Senhaja de Srair ("Senhaja of Srair") is a Northern Berber language. It is spoken by the

Sanhaja The Sanhaja (, or زناگة ''Znāga''; , pl. Iẓnagen, and also Aẓnaj, pl. Iẓnajen) were once one of the largest Berbers, Berber tribal confederations, along with the Zenata, Zanata and Masmuda confederations. Many tribes in Algeria, Libya ...

Berbers Berbers, or the Berber peoples, also known as Amazigh or Imazighen, are a diverse grouping of distinct ethnic groups indigenous to North Africa who predate the arrival of Arab migrations to the Maghreb, Arabs in the Maghreb. Their main connec ...

inhabiting the central part of the Moroccan

Rif The Rif (, ), also called Rif Mountains, is a geographic region in northern Morocco. It is bordered on the north by the Mediterranean Sea and Spain and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, and is the homeland of the Rifians and the Jebala people ...

. It is spoken in the

Ketama Ketama is a Spanish musical group in the new flamenco tradition. Fusing flamenco with other musical forms ( salsa, Brazilian music, reggae, funk, jazz), they created a style that lies somewhere between flamenco and pop salsa. Their music drew ...

area west of the

Tarifit Tarifit (, ; ), also known as Riffian is a Zenati Berber language spoken in the Rif region in northern Morocco. It is spoken natively by some 1,200,000 Riffians, comprising 3.2% of the population, primarily in the Rif provinces of Nador, Al ...

speaking area in eastern Rif. Despite its speech area, the Sanhaja language belongs to the

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branch of

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 (1913–196 ...

. It has also been influenced by the neighbouring

Riffian language Tarifit (, ; ), also known as Riffian is a Zenati Berber language spoken in the Rif region in northern Morocco. It is spoken natively by some 1,200,000 Riffians, comprising 3.2% of the population, primarily in the Rif provinces of Nador, A ...

Name of the language

Besides Senhaja de Srair, there are also several names such as Senhajiyya, Chelha, Chelha n Senhaja, Chelha n Isenhajen, Tamazight n Senhaja, Tasenhajit.

Dialects

Dialects of Senhaja Berber are Beni Ahmed, Beni Bechir, Beni Buensar, Beni Jennus, Beni Mesdui, Beni Seddat, Ketama, Sarcat, and Tagsut

Writing System

Senhaja de Srair speakers are not used to write in their language. Unlike some other Berber languages, Tifinagh script is never used in Senhaja de Srair. If the language is written, especially in the case on

Computer-mediated communication Computer-mediated communication (CMC) is defined as any human communication that occurs through the use of two or more electronic devices. While the term has traditionally referred to those communications that occur via computer-mediated forma ...

, Latin script is the most considered one, numbers are sometimes (but not consistently) used to represent some sounds:

Arabic influences

Based on the

Leipzig–Jakarta list The Leipzig–Jakarta list of 100 words is used by linguists to test the degree of chronological separation of languages by comparing words that are resistant to borrowing. The Leipzig–Jakarta list became available in 2009. The word list is ...

, 17% of the vocabulary in Senhaja de Srair is borrowed.

Consonants

Following shows the oppositions in the consonantal system:

Vowels

There are three peripheral vowels (a, i, u) and a central vowel, schwa � written as e. The vowel a is usually realized as � i as � u as e as � Following shows the Senhaja vowel system:

References

Bibliography

* Peter Behnstedt, "La frontera entre el bereber y el árabe en el Rif", ''Estudios de dialectología norteafricana y andalusí'' vol. 6, 2002. * Esteban Ibañez, ''Diccionario español-senhayi (dialecto beraber de Senhaya de Srair)'', 1959. * Mena Lafkiou, ''Atlas linguistique des variétés berbères du Rif'' (Berber Studies vol.15), 2007. * A. Renisio, ''Études sur les dialectes berbères des Beni Iznassen, du Rif et des Senhaja de Sraïr. Grammaire, textes et lexique''. PIHEM, vol. 12. Paris 1932. Berber languages Berbers in Morocco Languages of Morocco Rif {{Berber-lang-stub