Eastern Morocco Zenati dialects are a group of
Berber dialects spoken in Morocco from
Jerada Province
Jerada (Arabic: جرادة, Berber: Ijṛaden) is a province in the Oriental Region of Morocco. Its population in 2004 was 105,840.
The major cities and towns are:
* Ain Bni Mathar
* Jerada
* Oued Heimer
* Sidi Boubker
* Touissit
Subdivisions ...
to
Berkane Province
Berkane Province (Berber: Aberkan, ⴱⴻⵔⴽⴰⵏ, Arabic: بَركان) is located in northeastern Morocco in the area of Aït Iznasen. It is bounded by the Mediterranean to its north, the Kiss Oued (Moroccan-Algerian border) and Oujda Prefe ...
.
They belong to the
Zenati dialectal group and are closely related to the main
Riffian dialects, as well as to the
At Snous dialect, spoken beside the border in
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
.
[G. P. Murdock, African Cultural Summaries, Volume 10 (Human Relations Area Files, 1958) : "The Zekara (Zkara), with whom are grouped the neighboring Bekhti (Oulad Bekhti), Chebel (Beni Chebel), Yala (Beni Yaala, Beni Yala), and Zeggu (Beni Bou Zeggou) of eastern Morocco and the Snus (Beni Snous) across the border of Algeria, belong to the Zenata division of the Berber branch of the Hamito-Semitic linguistic stock."]
Eastern Morocco Zenati is spoken among the
Berber tribes of Beni Bouzegou, Beni Ya'la, Zkara, Bekhata, Haddiyin, Meharez,
At Iznasen, and Rwaba'.
[P. Behnstedt]
La frontera entre el bereber y el arabe en el Rif
, p.14 (E.D.N.A, volume 6, 2002)
Formerly, these dialects were also spoken in the area between
Debdou and
Taourirt (to the west of their current speaking area) by the tribes of Beni Koulal, Oulad Mahdi and Beni Chebel; these tribes are currently mainly Arabic-speakers.
[V. Picquet, Le peuple marocain: Le bloc Berbère, p.39 (Larose, 1925)]
References
Zenati languages
Languages of Morocco
Jerada Province
{{Berber-lang-stub