Taznatit language
Encyclopedia
Zenati, or Taznatit, is the Zenati
Berber
language of the Gourara (Tigurarin) region, an archipelago of oases surrounding Timimoun
in southwestern Algeria
, and of a smaller number of villages in Touat to its south, notably Tamentit (where it was already practically extinct by 1985) and Tittaf.
Dialects are Gourara (Gurara) Berberand Touat (Tuwat) Berber.
Taznatit is the only Berber language to change r in certain coda positions to a laryngeal ħ; in other contexts it drops r, turning a preceding schwa
into a.
There is inconclusive evidence for Songhay
influence on Taznatit.
The local tradition of ahellil poetry and music in Taznatit, described in Mouloud Mammeri
's L'Ahellil du Gourara, has been listed as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
by UNESCO.
Zenati languages
The Zenati languages, named after the medieval Zenata tribe, are a subgroup of the Northern Berber language family, spoken in North Africa, proposed in Destaing They are distributed across the central Maghreb, from northeastern Morocco to just west of Algiers, and the northern Sahara, from...
Berber
Berber languages
The Berber languages are a family of languages indigenous to North Africa, spoken from Siwa Oasis in Egypt to Morocco , and south to the countries of the Sahara Desert...
language of the Gourara (Tigurarin) region, an archipelago of oases surrounding Timimoun
Timimoun
Timimoun is a little oasis town in Adrar Province, Algeria; in the Gourara region.It is located to the northwest of the eponymous Sebkha, at the edge of the plateau of Tadmaït....
in southwestern Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, and of a smaller number of villages in Touat to its south, notably Tamentit (where it was already practically extinct by 1985) and Tittaf.
Dialects are Gourara (Gurara) Berberand Touat (Tuwat) Berber.
Taznatit is the only Berber language to change r in certain coda positions to a laryngeal ħ; in other contexts it drops r, turning a preceding schwa
Schwa
In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa can mean the following:*An unstressed and toneless neutral vowel sound in some languages, often but not necessarily a mid-central vowel...
into a.
There is inconclusive evidence for Songhay
Songhay languages
The Songhay, Songhai, or Songai languages are a group of closely related languages/dialects centered on the middle stretches of the Niger River in the west African states of Mali, Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria. They have been widely used as a lingua franca in that region ever since the...
influence on Taznatit.
The local tradition of ahellil poetry and music in Taznatit, described in Mouloud Mammeri
Mouloud Mammeri
Mouloud Mammeri is an Algerian Kabyle writer, anthropologist and linguist. Born on December 28, 1917 in Taourirt Mimoune Ait Yenni in Tizi Ouzou Province, Algeria; died in February 1989 near Aïn Defla in a car accident while returning from a conference in Oujda, Morocco.- Biography :Mouloud...
's L'Ahellil du Gourara, has been listed as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
The Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage are established by UNESCO aiming to ensure the better protection of important intangible cultural heritages worldwide and the awareness of their significance...
by UNESCO.