Tashelhiyt (also Tashelhit or Tachelhit or Tachelhiyt or Shilha, native name: tašlḥiyt, French: tachelhit, Arabic: تشلحيت) is the largest Berber language by number of speakers (between 8 and 10 million). French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language Nomenclature The term Berber has been used in Europe since at least the 17th century and is still used today Tashelhiyt is spoken in Southern Morocco an area ranging from the northern slopes of the High-Atlas to the southern slopes of the Anti-Atlas, bounded to the west by the Atlantic Ocean. The eastern limit of the Tashelhiyt area is difficult to pinpoint because of a smooth transition into Southern Middle Atlas Berber or Tamazight. Nomenclature The term Berber has been used in Europe since at least the 17th century and is still used today The Sous region is central to the Tashelhiyt area, therefore the language is often called Sous-Berber or tasusiyt (tasousit), even though it stretches to surrounding regions well outside of Sous. The Sous or Souss ( Berber tamazirt n Sus, Arabic بلاد السوس bilād as-Sūs) is a region in southern Morocco. Tashelhiyt is known for its rich oral literature. Literature written in the Arabic script has been produced from the second half of sixteenth century on; Muhammad Awzal (ca. The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing several languages of Asia and Africa such as Arabic, Persian, and Urdu. 1680-1749) was the most prolific poet of the Tashelhiyt literary tradition.

Geography and demography

The Sous, one of Morocco's most fertile regions, irrigated by the Wadi Sous and separated from the Sahara by the Anti-Atlas Mountains, is the central area of the Chleuhs (sometimes Shluh or Soussis, Tashelhiyt išlḥan), the speakers of Tashelhiyt. The Sous or Souss ( Berber tamazirt n Sus, Arabic بلاد السوس bilād as-Sūs) is a region in southern Morocco. The Chleuh people (or Shleuh: the 'ch' is the French equivalent of the English 'sh' native name 'ašəlḥi' pl As early as the eleventh century, the area was noted for its cultivation and export of sugar. The sale of sugar to Portuguese, Dutch and English traders as well as a share in the Trans-Saharan gold trade brought prosperity to the region. A traditional Islamic schooling system, 'a rare example of a self-organised and productive education system in an almost entirely rural environment' (vd. Boogert 1997:9), has existed in the area for centuries.

With anywhere between 8 and 10 million speakers, Tashelhiyt is the major Berber language of Morocco and in fact the most widely spoken of all Berber languages.

Writing system

Like other Berber languages, it has been written with several different systems over the years. Dominant script is Latin alphabet, with usage of Arabic script to a lesser degree. The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing several languages of Asia and Africa such as Arabic, Persian, and Urdu. Most recently, Tifinagh started to be used as an optional script. Tifinagh ( in Neo-Tifinagh Tifinaɣ in Berber Latin alphabet, tifinaɣ is an Alphabetic script used by some Africans to write their language

Simple letters (and modifier letter)

Code Tifinagh Latin Arabic Name Glyph Unicode U+2D30 ⴰ a ا ya U+2D31 ⴱ b ب yab U+2D33 ⴳ g گ yag U+2D33 & U+2D6F ⴳⵯ gw گۥ yag U+2D37 ⴷ d د yad U+2D39 ⴹ ḍ ض yaḍ U+2D3B ⴻ e ه yey U+2D3C ⴼ f ف yaf U+2D3D ⴽ k ک yak U+2D3D & U+2D6F ⴽⵯ kw کۥ yak U+2D40 ⵀ h ھ yah U+2D43 ⵃ ḥ ح yaḥ U+2D44 ⵄ ε ع yaε U+2D45 ⵅ x خ yax U+2D47 ⵇ q ق yaq U+2D49 ⵉ i ي yi U+2D4A ⵊ j ج yaj U+2D4D ⵍ l ل yal U+2D4E ⵎ m م yam U+2D4F ⵏ n ن yan U+2D53 ⵓ u و yu U+2D54 ⵔ r ر yar U+2D55 ⵕ ṛ ڕ yaṛ U+2D56 ⵖ γ غ yaγ U+2D59 ⵙ s س yas U+2D5A ⵚ ṣ ص yaṣ U+2D5B ⵛ š ش yaš U+2D5C ⵜ t ت yat U+2D5F ⵟ ṭ ط yaṭ U+2D61 ⵡ w ۉ yaw U+2D62 ⵢ y ي yay U+2D63 ⵣ z ز yaz U+2D65 ⵥ ẓ ﻈ yaẓ U+2D6F ⵯ +w ۥ+ Labio-velarization mark

Literature

Tashelhiyt, like other Berber languages, has an extensive body of oral literature in a wide variety of genres. Oral literature corresponds in the sphere of the spoken (oral word to Literature as literature operates in the domain of the written word Fables and animal stories often revolve around the character of the jackal (uššn); other genres include legends, imam/taleb stories, riddles, and tongue-twisters.

The first page of an 18th century Sous Berber manuscript of Muḥammad Awzal's al-Ḥawḍ, part I (adapted from N. v. d. Boogert 1997 plate I)

Less well known is the existence of a distinct literary tradition which can be traced back at least to the early sixteenth century. For at least four centuries, Sous Berber has been written by local scholars in a Magribic variant of the Arabic script. The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing several languages of Asia and Africa such as Arabic, Persian, and Urdu. The most prolific writer of this tradition was Muḥammad Awzal (ca. 1680-1749); the longest extant text in Tashelhiyt however is a commentary on al-Ḥawḍ entitled 'the pasture' (al-Mandja) from the hand of al-Ḥasan b. Mubarak al-Tamudizti (d. 1899). Important collections of Tashelhiyt Berber manuscripts can be found in Aix-en-Provence (the fonds Arsène Roux) and Leiden. Arsène Roux ( February 5, 1893 &mdash July 19, 1971) was a French Arabist and Berberologist Leiden University Library ( Leiden, The Netherlands) is a library founded in 1575 in Leiden, the Netherlands. Virtually all manuscripts are of religious nature, and their main purpose was to instruct the illiterate common people. Many of the texts are in versified form to facilitate memorisation and recitation.

The written language differs in some aspects from normal spoken Tashelhiyt. For example, it is common for the manuscript texts to contain a mix of dialectal variants not found in a single dialect. The language of the manuscripts also contains a higher number of Arabic words than the spoken form, a phenomenon that has been called arabisme poétique^[1]. Other characteristics of the written language include use of a plural form instead of the singular; plural formation by use of the prefix ida; use of stopgaps like daɣ 'again', hann and hatinn 'lo!' to fill the metre of the verse; and the use of archaisms.

Sounds

Vowels

Tashelhiyt has three phonemic vowels: /i/ /a/ /u/. In Phonetics, a vowel is a Sound in spoken Language, such as English ah! or oh!, pronounced with an open Vocal tract The schwa ([ə]) which turns up in many words between two consonants (e. g. inbgi = [inəbgi] 'guest', tigmmi = [tigəmmi] 'house') has no phonemic status; some authors do not write it for that reason, while others (e. g. Aspinion) write it because it is heard nonetheless. Historically, schwa is thought to be the result of a pan-Berber reduction or merger of three other vowels. The phonetic realization of the vowels, especially /a/, is highly influenced by the character of the surrounding consonants; emphatic consonants invite a more open realization of the vowel, e. g. aẓru = [az̴ru] 'stone' vs. amud = [æmud] 'seed'.

Consonants

Tashelhiyt has thirty-three phonemic consonants. In Articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a Speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the upper Vocal tract, the upper vocal Like other Berber languages and Arabic, it has both pharyngealized ("emphatic") and plain dental consonants. Pharyngealization is a Secondary articulation of Consonants or Vowels by which the Pharynx or Epiglottis is constricted during the articulation There is also a distinction between labialized and plain dorsal obstruents. "Lip rounding" redirects here See Roundedness for the lip rounding of vowels Dorsal consonants are articulated with the mid body of the Tongue (the dorsum In Phonetics, articulation may be divided into two large classes obstruents and Sonorants An obstruent is a Consonant sound formed by

In Latin orthography, emphatics are marked by an underwritten dot. Also, /χ/ is written <x>, /ʁ/ is written <ɣ>, and /j/ is written <y>.

Grammar

Pronouns

Tashelhiyt pronouns distinguish between male and female gender in both singular and plural forms of the second and third person. In Phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a Consonant articulated with both Lips The bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet In Linguistics, a dental consonant or dental is a Consonant that is articulated with the tongue against the upper teeth such as /t/ /d/ /n/ and Postalveolar consonants are Consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the Alveolar ridge, placing them a bit further back in the Palatal consonants are Consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the Hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth Uvulars are Consonants articulated with the back of the Tongue against or near the uvula, that is further back in the mouth than Velar consonants A pharyngeal consonant is a type of Consonant which is articulated with the root of the Tongue against the Pharynx. Glottal consonants are Consonants articulated with the Glottis. Pharyngealization is a Secondary articulation of Consonants or Vowels by which the Pharynx or Epiglottis is constricted during the articulation "Lip rounding" redirects here See Roundedness for the lip rounding of vowels "Lip rounding" redirects here See Roundedness for the lip rounding of vowels A nasal consonant (also called nasal stop or nasal continuant) is produced with a lowered velum in the mouth allowing air to escape freely through the A stop, plosive, or occlusive is a Consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the Vocal tract. Voice or voicing is a term used in Phonetics and Phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless Voice or voicing is a term used in Phonetics and Phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless Fricatives are Consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together Voice or voicing is a term used in Phonetics and Phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless Voice or voicing is a term used in Phonetics and Phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless Laterals are "L"-like Consonants pronounced with an occlusion made somewhere along the axis of the tongue while air from the lungs escapes at one side or both In Phonetics, a trill is a Consonantal sound produced by vibrations between the articulator and the Place of articulation. Approximants are speech sounds ( Phonemes) that could be regarded as intermediate between Vowels and typical Consonants In the articulation of approximants There are several sets of pronouns, each for different contexts. Five common paradigms are given below. The first paradigm of possessive pronouns is used for some specific associative relations such as kinship terms (e. g. baba-k 'your (m) father', baba-tnɣ 'our father') and spatial relation terms, as in ɣ-eddaw-s 'its underpart' (lit. in-under-its). The second set of possessive pronouns consists of the preposition nn 'of' and the first paradigm, e. g. tigmmi-nn-k [təgəmːinːək] 'your (f) house' (lit. house of you), aydi-nn-sn [æjdinːəsən] 'their (m) dog' (lit. dog of them (m)). The 3sm independent pronoun ntta 'he' may be shortened to ntt. The 3sf direct object pronoun appears as stt after a dental stop, e. g. krfat stt 'shackle her!' and also after the particle 'ad'. The 1s possessive pronoun has several allomorphs; after a consonant, the form inu is used and after a vowel the form nu. This article is about a linguistic term See Pseudomorph for another The final u is realized as w when followed by a vowel-initial word.

Nouns

Nouns are marked for gender, number, and case. There are two genders, masculine and feminine. There are several ways to mark plurality in Tashelhiyt. Plural is a Grammatical number, typically referring to more than one of the Referent in the real world Common plural formations are:

• the affixation of i-…-n for masculine nouns starting in a, or ti-…-in for feminine nouns starting with ta-, e. g. a-fullus 'rooster, cock' > i-fullus-n or ta-gan-t 'forest' > ti-gan-in.
• several kinds of vowel change, for example a…a…u > i…u…a (a-gayyu 'head' > i-guyya) or
• in ethnonyms and loanwords, prefixation of the word id or ida, (id-bllarj 'storks' < Gr. Storks are large long-legged long-necked wading Birds with long stout bills, belonging to the family Ciconiidae. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly pelargos; ida ssur 'walls' < Arabic, ida wsmlal 'the Ida Ousemlal people' < asmlal sg. ). The use of ida is a characteristic feature of poetic language.

Sometimes a combination of vowel change and affixation is used, e. g. ilf 'wild boar' > alfiwn or ass 'day' > ussan. Double consonants are often shortened and single consonants doubled, e. g. a-fus 'hand' > i-fass-n, a-gllid 'king' > i-gld-an.

Tashelhiyt nouns come in two cases, commonly called état libre (EL) and état d'annexion (EA), that are marked by prefixes. A noun appears in the état d'annexion in a number of syntactic contexts. The most important among these is when the noun occurs as a subject in postverbal position, e. g. isu wa-gʷmar 'the horse (a-gʷmar) drinks', y-azzl wu-ššn 'the jackal (u-ššn) runs', or tnwa t-fiyyi 'the meat (ti-fiyyi) is cooked, done'. Nouns are also in the état d'annexion after numerals and most prepositions: sin wu-lawn 'two hearts (u-lawn, sg. ul)', tamart n u-rgaz 'beard of the man (a-rgaz)', ifta s dar t-mɣart 'he went to the woman (ta-mɣart)'.

In most other cases, nouns have the état libre or unmarked case; this is also the form in which the noun would appear in a dictionary. Nouns starting with u or tu in the état libre have wu and tu in the état d'annexion. Other forms cannot simply be predicted from the unmarked form, cf. for example a-fus (EL), u-fus (EA) 'hand' but a-fud (EL), wa-fud (EA) 'knee', and ta-gra (EL), t-gra (EA) 'bowl' but ta-ɣla (EL), ta-ɣla (EA) 'lamb'. Another term for the état d'annexion is état construit or construct state.

Verbs

Verbs carry the person, number and gender information of their subject in the form of affixes. There are four inflectional forms of the verb, traditionally called aorist, preterite, negative preterite and intensive. The basic opposition is between the aorist, a non-past form which lacks further tense information, and the preterite which often conveys past tense. The intensive (usually called inaccomplit in French) encodes habitual and/or durative/continuative aspect. It is often preceded by a particle ar, for instance in ar ttsisn waman (lit. ar cook:3pm:INT water:EA) 'the water is cooking'^[2]. In texts, a sequence of aorist verb forms usually follows after the initial setting of tense by an imperfect or intensive verb form.

A relative form of the verb, usually called participle, is used in relative clauses. It looks like the preterite form of the verb, with affixes added for person and number: i-. . . -n for 3rd person singular (y-. . . -n with vowel-initial verbs), and -in for 3rd person plural. For example, the relative forms of ili 'to be' (with preterite form lli) are illan and llanin for singular and plural, respectively. A singular imperative consists of the bare form of the verb without any affixes (fssa! 'be silent, sg'); in the plural, the imperative distinguishes between masculine and feminine by means of the affixes -at and -amu, respectively.

Stative verbs, verbs expressing qualities, are characterized by initial i- in the aorist, e. g. imɣur 'be big (aorist)', imim 'be sweet (aorist)', ili 'be, exist (aorist)'. The aorist form of stative verbs usually has a subjunctive or counter-factual reading, whereas the preterite form (characterized by gemination of the consonant, e. g. lli/lla 'be (pret. )') generally is used to express a (current) state of affairs, e. g. llan islman ɣ isaffn (be:PRET:3pm fish:pm in river) 'there are fishes in the river'. Tashelhiyt has only few simple adjectives; the most common adjectival construction is the relative form of a stative verb, as in argaz imqquṛn (man PTC:sg:m-be. In Grammar, an adjective is a word whose main syntactic role is to modify a Noun or Pronoun, giving more information about the big-PTC:sg:m) 'big man'.

Derived verb forms exist: a causative s, medial m (or nasal), and passive tt. A causative form in Linguistics, is an expression of an agent causing or forcing a patient to perform an action (or to be in a certain condition This article is about medial in mathematics For other uses see Medial (disambiguation. . . can be recognized, as in muddu 'travel' from ddu go' + medial, or smugr 'meet each other' from gr 'touch' + causative + medial. However, derivation is no longer productive, i. e. speakers no longer consciously produce causatives, medials, or passives by applying derivative morphology to verbs.

Prepositions

Most prepositions have a short and a long form. The long form is used with pronominal suffixes, and the short form is used in all other contexts, e. g. nniga-s 'on top of him/her', nnig- tgmmi 'on top of the house'. A common colocation is s-dar 'to' as in s-dar tgmmi 'to the house'. Most of the prepositions require the following noun to be in the état d'annexion; only ar 'until' and some prepositions of Arabic origins such as bɛd 'after' and qbl 'before' are exceptions to this rule. Examples: ddu tafukt 'under the sun (EA)', ɣ wayyur n šuttanbir 'in the month (EA) September', ifškan n tgmmi 'the things of the house (EA)', s wuzzal 'by means of the iron (EA)', but ar assf n ljaza 'until the Day (EL) of Judgment', qbl iḍ 'before the night (EL)'.

Numbers

In Tashelhiyt, as in most Northern Berber languages, the number system is permeated with Arabic numbers. Arabic is a Semitic language See Arabic language for more information on the language in general The original cardinal numbers (one to ten) are yan, sin, kraḍ, kkuẓ, smmus, sḍis, sa, ttam, tẓẓa, mraw, but they are increasingly rare. Van den Boogert (1997) argues some of these to be of Phoenician-Punic origin. As with nouns, feminine forms are derived from the masculine: yat (irregular), snat (irregular), kraṭṭ, kkuṣt, smmust, etc. Nouns following cardinals from 1 to 10 are in the état d'annexion. Above ten, they are not pluralized and n 'of' precedes the noun: contrast kkuẓ wu-ssan (four EA-day. pl) 'four days' with kraḍ d mraw n wuššn (three and ten of EA-jackal) 'thirteen jackals'. In the tens, Arabic numerals are used, e. g. ɛšrin 'twenty', tltin 'thirty', etc. Tens are combined with Arabic units. Sometimes cardinals behave like nouns in that they are countable as well: sin id-ɛšrin n tgʷmma (two pl-twenty of EA-houses) 'forty houses'. Ordinal numbers are constructed by use of wiss (m) or tiss plus the cardinal number, e. g. wiss kraḍ 'the third (m)'.

Vocabulary

Like all Berber languages, Tashelhiyt has absorbed quite some Arabic vocabulary, especially in the religious domain.

Sample text

Lqiṣt n yan urgaz lli izznzan tammnt ɣ ssuq. ¹ Yan urgaz iɛmmr mnnaw yilmawn n tammnt ɣ ssuq. ² Yašk nn dars yan urgaz, ira ad dars isɣ tammnt. Inna yas: "Mnšk at tzznzt tammnt ann?" ³ Inna yas: "Mḍi tt, iɣ tt tɛjb ar gis tsawalt. " ⁴ Yasi urgaz ann yan yilm, ifsi t, imḍi tammnt, ifk t i bab nns, inna as: "Amẓ, ar kiɣ gussɣ wayyaḍ. " ⁵ Yamẓ t s ufus nns, yasi daɣ umssaɣ lli wayyaḍ, ifsi t, imḍi tammnt, ifk t daɣ i bab nns. ⁶ Yamẓ t s ufus nns yaḍnin, yasi umssaɣ yan yilm n tammnt, irur, iggammi bu tammnt mad an iskar i yilmawn lli yumẓ. ⁷ Ar yaqqra i mddn at t fukkun. ^[3]

The story of the man who sold honey in the souk. A souk (سوق also sook, souq, or suq, or shuq in Hebrew שוק is a highly fashioned commercial quarter in an Arab or Berber ¹ A man was filling some leather bags of honey in the souk. ² There came another man to him, who wanted to buy honey. He said: "At how much do you sell that honey?" ³ The seller said to him: "Just taste it, and if it pleases you, make a bid. " ⁴ The man took a bag, poured out some, tasted the honey and gave it back to its owner; he said: "Please hold it, so that I can try another one". ⁵ The seller held it in his hand, the buyer took another bag, poured out some, tasted the honey and gave it back to its owner, ⁶ who held it in his other hand. Then the man took another bag of honey and ran away. The seller could not do anything because of the bags he held. ⁷ He called for help until they liberated him.

[Word for word translation:] Story of one man who selling honey in souk. ¹ One man he. fill some leather. bags of honey in souk. ² He. came there to. him one man, want to him buy honey. He. say to. him: "How. much is. it you. sell honey that?" ³ He. say to. him: "Taste it, if to. you it. please then about. her speak. ⁴ He. take man there one leather. bag, he. pour-out it, he. taste honey, he. give it to owner its, he. say to. him: "Hold, until (ar kiɣ) I. test another. ⁵ He. hold it in hand his, he. take again seller that another, he. pour-out it, he. taste honey, he. give it again to owner its. ⁶ He. hold it in hand his other, he. take seller one bag of honey, he. run, he. not-able owner. of honey what to he. do because leather. bags that he. held. ⁷ Then he. call to people that him they. liberate.

Notes and references

Notes

References

• Aspinion, Robert (1953). Apprenons le berbère: initiation aux dialectes chleuhs. Rabat: Moncho.  
• Boogert, Nico van den (1997). Berber Literary Tradition of the Sous — with an edition and translation of 'The Ocean of Tears' by Muḥammad Awzal (d. 1749). (De Goeje Fund, Vol. XXVII) Leiden: NINO.   ISBN 90-6258-971-5
• Boogert, Nico van den & Harry Stroomer (2004) 'Tashelhiyt Berber of South Morocco — a morphological survey'. Unpublished.
• Stroomer, Harry (1995). Textes berbères des Aït Souab (Anti-Atlas) recueillis par le capitaine Jean Podeur, édités et annotés. Aix-en-Provence: Edisud.  
• Stroomer, Harry (2001). An anthology of Tashelhiyt Berber folktales (South Morocco). (Berber Studies, vol. 2). Köln: Rüdiger Köppe.  
• Stroomer, Harry (2002). Tashelhiyt Berber Folktales from Tazerwalt (South Morocco). A Linguistic Reanalysis of Hans Stumme's Tazerwalt Texts with an English Translation. (Berber Studies, vol. 4). Köln: Rüdiger Köppe.  

External links

• Tashelhiyt Music
• Sous Music
• Atlas Music
• Ethnologue Report for Tashelhit
• John Coleman, 'Epenthetic vowels in Tashlhiyt Berber' (includes sound samples)
• Berber folktales including many Tashelhit folktales