, consistent with the linguistic universals that the numbers 1–3 are much more likely to be retained, and that a borrowed number generally implies that numbers greater than it are also borrowed. The retention of one is also motivated by the fact that Berber languages near-universally use unity as a determiner.^[123]

Berber has contributed to Moroccan and Algerian Arabics' very reduced vowel systems.^[71]

Examples

English	Tamazight
	(Ayt Ayache)[124]	(Ayt Segrouchen)[125]
Hello	/sːalamuʕlikːum/ (to a man by a man) /ʕlikːumsːalam/ (response)
	/lˤːahiʕawn/ (to or by a woman) /lˤːajslːm/ (response)
Good morning	/sˤbaħ lxirˤ/
Good evening	/mslxirˤ/
Good night	/ns jlman/ (to m.s. or f.s.) /mun dlman/ (response)	/ns jlman/ (to m.s. or f.s.) /tmunt dlman/~/tmunt dsːlant/ (response)
	/nsat jlman/ (to m.p.) /tmunm dlman/ (response)	/nsm jlman/ (to m.p.) /tmunm dlman/~/tmunm dsːlant/ (response)
	/nsint jlman/ (to f.p.) /tmunt dlman/ (response)	/nsnt jlman/ (to f.p.) /tmunːt dlman/~/tmunːt dsːlant/ (response)
Goodbye	/lˤːajhnːikː/ (to m.s.) /lˤːajhnːikːm/ (to f.s.) /lˤːajhnːikːn/ (to m.p.) /lˤːajhnːikːnt/ (to f.p.) /tamanilːah/ (response)	/lˤːajhnːikː/~/bsːlama/ (to m.s.) /lˤːajhnːiʃm/ (to f.s.) /lˤːajhnːiʃun/ (to m.p.) /lˤːajhnːiʃunt/ (to f.p.) /amanlːah/ (response)

Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

ⵉⵎⴷⴰⵏⴻⵏ, ⴰⴽⴽⴻⵏ ⵎⴰ ⵍⵍⴰⵏ ⵜⵜⵍⴰⵍⴻⵏ ⴷ ⵉⵍⴻⵍⵍⵉⵢⴻⵏ ⵎⵙⴰⵡⴰⵏ ⴷⵉ ⵍⵃⵡⴻⵕⵎⴰ ⴷ ⵢⵉⵣⴻⵔⴼⴰⵏ-ⵖⵓⵔ ⵙⴻⵏ ⵜⴰⵎⵙⴰⴽⵡⵉⵜ ⴷ ⵍⴰⵇⵓⴻⵍ ⵓ ⵢⴻⵙⵙⴻⴼⴽ ⴰⴷ-ⵜⵉⵍⵉ ⵜⴻⴳⵎⴰⵜⵜ ⴳⴰⵔ ⴰⵙⴻⵏ.^[126]

Imdanen, akken ma llan ttlalen d ilelliyen msawan di lḥ weṛma d yizerfan- ghur sen tamsakwit d lâquel u yessefk ad-tili tegmatt gar asen.^[127]

See also

• Tashelhiyt language
• Berber language
• Kabyle language

Notes

1. ^ Alternatively Central Morocco Tamazight is a language in the Berber language family. As Berber languages have a some degree of mutual intelligibility, there is little consensus on what is considered a "language" and what a "dialect". Additionally, Amazigh activists like to consider all Berber dialects to be a language to emphasize unity, though this is not entirely linguistically sound (e.g. geographically non-proximate "dialects" may be mutually unintelligible), see Brenzinger (2007:124)
2. ^ Cf. Souag (2004)
3. ^ (/ajt~/ literally means "children of ~", see Abdel-Massih (1971b:118)
4. ^ Linguists and historians tend to be specific in distinguishing between the millennia-old Berber abjad used by the Tuareg to a limited extent and found in some historical engravings and which is 'Tifinagh'; and the 'Neo-Tifinagh' alphabet which is based on the abjad but marks vowels and distinguishes more consonants. The Neo-Tifinagh script was developed and computerized in the 20th century mainly by Moroccan and Algerian researchers, some of whom were based in Europe. It has been used since the early 1970s in Berber publications, see (French) Tira n Tmaziɣt - propositions pour la notation usuelle a base latine du berberePDF, p. 4.
5. ^ [p] is missing from about 10% of languages that have a [b]. (See voiced velar plosive for another such gap.) This is an areal feature of the "circum-Saharan zone" (Africa north of the equator, including the Arabian peninsula). It is not known how old this areal feature is, and whether it might be a recent phenomenon due to Arabic as a prestige language (Arabic lost its /p/ in prehistoric times), or whether Arabic was itself affected by a more ancient areal pattern. It is found in other areas as well; for example, in Europe, Proto-Celtic and Old Basque are both reconstructed as having [b] but no [p]. Nonetheless, the [p] sound is very common cross-linguistically.
6. ^ Abdel-Massih refers to this as a "flap" produced with "vibration" of the tongue.
7. ^ Audio recordings of selected words without vowels in Tashelhiyt can be downloaded from [1].
8. ^ Often dropped in Ayt Seghrouchen, see Abdel-Massih (1971b:126)
9. ^ Some plurals are mixed, e.g. /tafust/ ('hand') /tifusin/ ('hands'), see Abdel-Massih (1971b:112)
10. ^ In second and third person. Ayt Seghrouchen also distinguishes gender in the first person plural subject pronoun, see Abdel-Massih (1971b:35–40, 46, 77–80)
11. ^ prefixed or suffixed depending on multiple factors
12. ^ /-ns/ in Ayt Ayache, /-nːs/ in Ayt Seghrouchen
13. ^ /n/ and /d/ assimilate to some initial consonants: e.g. /ʃa lːħlib/ 'some milk'), /aɣjul tːfunast/ 'the donkey and the cow'.
14. ^ such as the English "who saw what?", see The typology of multiple wh-questions and language variationPDF (155 KB), pp. 174–175.
15. ^ when the verb does not agree with, or agrees in a relative manner with wh-words, see The Syntax of the Conjunct and Independent Orders in WampanoagPDF (504 KB), p. 18.
16. ^ In AA and AS the Arabic numerals are only used for counting in order and for production of higher numbers when combined with the tens, see Abdel-Massih (1971b:22)

References

Bibliography

• Abdel-Massih, Ernest T. (1968), Tamazight Verb Structure, Bloomington: Indiana University 
• Abdel-Massih, Ernest T. (1971a), A Course in Spoken Tamazight, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan 
• Abdel-Massih, Ernest T. (1971b), A Reference Grammar of Tamazight, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan 
• Brenzinger, Matthias (2007), Language Diversity Endangered, Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter 
• Chaker, Salem (2004), "Berber, a "long-forgotten" language of France", Language and (Im)migration in France, Latin America, and the United States: Sociolinguistic Perspectives, Conference at the University of Texas at Austin, September 25-26, 2003, http://www.utexas.edu/cola/france-ut/archives/chaker_english.pdf 
• El Aissati, Abderrahman (1993), "Berber in Morocco and Algeria: Revival or Decay?", AILA Review (Association Internationale de Linguistique Appliquée) 10: 88–109, http://www.adrar.nl/Berber_in_Morocco_and_Algeria_Revival_or_Decay.pdf, retrieved 4 December 2009 
• Ennaji, Moha (2005), Multilingualism, Cultural Identity, and Education in Morocco, University of Fés, Morocco, ISBN 0-387-23979-0 
• Goodman, Jane E. (2005), Berber culture on the world stage: from village to video, Bloomington: Indiana University 
• Hoffman, Katherine E. (2006), "Berber language ideologies, maintenance, and contraction: Gendered variation in the indigenous margins of Morocco", Language & Communication 26: 144–167, http://www.anthropology.northwestern.edu/faculty/documents/Berber.pdf, retrieved 4 December 2009 
• Kossmann, Maarten G.; Stroomer, Harry J. (1997), "Berber Phonology", in Kaye, Alan S., Phonologies of Asia and Africa, Eisenbrauns, pp. 461–475, ISBN 1-57506-019-1, http://aguenaou.free.fr/amadal/documents/langue/1997_kossmann_berber_phonology.pdf, retrieved 4 December 2009 
• Penchoen, Thomas G. (1973), Tamazight of the Ayt Ndhir, Los Angeles: Undena Publications 
• Prasse, Karl G. (2000), Études berbères et chamito-sémitiques: mélanges offerts à Karl-G. Prasse 
• Ross, Samantha (2004), The Mother Tongue in Morocco: The politics of an indigenous education, University of East Anglia, http://www.east-anglia.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.35902!the%20mother%20tongue%20in%20morocco.pdf 
• Sadiqi, Fatima (1986), Studies in Berber Syntax, Würzbug: Königshausen und Neumann, ISBN 3-88479-295-4 
• Souag, Lameen (2004), Writing Berber Languages: a quick summary, http://web.archive.org/web/20050730075554/http://www.geocities.com/lameens/tifinagh/, retrieved 4 December 2009 
• Stoyanova, Marina (2008), Unique focus: languages without multiple wh-questions, John Benjamins Publishing Company 
• van Heelsum, Anja (2002), "Explaining trends, developments and activities of Moroccan organisations in the Netherlands", Sociaal Wetenschappelijke Studiedagen, Amsterdam, http://users.fmg.uva.nl/avanheelsum/Paper%20Moroccan%20Organisations.pdf 
• York, Jillian (2009-01-23), Morocco: Disappearing the Amazigh, http://www.amazighworld.org/eng/human_rights/index_show.php?id=47, retrieved 2009-06-08 

External links

• Central Morocco Tamazight at Ethnologue
• Central Morocco Tamazight at Linguist List
• (French) INALCO report on Central Morocco Tamazight: maps, extension, dialectology, name
• UCLA Archive for Tamazight
• Berber (Ayt Seghrouchen Middle Atlas)
• Berber (Middle Atlas)
• Linguist List - Description of Tamazight, Central Atlas
• Map of Tamazight-speaking areas
• Tamazight, Central Atlas on globalrecordings.net
• ODIN results for language Tamazight, Central Atlas (TZM)
• Tamazight Dictionary (southern variety)