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Tarifit

Tarifit Berber, also known as Riffian or locally as Tamazight (Tarifit: Tmaziɣt, pronounced [θmæzɪχt]; Arabic: تريفيت) is a Zenati Berber language spoken in the Rif region in northern Morocco. It is spoken natively by some 1,271,000[3][4] Rifians primarily in the Rif provinces of Al Hoceima, Nador and Driouch.

Tarifit

[θmæzɪχt]

Northern Morocco

Tanger-Tétouan-Al Hoceïma and Oriental (Morocco)

Rifians

1.3 million (2004)[1][2]

Latin, Arabic script, Tifinagh (symbolically)

rif

tari1263

Name[edit]

In the Rif, the native name of this language is 'Tmaziɣt' (pronounced Tmazixt in most dialects). Speakers may specify by calling it 'Tarifiyt' (pronounced Tarifect in central dialects).[5]

A mid-central vowel /ə/ can occur in lax positions.

Lax allophones of /i, a, u/ are heard as [ɪ, æ, ʊ].

In the vicinity of pharyngealized consonants, /i, a, u/ are heard as [ɪˤ, ɑˤ, ʊˤ].

When r becomes vocalized, the following diphthongs are heard [ɛa, a ~ æ, ɔa]

When ṛ becomes vocalized, the following diphthongs are heard [ɪˤɑ, ɑˤ, ʊˤa]

Writing system[edit]

Like other Berber languages, Riffian has been written with several different systems over the years. Unlike the nearby Tashelhit (Shilha), Riffian Berber has little written literature before the twentieth century. The first written examples of Riffian berber start appearing just before the colonial period. Texts like R. Basset (1897) and S. Biarnay (1917) are transcribed in the Latin alphabet but they are transcribed in a rather deficient way. Most recently (since 2003), Tifinagh has become official throughout Morocco. The Arabic script is not used anymore for writing Riffian Berber. The Berber Latin alphabet continues to be the most used writing system online and in most publications in Morocco and abroad.[20]

ddenya: 'world' (orig. al-dunyā الدنيا)

tayezzaat: 'island' (orig. jazīra جزيرة)

řebḥaa: 'ocean' (orig. al-baḥr البحر)

lwalidin: 'parents' (orig. al-wālidayn الوالدين)

ḥseb: 'to count' (orig. ḥasaba حسب)

Biarnay, Samuel. 1911. Etude sur le dialecte des Bet't'ioua du Vieil-Arzeu. Alger: Carbonel.

Biarnay, Samuel. 1917. Etude sur les dialectes berbères du Rif. Paris: Leroux.

Cadi, Kaddour. 1987. Système verbal rifain. Forme et sens. Paris: Peeters.

Colin, Georges Séraphin. 1929. "Le parler berbère des Gmara." Hespéris 9: 43–58.

. 2000. Esquisse grammaticale du rifain oriental. Paris: Peeters.

Kossmann, Maarten

. 2007. Atlas linguistique des variétés berbères du Rif. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe.

Lafkioui, Mena

McClelland, Clive. 1996. Interrelations of prosody, clause structure and discourse pragmatics in Tarifit Berber. University of Texas at Arlington.

McClelland, Clive. The Interrelations of Syntax, Narrative Structure, and Prosody in a Berber Language (Studies in Linguistics and Semiotics, V. 8). Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2000. ( 0-7734-7740-3)

ISBN

Mourigh, K., & Kossmann, M. 2020. An introduction to Tarifiyt Berber (Nador, Morocco) (Lehrbücher orientalischer Sprachen ; volume IV/1). ( 9783868353075)

ISBN

Renisio, A. 1932. Etude sur les dialectes berbères des Beni Iznassen, du Rif et des Senhaja de Sraïr. Paris: Leroux.

(from the World Loanword Database)

Tarifiyt Berber Vocabulary List

(fr)

INALCO report on Tarifit