The Zenati languages are a branch of the Northern Berber language family of

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

. They were named after the medieval

Zenata The Zenata ( Berber language: Iznaten) are a group of Amazigh (Berber) tribes, historically one of the largest Berber confederations along with the Sanhaja and Masmuda. Their lifestyle was either nomadic or semi-nomadic. Etymology ''Iznaten ( ...

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–19 ...

tribal confederation. They were first proposed in the works of French linguist

Edmond Destaing Edmond Destaing (19 January 1872 – 27 December 1940) was a French orientalist Arabist, Berberologist, and first holder of the Chair of Berber at the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales. Biography Destaing, initially a te ...

(1915) (1920–23). Zenata dialects are distributed across the central Berber world (

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...

), from northeastern

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

to just west of

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques d ...

, and the northern

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

, from southwestern

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

around Bechar to Zuwara in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

. The most widely spoken Zenati languages are Tmazight of the Rif in northern Morocco and Tashawit Berber in northeastern Algeria, each of which have over 3 million speakers.

Languages

Kossmann (2013)

According to Kossmann (2013: 21–24),Maarten Kossmann (2013
The Arabic Influence on Northern Berber
/ref> Zenati is a rather arbitrary grouping, in which he includes the following varieties: * Riffian (Riffian Berber, or Rif-Berber, local name: ''Tmaziɣt'', north of

); Includes

Arzew Arzew or Arzeu ( ar, أرزيو Berber; ) is a port city in Algeria, 25 miles (40 km) from Oran. It is the capital of Arzew District, Oran Province. History Antiquity Like the rest of North Africa, the site of modern-day Arzew was ori ...

dialect, in

in western Algeria *

Iznasen Iznasen (Iznassen, Iznacen) is a Berber language, one of the Zenati languages. It is spoken in the extreme northeast of Morocco, in a speech area near the Berber languages of western Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered o ...

(north east of Morocco) * Eastern Middle Atlas: Ait Seghrouchen and a group of dialects including Ait Warain (Ayt Warayn) (north-central Morocco) * Western Algerian, west of

(a diffuse group): **

Beni Snous Beni Snous or Aït Snous (in berber: ⴰⵢⵜ ⵙⵏⵓⵙ, Ayt Snus and in ar, بني سنوس) is a town and commune in Tlemcen Province in northwestern Algeria. Situation Beni Snous Commune's territory is situated in the west of the wilay ...

(Tlemcen) dialect, in western Algeria near the border **Jebel Bissa (intelligible with Shenwa) ** Shenwa (Chenoua), between Tipasa and

Ténès Ténès ( ar, تنس; from Berber TNS 'camping') is a town in Algeria located around 200 kilometers west of the capital Algiers. , it has a population of 65,000 people. History Ténès was founded as a Phoenician port in or before the 8th cen ...

in north-central Algeria west of

** Beni Messaoud (Shenwa?) ** Beni Menacer ** Metmata (of Algeria; distinct from

Matmata Berber Matmata Berber is a Zenati Berber dialect spoken around the town of Matmâta in southern Tunisia, and in the villages of Taoujjout, Tamezret and Zrawa. According to Ben Mamou's lexicon, its speakers call it ''Tmaziɣṯ'' or ''Eddwi nna'', ...

of Tunisia) **etc. (see article) *

Shawiya Shawiya, or Shawiya Berber, also spelt Chaouïa (native form: ''Tacawit'' ), is a Zenati Berber language spoken in Algeria by the Shawiya people. The language's primary speech area is the Awras Mountains in Eastern Algeria and the surrounding ...

(Chaouia), around Batna and Khenchela, south of Constantine in northeastern Algeria * Mzab–Wargla (Northern Saharan oases): ** South Oran and Figuig, in the ksours along the Algerian–Moroccan border and in

Figuig Figuig or Figig ( ar, فجيج; Figuig Berber: Ifeyyey) is an oasis town in eastern Morocco near the Atlas Mountains, on the border with Algeria. The town is built around an oasis of date palms, called ''Tazdayt'', meaning "palm tree" in the ...

in southeastern Morocco ** Gourara Berber (Taznatit) ( Gourara, southwestern Algeria, around

Timimoun Timimoun ( ar, ﺗﻴﻤﻴﻤﻮن) is a town and commune, and capital of Timimoun District, in Adrar Province, south-central Algeria. According to the 2008 census it has a population of 33,060, up from 28,595 in 1998, with an annual growth rate ...

) ** Tidikelt and

Tuat Tuat, or Touat, is a natural region of desert in central Algeria that contains a string of small oases. In the past, the oases were important for caravans crossing the Sahara. Geography Tuat lies to the south of the Grand Erg Occidental, to ...

( Touat, Algeria) ** Mozabite aka ''Mzab, Tumzabt'' (northern Algerian Sahara, near Ghardaia) **

Wargla Ouargla ( Berber: Wargrən, ar, ورقلة) is the capital city of Ouargla Province in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria. It has a flourishing petroleum industry and hosts one of Algeria's universities, the University of Ouargla. The commune ...

(Ouargli aka ''Tagergrent, Teggargarent''), northern Algerian Sahara, near

Ouargla Ouargla (Berber: Wargrən, ar, ورقلة) is the capital city of Ouargla Province in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria. It has a flourishing petroleum industry and hosts one of Algeria's universities, the University of Ouargla. The commune o ...

** Oued Righ Berber (incl. Touggourt;

Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensi ...

name "Temacine Tamazight") in Oued Righ, around

Touggourt Touggourt ( ar, ﺗﻗﺮت or تڤرت; ber, ⵜⵓⴳⵓⵔⵜ, Tugurt, lit=the gateway or 'the gate') is a city and commune, former sultanate and capital of Touggourt District, in Touggourt Province, Algeria, built next to an oasis in the Sa ...

and Temacine, Algeria * Southeastern Tunisian–Libyan: Djerbi (island of

Djerba Djerba (; ar, جربة, Jirba, ; it, Meninge, Girba), also transliterated as Jerba or Jarbah, is a Tunisian island and the largest island of North Africa at , in the Gulf of Gabès, off the coast of Tunisia. It had a population of 139,544 ...

( Matmata), Sened and Zuwara Berber ( Zuwara in northwestern

)

Features

According to Kossmann (1999:31-32, 86, 172),Maarten Kossmann, ''Essai sur la phonologie du proto-berbère'', Rüdiger Köppe:Köln common innovations defining the Zenati languages include: * The vowel ''a-'' in nominal prefixes is dropped in a number of words when it precedes CV, where C is a single consonant and V is a full (non-

schwa In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa (, rarely or ; sometimes spelled shwa) is a vowel sound denoted by the IPA symbol , placed in the central position of the vowel chart. In English and some other languages, it rep ...

) vowel. For example, ''afus'' "hand" is replaced with ''fus''. (A similar development is found in some

Eastern Berber languages The Eastern Berber languages are a group of Berber languages spoken in Libya and Egypt. They include Awjila, Sokna and Fezzan (El-Fogaha), Siwi and Ghadamès, though it is not clear that they form a valid genealogical group. Eastern Berber is ...

, but not Nafusi.) * Verbs whose original aorist forms end in ''-u'' while their perfect forms end in ''-a'' end up with ''-a'' in the aorist as well, leaving the aorist / perfect distinction unmarked for these verbs. For example, *''ktu'' "forget", Siwi ''ttu'', becomes Ouargli ''tta''. (This also affects Nafusi.) * Verbs consisting (in the aorist) of two consonants with no vowel other than schwa fall into two classes elsewhere in Berber: one where a variable final vowel appears in the perfect form, and one which continues to lack a final vowel in the perfect. In Zenati, the latter class has been entirely merged into the former in the perfect, with the single exception of the negative perfect of *''əɣ s'' "want". For example, Kabyle (non-Zenati) ''gər'' "throw", pf. ''-gər'' (int. ''-ggar''), corresponds to Ouargli (Zenati) ''gər'', pf. ''-gru''. (This change too also affects Nafusi; Basset (1929:9) gives examples where it appears not to occur in Chenoua.) *

Proto-Berber Proto-Berber or Proto-Libyan is the reconstructed proto-language from which the modern Berber languages descend. Proto-Berber was an Afroasiatic language, and thus its descendant Berber languages are cousins to the Egyptian language, Cushitic lan ...

*''-əβ'' has become ''-i'' in Zenati. For example, *''arəβ'' "write" becomes ''ari''. (This change also occurs in varieties including the

Central Atlas Tamazight Central Atlas Tamazight or Atlasic (also known as Central Morocco Tamazight, variant of tashelhit, Middle Atlas Tamazight, Tamazight, Central Shilha and, rarely, Beraber or Braber; native name: ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ ''Tamazight'' , ) is a Be ...

dialect of the Izayan, Nafusi, and Siwi.) * Proto-Berber palatalised ''k´'' and ''g´'', corresponding to ''k'' and ''g'' in non-Zenati varieties, become ''š'' and ''ž'' in Zenati (although a fair number of irregular correspondences for this are found.) For example, ''k´ăm'' "you (f. sg.)" becomes ''šəm''. (This change also occurs in Nafusi and Siwi.) In addition to the correspondence of ''k'' and ''g'' to ''š'' and ''ž'', Chaker (1972), while expressing uncertainty about the linguistic coherence of Zenati, notes as shared Zenati traits: * A proximal demonstrative suffix "this" ''-u'', rather than ''-a'' * A final ''-u'' in the perfect of two-consonant verbs, rather than ''-a'' (e.g. ''yə-nsu'' "he slept" rather than ''yə-nsa'' elsewhere) These characteristics identify a more restricted subset of Berber than those previously mentioned, mainly northern Saharan varieties; they exclude, for example, Chaoui and all but the easternmost

Riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or acc ...

dialects. Lafkioui, Mena. 2007. ''Atlas linguistique des variétés berbères du Rif''. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe. pp. 207, 178.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zenati Languages Zenati languages Berber languages Berbers in Algeria Berbers in Morocco Languages of Algeria Languages of Morocco