Tadaksahak (also ''Daoussahak, Dausahaq'' and other spellings, after the Tuareg name for its speakers, ''Dăwsăhak'')
is a
Songhay language
The Songhay, Songhai or Ayneha languages (, or ) are a group of closely related languages/dialects centred on the middle stretches of the Niger River in the West African countries of Mali, Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso and Nigeria. In particular, ...
spoken by the
pastoralist Idaksahak of the
Ménaka Region
Ménaka ( Bambara: ߡߋߣߊߞߊ ߘߌߣߋߖߊ tr. Menaka Dineja) is a region of Mali legislatively created in 2012 from the cercle of the same name previously part of Gao Region. Actual implementation of the region began on 19 January 2016 with t ...
and
Gao Region
Gao ( Bambara: ߜߊߏ ߘߌߣߋߖߊ tr. Gao Dineja) is a region in northeastern Mali. The capital city is Gao.
Geography
The region is bordered to the north by Kidal Region, to the west by Tombouctou Region and Taoudénit Region, to the east b ...
of
Mali
Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
. Its phonology, verb morphology and vocabulary has been strongly influenced by the neighbouring
Tuareg languages
Tuareg (), also known as ''Tamasheq'' (), ''Tamajaq'' or ''Tamahaq'' (Tifinagh: ), is a group of closely related Berber languages, Berber Linguistic variety, varieties. They are spoken by the Tuareg people, Tuareg Berbers in large parts of Mali, ...
,
Tamasheq
Tamashek or Tamasheq is a variety of Tuareg, a Berber macro-language widely spoken by nomadic tribes across North and West Africa in Algeria, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. Tamasheq is one of the three main varieties of Tuareg, the others bei ...
and
Tamajaq.
Phonology
Vowels
Consonants
See also
*
Tadaksahak word list (Wiktionary)
References
*Regula Christiansen,
A grammar of Tadaksahak a northern Songhay language of Mali', Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (2010)
*Niels and Regula Christiansen,
Some verb morphology features of Tadaksahak, or, Berber or Songhay, this is the question', SIL Electronic Working Papers (2002)
*Regula Christiansen and Stephen H. Levinsohn,
Relative clauses in Tadasahak', SIL Electronic Working Papers (2003)
*Michael J. Rueck and Niels Christiansen,
', Proceedings of the 1998 Nilo-Saharan Linguistics Conference (1998)
Languages of Mali
Songhay languages
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