Tihishit language
Encyclopedia
Tihishit is a mixed
Northern Songhay language of central Niger
. Ethnologue considers Tagdal a "mixed Berber–Songhay language", while other researchers consider it Northern Songhay. About half of its daily vocabulary is Tuareg
, and three quarters overall. There are two dialects: Tagdal spoken by the Igdalen people
, pastoralists who inhabit a region to the east along the Niger
border to Tahoua
in Niger, and Tabarog spoken by the Iberogan people of the Azawagh valley on the Niger–Mali border.
The name Tihishit is an ad-hoc cover term. Rueck & Christiansen say that
Mixed language
A mixed language is a language that arises through the fusion of two source languages, normally in situations of thorough bilingualism, so that it is not possible to classify the resulting language as belonging to either of the language families that were its source...
Northern Songhay language of central Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
. Ethnologue considers Tagdal a "mixed Berber–Songhay language", while other researchers consider it Northern Songhay. About half of its daily vocabulary is Tuareg
Tuareg languages
Tuareg is a Berber language or family of very closely related languages and dialects spoken by the Tuareg Berbers, in large parts of Mali, Niger, Algeria, Libya and Burkina Faso, with a few speakers, the Kinnin, in Chad.- Description :Other Berber languages and Tamashaq are quite mutually...
, and three quarters overall. There are two dialects: Tagdal spoken by the Igdalen people
Igdalen people
The Igdalen are a Berber people living in northwestern Niger and parts of Mali and Algeria. They speak Tagdal, a Mixed-Berber or Northern Songhai language. The Igdalen are closely related to Idaksahak people of eastern Mali and the Isawaghan of Ingal in Niger, with whom they share very similar...
, pastoralists who inhabit a region to the east along the Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
border to Tahoua
Tahoua
Tahoua is a city in Niger and the administrative center of the Department of Tahoua and the larger Tahoua Region. It has a population of 99,900 . The city is primarily a market town for the surrounding agricultural area, and a meeting place for the Tuareg people from the north and the Fulani people...
in Niger, and Tabarog spoken by the Iberogan people of the Azawagh valley on the Niger–Mali border.
The name Tihishit is an ad-hoc cover term. Rueck & Christiansen say that
...the Igdalen and the Iberogan have for many purposes been treated as one group, and their speech forms are closely related. Nicolaï uses "tihishit" as a common designator for these two speech forms...; however, this term is ambiguous. "Tihishit" is a term of Tamajaq origin meaning "the language of the blacks". The Igdalen and Iberogan used it to refer to all Northern Songhay speech forms.