Mozabite, or Tumẓabt, 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 by the
Mozabites
The Mozabite people are a Berber ethnic group inhabiting the M'zab natural region in the northern Sahara in Algeria. They speak Mozabite (''Tumẓabt''), one of the Zenati languages in the Berber branch of the Afroasiatic family. Many also speak ...
, an
Ibadi
The Ibadi movement or Ibadism ( ar, الإباضية, al-Ibāḍiyyah) is a school of Islam. The followers of Ibadism are known as the Ibadis.
Ibadism emerged around 60 years after the Islamic prophet Muhammad's death in 632 AD as a moderate sc ...
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 ...
group inhabiting the seven cities of the
M'zab
The M'zab or Mzab ( Mozabite: ''Aghlan'', ar, مزاب) is a natural region of the northern Sahara Desert in Ghardaïa Province, Algeria. It is located south of Algiers and there are approximately 360,000 inhabitants (2005 estimate).
Geolog ...
natural region in the northern
Sahara
, photo = Sahara real color.jpg
, photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972
, map =
, map_image =
, location =
, country =
, country1 =
, ...
n
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
. It is also spoken by small numbers of Mozabite emigrants in other local cities and elsewhere. Mozabite 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)
...
, a
dialect cluster
A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated varie ...
of the
Zenati languages
The Zenati languages are a branch of the Northern Berber language family of North Africa. They were named after the medieval Zenata Berber tribal confederation. They were first proposed in the works of French linguist Edmond Destaing (1915) (19 ...
. It is very closely related to the nearby Berber languages of
Ouargla
Ouargla ( Berber: Wargrən, ar, ورقلة) is the capital city of Ouargla Province in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria. It has a flourishing petroleum industry and hosts one of Algeria's universities, the University of Ouargla. The commune ...
and
Oued Righ
The Oued Righ (also spelled Oued Rir', Oued Rirh, Wadi Righ) is a region of the northeastern Algerian Sahara. It includes a number of oases, the principal centre being Touggourt. Some of these oases speak Oued Righ Berber
Tugurt, also known as ...
as well as the more distant
Gourara
Tuat, or Touat, is a natural region of desert in central Algeria that contains a string of small oases. In the past, the oases were important for caravans crossing the Sahara.
Geography
Tuat lies to the south of the Grand Erg Occidental, to ...
.
Bibliography
* ابراهيم و بكير عبد السلام. الوجيز في قواعد الكتابة و النحو للغة الأمازيغية "المزابية". المطبعة العرببة: غرداية 1996.
* Delheure, Jean. ''Aǧraw n Yiwalen Tumẓabt d-Tefṛansist = Dictionnaire Mozabite–Francais''. SELAF:Paris 1984.
References
External links
Aghlandictionary
Zenati languages
Languages of Algeria
Ghardaïa Province
{{Berber-lang-stub