Tetserret (''Tin Sert'') is a

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

Berber language spoken by the Ait-Awari and Kel Eghlal

Tuareg The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym: ''Imuhaɣ/Imušaɣ/Imašeɣăn/Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group that principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern A ...

tribes of the Akoubounou (''Akabinu'') commune in

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesAbalak Abalak (or Abalagh) (in tamajeq ⴰⴱⴰⵍⴰⵗ) is a town located in the Tahoua Region, Abalak Department of northern Niger. It is both a town and Commune: a local administrative division. It is the seat (''Chef-lieu'') of Abalak Departme ...

, Akoubounou and Shadwanka. The variant spoken by the Kel Eghlal is called ''taməsəɣlalt''. The

Tamasheq Tamashek or Tamasheq is a variety of Tuareg, a Berber macro-language widely spoken by nomadic tribes across North Africa in Algeria, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. Tamasheq is one of the three main varieties of Tuareg, the others being Tamaja ...

equivalent ''shin-sart'' / ''shin-sar'' / ''tin-sar'' is used in some older literature. Popular understanding among some Ait-Awari derives the name ''tet-serret'', and its Tamasheq equivalent ''shin-sart'', from expressions meaning 'the (language) of

Sirte Sirte (; ar, سِرْت, ), also spelled Sirt, Surt, Sert or Syrte, is a city in Libya. It is located south of the Gulf of Sirte, between Tripoli and Benghazi. It is famously known for its battles, ethnic groups, and loyalty to Muammar G ...

'. Tetserret is one of the last Berber languages to be recognised as distinct. As late as 1981, Bernus treated Tetserret as a dialect of Tuareg, and some early sources even confused it with the Northern

Songhay languages 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, ...

. The first published linguistic material on Tetserret was Drouin (1984), and only with Khamed Attayoub's (2001) thesis did it become clear how different Tetserret was from Tuareg. Tetserret is the only surviving Berber language to share a number of sound shifts with Zenaga of

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

. It also has non-Tuareg vocabulary found in other Berber languages. For example, ''afagan'' (man) resembles

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 ...

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 ...

; ''aiddid'' (goatskin container for water) resembles

Ghadames Ghadames or Ghadamis ( Berber: ''ʕadémis''; ar, غدامس, Libyan vernacular: ''ɣdāməs'', Latin: ''Cidamus, Cydamus'', it, Gadames) is an oasis Berber town in the Nalut District of the Tripolitania region in northwestern Libya. The i ...

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 Egypt–Libya bo ...

; and ''awdosh'' (ox) recalls

Hassaniya Arabic Hassānīya ( ar, حسانية '; also known as , , , , and ''Maure'') is a variety of Maghrebi Arabic spoken by Mauritanian Arabs and the Sahrawi. It was spoken by the Beni Ḥassān Bedouin tribes, who extended their authority over most of M ...

. All speakers of Tetserret are bilingual in the

Tawellemmet language Tawellemmet (''Tawəlləmmət'') is the largest of the Tuareg languages in the Berber branch of the Afroasiatic family. It is usually one of two languages classed within a language called ''Tamajaq'', the other language being Aïr Tamajeq. Tawe ...

, which has influenced their language. As of 2011, Tetserret was no longer being spoken with children, and as such appears endangered.Lux 2011:54

Literature

* Drouin, Jeannine. 1984. Nouveaux éléments de sociolinguistique touarègue. Un parler méridional nigérien, la ''tamasaghlalt''. Paris Groupe Linguistique d'Études Chamito-Sémitiques, G.L.E.C.S.,XXIV-XXVIII (1979–1984), Geuthner, pp. 507–520. * Khamed Attayoub, Abdoulmohamine. 2001. ''La tətsərret des Ayttawari Seslem : identification socio-linguistique d’un parler berbère non-documenté chez les touaregs de l’Azawagh (Niger)''. Mémoire de maîtrise dirigé par Salem Chaker. Inalco : Paris. * Khamed Attayoub, Abdoulmohamine. Les mots du voyages chez les Touaregs Ayttawari Seslem. Quelques éléments lexicologues en ''tetserrét''. In ed. H. Claudot-Hawad, ''Voyager du point de vue d'un nomade''. Paris: Éditions Paris-Méditérranée, pp. 159–166. * Lux, Cécile. 2011
Etude descriptive et comparative d’une langue menacée : le tetserret, langue berbère du Niger
Doctoral thesis, Université de Lyon-2. * Walentowitz, Saskia & Abdoulmohamine Khamed Attayoub. 2001
La tetserrét des Ayttawari Seslem: un parler proche du berbère "septentrionale" chez les Touaregs de l'Azawagh (Niger)
''Annuaire de l'Afrique du Nord'' vol. XXIX, 2000-2001.

References

{{Berber languages Berbers in Niger Western Berber languages