Tidikelt (also known as Tidikelt Tamazight, Tamazight or Tidikelt Berber) is a Zenati

Berber language The Berber languages, also known as the Amazigh languages or Tamazight,, ber, label=Tuareg Tifinagh, ⵜⵎⵣⵗⵜ, ) are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They comprise a group of closely related languages spoken by Berber commun ...

spoken in

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

. It is one of the

Mzab–Wargla languages The Mzab–Wargla languages or Northern Saharan oasis dialects are a dialect cluster of the Zenati languages, within the Northern Berber subbranch. They are spoken in scattered oases of Algeria and Morocco. Subclassification ;Kossmann (2013) ...

. Tidikelt is spoken in the northwest of

Tamanrasset Province Tamanrasset or Tamanghasset ( ar, ولاية تمنراست ''Wilāya Tamanrāssat'', Berber languages) is the largest province ('' wilaya'') in Algeria. It was named after its province seat, Tamanrasset. The province has two national parks, mor ...

, including in In Salah District. Tidikelt Tamazight has two dialects; Tidikelt and Tit. Tidikelt Tamazight is considered to be an

endangered language An endangered language or moribund language is a language that is at risk of disappearing as its speakers die out or shift to speaking other languages. Language loss occurs when the language has no more native speakers and becomes a "dead langu ...

, nearly extinct, with only 1,000 speakers of the language and decreasing.

Classification

Tidikelt Tamazight is part of the Berber branch of the

Afroasiatic family The Afroasiatic languages (or Afro-Asiatic), also known as Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic, and sometimes also as Afrasian, Erythraean or Lisramic, are a language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in the geographic su ...

History

The northern region of Africa was, at one point in history, was primarily inhabited by Berbers. The name Berber comes from ''Barbari'', which was used by the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

. ''Barbari'' is a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word meaning

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be les ...

. Their tribes could be found across the northern region. However, when the

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

invaded and took over the northern region of Africa, they spread the

Arabic language Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

, which eventually led to the diminished use of Tidikelt Tamazight. As the Arabic language spread, so did the religion of Islam. Considering that the Arabic language and Islam were very closely related, and many of the Berbers were converting to Islam, Tidikelt Tamazight began to fade.

Geographic distribution

There are about 1,000 speakers of Tidikelt Tamazight. Most of these speakers can be found in the northwest of

, Algeria. There are Tidikelt Tamazight speakers also found in

Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the ...

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 t ...

and

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

Status

Tidikelt Tamazight is endangered, nearly extinct.

References

Tidikelt Tamazight ia (n.d.). Retrieved May 01, 2017, from http://globalrecordings.net/en/langcode/tia. {{Berber languages Berber languages Extinct languages of Africa Riff languages