Name
Shilha speakers usually refer to their language as . This name is morphologically a feminine noun, derived from masculine "male speaker of Shilha". Shilha names of other languages are formed in the same way, for example "an Arab", "the Arabic language". The origin of the names and has recently become a subject of debate (see Shilha people#Naming for various theories). The presence of the consonant in the name suggests an originally exonymic (Arabic) origin. The first appearance of the name in a western printed source is found in Mármol's (1573), which mentions the "indigenous Africans called Xilohes or Berbers" (). The initial in is a Shilha nominal prefix (see ). The ending (borrowed from the Arabic suffix ) forms denominal nouns and adjectives. There are also variant forms and , with instead of under the influence of the preceding consonant . The plural of is ; a single female speaker is a (noun homonymous with the name of the language), plural . In Moroccan colloquial Arabic, a male speaker is called a , plural , and the language is , a feminine derivation calqued on . The Moroccan Arabic names have been borrowed into English as ''a Shilh'', ''the Shluh'', and ''Shilha'', and into French as , , and or, more commonly, . The now-usual names and in their endonymic use seem to have gained the upper hand relatively recently, as they are attested only in those manuscript texts which date from the 19th and 20th centuries. In older texts, the language is still referred to as or "Tamazight". For example, the author Awzal (early 18th c.) speaks of "a composition in that beautiful Tamazight". Because Souss is the most heavily populated part of the language area, the name (lit. "language of Souss") is now often used as aNumber of speakers
Some authors mention a much higher number of Shilha speakers. Stroomer (2001a) estimated that there are "some 6 to 8 million" speakers, and he subsequently (2008) raised the number to "some 8 to 9 million". Stroomer does not refer to any published sources supporting his estimates, which are certainly too high.Dialects
Dialect differentiation within Shilha, such as it is, has not been the subject of any targeted research, but several scholars have noted that all varieties of Shilha are mutually intelligible. The first was Stumme, who observed that all speakers can understand each other, "because the individual dialects of their language are not very different." This was later confirmed by Ahmed Boukous, a Moroccan linguist and himself a native speaker of Shilha, who stated: "Shilha is endowed with a profound unity which permits the Shluh to communicate without problem, from the Ihahan in the northwest to the Aït Baamran in the southwest, from the Achtouken in the west to the Iznagen in the east, and from Aqqa in the desert to Tassaout in the plain of Marrakesh." There exists no sharply defined boundary between Shilha dialects and the dialects ofWriting systems
Shilha has been written with several different alphabets. Historically, the Arabic script has been dominant. Usage of the Latin script emerged in the late 19th century. More recently there has been an initiative to write Shilha in Tifinagh.Tifinagh
Latin script
Many Shilha texts from the oral tradition have been published since the 19th century, transcribed inArabic script
;Traditional orthography Traditional Shilha manuscript texts are written in a conventionalized orthography in Maghribi Arabic script. This orthography has remained virtually unchanged since at least the end of the 16th century, and is still used today in circles of traditional Islamic scholars (). The main features of the traditional orthography are the use of two extra letters ( with three dots for , and with three dots for ) and full vocalization (vowels written with , and ). Clitical elements are written connected to a noun or verb form (conjunctive spelling). ;Modern orthography Since the 1970s, a fair number of books in Shilha have been published inside Morocco, written in a newly devised, practical orthography in Arabic script. The main features of this orthography are the representation of vowels by the letters , and the non-use of vocalization signs other than (to indicate gemination of consonants) and (to indicate labialization of velar and uvular consonants). The consonant is written with , and is either written with ( with dot below) or not distinguished from . Word separations are mostly disjunctive.Literature
Shilha possesses an old literary tradition. Numerous texts written in Arabic script are preserved in manuscripts dating from the past four centuries. The earliest datable text is a compendium of lectures on the "religious sciences" () composed in metrical verses by (Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Ṣanhājī, died 1597). The best known writer in this tradition is Mḥmmd u Ɛli Awzal (Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Hawzālī, died 1749), author of "The Cistern" (a handbook ofResearch
The first attempt at a grammatical description of Shilha is the work of the German linguist Hans Stumme (1864–1936), who in 1899 published his . Stumme's grammar remained the richest source of grammatical information on Shilha for half a century. A problem with the work is its use of an over-elaborate, phonetic transcription which, while designed to be precise, generally fails to provide a transparent representation of spoken forms. Stumme also published a collection of Shilha fairy tales (1895, re-edited in Stroomer 2002). The next author to grapple with Shilha is Saïd Cid Kaoui (Saʿīd al-Sidqāwī, 1859-1910), a native speaker of Kabyle from Algeria. Having published a dictionary ofPhonology
Stress and intonation
Stress and intonation in Shilha are the subject of a monograph by Roettger (2017), who used instrumental testing. He established the fact that Shilha does not have lexical stress (Roettger 2017:59), as noted earlier by Stumme (1899:14) and Galand (1988, 2.16).Vowels
Shilha has three phonemic vowels, with length not a distinctive feature. The vowels show a fairly wide range of allophones. The vowel /a/ is most often realized as or � and /u/ is pronounced without any noticeable rounding except when adjacent to . The presence of a pharyngealized consonant invites a more centralized realization of the vowel, as in "three", "four", "six" (compare "one", "two", "five"). Additional phonemic vowels occur sporadically in recent loanwords, for example as in "restaurant" (from French).Transitional vowels and "schwa"
In addition to the three phonemic vowels, there are non-phonemic transitional vowels, often collectively referred to as "Treatment of hiatus
Consonants
Shilha has thirty-three phonemic consonants. Like other Berber languages and Arabic, it has bothSemivowels
The semivowels and have vocalic allophones and between consonants (C_C) and between consonant and pause (C_# and #_C). Similarly, the high vowels and can have consonantal allophones and in order to avoid a hiatus. In most dialects, the semivowels are thus in complementary distribution with the high vowels, with the semivowels occurring as onset or coda, and the high vowels as nucleus in a syllable. This surface distribution of the semivowels and the high vowels has tended to obscure their status as four distinct phonemes, with some linguists denying phonemic status to /w/ and /j/. Positing four distinct phonemes is necessitated by the fact that semivowels and high vowels can occur in sequence, in lexically determined order, for example "bee", "ewe" (not *, *). In addition, semivowels and , like other consonants, occur long, as in "wrap", "camel's hump". The assumption of four phonemes also results in a more efficient description of morphology. In the examples below, and are transcribed phonemically in some citation forms, but always phonetically in context, for example "the sisters of", "he has two sisters".Gemination and length
There is a phonemic contrast between single and non-single (geminated or long) consonants: : "grass" vs. "testimony" : "pool" vs. "sparrowhawk" Gemination and degemination play a role in the morphology of nouns and verbs: : "king", "kings" ( becomes ) : "he harvested", "he is harvesting" ( becomes ) All consonants can in principle occur geminated or long, although phonemic and do not seem to be attested. The uvular stops only occur geminated or long (). Four consonants have each two corresponding geminate or long consonants, one phonetically identical and one different: : : and : : and : : and : : and In the oldest layers of the morphology, , , , always have , , , as geminated or long counterparts: : "slaughter", "he is slaughtering" (compare "plough", "he is ploughing") : "be red", "it is red" (compare "be black", "it is black") Whether a non-single consonant is realized as geminated or as long depends on the syllabic context. A geminated consonant is a sequence of two identical consonants /CC/, metrically counting as two segments, and always separated by syllable division, as in a.md.da."sparrowhawk". A long consonant is a consonant followed by aSyllable structure
Shilha syllable structure has been the subject of a detailed and highly technical discussion by phoneticians. The issue was whether Shilha does or does not have vowelless syllables. According to John Coleman, syllables which are vowelless on the phonemic level have "schwa" serving as vocalic nucleus on the phonetic level. According to Rachid Ridouane on the other hand, Shilha's apparently vowelless syllables are truly vowelless, with all phonemes, vowels as well as consonants, capable of serving as nucleus. The discussion is summed up in Ridouane (2008, with listing of relevant publications), where he conclusively demonstrates that a perfectly ordinary Shilha phrase such as "you took it away" indeed consists of three vowelless syllables k.ks.tst:. each made up of voiceless consonants only, and with voiceless consonants (not "schwa") serving as nucleus. Many definitions of the syllable that have been put forward do not cover the syllables of Shilha.Syllable types
The syllable structure of Shilha was first investigated by Dell and Elmedlaoui in a seminal article (1985). They describe how syllable boundaries can be established through what they call "core syllabification". This works by associating a nucleus with an onset, to form a core syllable CV or CC. Segments that are higher on the sonority scale have precedence over those lower on the scale in forming the nucleus in a core syllable, with vowels and semivowels highest on the scale, followed by liquids and nasals, voiced fricatives, voiceless fricatives, voiced stops and voiceless stops. When no more segments are available as onsets, the remaining single consonants are assigned as coda to the preceding core syllable, but if a remaining consonant is identical to the consonant that is the onset of the following syllable, it merges with it to become a long consonant. A morpheme boundary does not necessarily constitute a syllable boundary. Example: * :(they.went to one EA-orchard they.enter into-it to- they.eat EL-figs with EA-grapes) :"they went to an orchard and entered it to eat figs and grapes" Core syllabification: :d (da) (ns) (ya) w (wu) r (ti) k (cm) (ni) s (sa) (dc) (ci) n (ta) (za) r (td) (wa) (ḍi) l Coda assignment: :(d:a) (ns) (ya) (w:ur) (tik) (cm) (ni) (s:a) (dc) (cin) (ta) (zar) (td) (wa) (ḍil) Comparative diagram of the following: Application of core syllabification produces the following Shilha syllable types: Shilha syllable structure can be represented succinctly by the formula , in which C is any consonant (single/long), and X is any vowel or consonant (single) and with the restriction that in a syllable CXC the X, if it is a consonant, cannot be higher on the resonance scale than the syllable-final consonant, that is, syllables such as sk.and rz.are possible, but not * ks.and * zr. Exceptional syllables of the types X (vowel or single/long consonant) and (vowel plus single/long consonant) occur in utterance-initial position: : .glt."close it!" (syllable C) : :.ɣat."go out!" (syllable C:) : .wi.tid."bring it here!" (syllable V) : c.kid."come here!" (syllable VC) Another exceptional syllable type, described by Dell and Elmedlaoui (1985), occurs in utterance-final position, when a syllable of the type CC or CC: is "annexed" to a preceding syllable of the type CV or C:V, for example "be silent!" is s.samt.not * s.sa.mt. Since any syllable type may precede or follow any other type, and since any consonant can occur in syllable-initial or final position, there are no phonotactical restrictions on consonant sequences. This also means that the concept of the consonant cluster is not applicable in Shilha phonology, as any number of consonants may occur in sequence: * :(I.am.glad by.means.of the.acquiantance of.you) : r.ḥɣs.lm.ɛrf.tn.nk.(six syllables, fourteen consonants, no vowels) :"I'm glad to make your acquaintance"Metrics
The metrics of traditional Shilha poems, as composed and recited by itinerant bards (), was first described and analyzed by Hassan Jouad (thesis 1983, book 1995; see also Dell and Elmedlaoui 2008). The traditional metrical system confirms the existence of vowelless syllables in Shilha, and Jouad's data have been used by Dell and Elmedlaoui, and by Ridouane to support their conclusions. The metrical system imposes the following restrictions: *each line in a poem contains the same number of syllables as all the other lines *each syllable in a line contains the same number of segments as its counterpart in other lines *each line contains one particular syllable that must begin or end with a voiced consonant *each line is divided into feet, with the last syllable in each foot stressed ("lifted") in recitation Within these restrictions, the poet is free to devise his own metrical form. This can be recorded in a meaningless formula called which shows the number and the length of the syllables, as well as the place of the obligatory voiced consonant (Jouad lists hundreds of such formulae). The system is illustrated here with a quatrain ascribed to the semi-legendary Shilha poet Sidi Ḥammu (fl. 18th century) and published by Amarir (1987:64): Application of Dell and Elmedlaoui's core syllabification reveals a regular mosaic of syllables: The poem is composed in a metre listed by Jouad (1995:283) and exemplified by the formula , , , (the in the last syllable indicates the position of the compulsory voiced consonant).Grammar
Nouns
On the basis of their morphology, three types of Shilha nouns can be distinguished, two indigenous types and one type of external origin: *inflected nouns *uninflected nouns *unincorporated loans The relevant morpho-syntactic categories are gender, number and state.Inflected nouns
Inflected nouns are by far the most numerous type. These nouns can be easily recognised from their outward shape: they begin with a nominal prefix which has the form : : "daytime" : "orphan" : "hound" : "evening" : "marsh mallow (plant)" : "ant" Inflected nouns distinguish two genders, masculine and feminine; two numbers, singular and plural; and two states, conventionally referred to by their French names as ("free state") and ("annexed state") and glossed as EL and EA. Gender and number are all explicitly marked, but historical and synchronic sound changes have in some cases resulted in the neutralization of the difference between EL and EA. The nominal prefix has no semantic content, i.e. it is not a sort of (in)definite article, although it is probably demonstrative in origin. It is made up of one or both of two elements, a gender prefix and a vocalic prefix. Singular feminine nouns may also have a gender suffix. For example, the noun "bee" has the feminine prefix , the vocalic prefix and the feminine singular suffix added to the nominal stem . While feminine inflected nouns always have the feminine prefix, masculine nouns do not have a gender prefix in the free state (EL); for example "fox" has no gender prefix, but only a vocalic prefix added to the nominal stem . Gender is thus marked unambiguously, albeit asymmetrically. In just a handful of nouns, the morphological gender does not conform to the grammatical gender (and number): "sheep and goats" is morphologically masculine singular, but takes feminine plural agreement; "eyes" is morphologically masculine plural, but takes feminine plural agreement; "(someone's) children, offspring" is morphologically feminine singular, but takes masculine plural agreement. The annexed state (EA) is regularly formed by reducing the vocalic prefix to zero and, with masculine nouns, adding the masculine gender prefix : :EL "bee" → EA :EL "fox" → EA With some nouns, the original vocalic prefix has fused with a stem-initial vowel, to produce an inseparable (and irreducible) vowel: :EL "moon, month" → EA (not *) :EL "sun" → EA (not *) With feminine nouns that have an inseparable vocalic prefix, the difference between EL and EA is thus neutralized. While most inflected nouns have a vocalic prefix , some have (in some cases inseparable), and a few have (always inseparable). When a masculine noun has the vocalic prefix (separable or inseparable), the masculine gender prefix changes to . The table below presents an overview (all examples are singular; plurals also distinguish EL and EA): The EA is not predictable from the shape of the noun, compare: : "hand" → EA : "knee" → EA The phonological rules on the realization of /w/ and /j/ apply to the EA as well. For example, the EA of "chief" is /w-mɣar/, realized as after a vowel, after a consonant: : "the chief went to see the judge" : "the chief accompanied the judge" Inflected nouns show a great variety of plural formations, applying one or more of the following processes: *suffixation (masculine , feminine ) *vowel change (insertion or elision, orUninflected nouns
This is the least common type, which also includes some loans. Examples: : "cuckoo" : "thirst" : "thumb" : "tar" (from Arabic) : "station" (from French) : "index finger" : "couscous" : "cricket" : "carrots" It is probable that all uninflected nouns were originally masculine. The few that now take feminine agreement contain elements that have been reanalyzed as marking feminine gender, for example "kind of spider" (initial seen as feminine prefix), "bat" (not an Arabic loanword, but final analyzed as the Arabic feminine ending). Many uninflected nouns are collectives or non-count nouns which do not have a separate plural form. Those that have a plural make it by preposing the pluralizer , for example "stations". The uninflected noun or "people, humans" is morphologically masculine singular but takes masculine plural agreement. Names of people and foreign place-names can be seen as a subtype of uninflected nouns, for example (man's name), (woman's name), "Fès", "Portugal". Gender is not transparently marked on these names, but those referring to humans take gender agreement according to the natural sex of the referent (male/masculine, female/feminine).Unincorporated loans
These are nouns of Arabic origin (including loans from French and Spanish through Arabic) which have largely retained their Arabic morphology. They distinguish two genders (not always unambiguously marked) and two numbers (explicitly marked). A notable feature of these nouns is that they are borrowed with the Arabic definite article, which is semantically neutralized in Shilha: :Moroccan Arabic "the pistol" → Shilha "the pistol, a pistol" :Moroccan Arabic "the coffin" → Shilha "the coffin, a coffin" The Arabic feminine ending is often replaced with the Shilha feminine singular suffix : :Moroccan Arabic → Shilha "fruit" :Moroccan Arabic → Shilha "tomb of a saint" Arabic loans usually retain their gender in Shilha. The exception are Arabic masculine nouns which end in ; these change their gender to feminine in Shilha, with the final reanalyzed as the Shilha feminine singular suffix : :Moroccan Arabic "the prophetic tradition" (masculine) → Shilha (feminine) :Moroccan Arabic "death" (masculine) → Shilha (feminine) Arabic plurals are usually borrowed with the singulars. If the borrowed plural is not explicitly marked for gender (according to Arabic morphology) it has the same gender as the singular: : "domestic animal" (feminine), plural (feminine) : "buckle" (masculine), plural (masculine) Loanwords whose singular is masculine may have a plural which is feminine, and marked as such (according to Arabic morphology), for example "flag" (masculine), plural (feminine).Use of the annexed state
The annexed state (EA) of an inflected noun is used in a number of clearly defined syntactical contexts: *when the noun occurs as subject in postverbal position: : (it.is.beautiful EA-country of.you) "your country is beautiful" :compare: : (EL-country of.you it.is.beautiful) "Semantics of feminine nouns
The formation of feminine nouns from masculine nouns is a productive process. A feminine noun is formed by adding both the feminine nominal prefix (and, if necessary, a vocalic prefix), and the feminine singular suffix to a masculine noun. The semantic value of the feminine derivation is variable. For many nouns referring to male and female humans or animals (mainly larger mammals), matching masculine and feminine forms exist with the same nominal stem, reflecting the sex of the referent: : "widower" → "widow" : "Muslim" → "Muslima" : "twin boy" → "twin girl" : "cock, rooster" → "hen" : "lion" → "lioness" : "moufflon" → "female moufflon" In a few cases there are suppletive forms: : "man, husband" ― "woman, wife" : "buck" ― "goat" Feminine nouns derived from masculine nouns with inanimate reference have diminutive meaning: : "stone" → "small stone" : "cave" → "hole, lair" : "room" → "small room" : "box" → "little box" : "garden" → "small garden" Conversely, a masculine noun derived from a feminine noun has augmentative meaning: : "lake" → "large lake" : "house" → "large house" : "fan palm" → "large fan palm" Feminine nouns derived from masculine collective nouns have singulative meaning: : "maize" → "a cob" : "peppers" → "a pepper" : "aubergines" → "an aubergine" : "matches" → "a match" Feminine derivations are also used as names of languages, professions and activities: : "Dutchman" → "the Dutch language" : "the French" → "the French language" : "blacksmith" → "blacksmith's profession" : "beggar" → "begging" : "miser" → "avarice" : "(my) brother" → "brotherhood" There is an overlap here with feminine nouns denoting females: : "Frenchwoman" and "the French language" : "beggarwoman" and "begging"Nominal deictic clitics
There are three deictic clitics which can follow a noun: proximal "this, these", distal "that, those" (compare ) and anaphoric "the aforementioned": : "Personal pronouns
There are three basic sets of personal pronouns: *independent *direct object clitics *suffixes In addition, there are two derived sets which contain the suffixed pronouns (except in 1st singular): *indirect object clitics *possessive complements Gender is consistently marked on 2nd singular, and on 2nd and 3rd plural. Gender is not consistently marked on 3rd singular and 1st plural. Gender is never marked on 1st singular. The independent ("overt") pronouns are used to topicalize the subject or the object. * :(wie not we.wear EL-sandals of EA-alfa) :"as for us, we don't wear sandalsPrepositions
Prepositions can have up to three different forms, depending on the context in which they are used: *before a noun or demonstrative pronoun *with a pronominal suffix *independent in relative clause The form before nouns and demonstrative pronouns and the independent form are identical for most prepositions, the exception being the dative preposition (independent , ). Most prepositions require a following inflected noun to be in the annexed state (EA) (see ). Exceptions are "until", "toward" (in some modern dialects, and in premodern texts) and prepositions borrowed from Arabic (not in the table) such as "after" and "before". The instrumental and allative prepositions "by means of" (with EA) and "toward" (with EL) were still consistently kept apart in premodern manuscript texts. In most modern dialects they have been amalgamated, with both now requiring the EA, and with the pre-pronominal forms each occurring with both meanings: "toward it" (now also "with it"), "with it" (now also "toward it"). The use of the different forms is illustrated here with the preposition "in": * (with noun) :(it.fell EA-rain in EA-beginning of October) :"the first rain fell in the beginning of October" * (with pronominal suffix) :(the sit in.them the're.drinking coffee) :"they sit in them .e., cafésdrinking coffee" * (independent) :(EL-orchard in.which they.exist trees that they.are.bearing.fruit it.is.irrigated) :"an orchard in which there are fruit-bearing trees is usually irrigated" Two prepositions can be combined: * :(it.exists EA-beetle that it.is.living in under EA-dung) :"there is aNumerals
The inherited cardinal numeral system consists of ten numerals (still in active use) and three numeral nouns (now obsolete) for "a tensome", "a hundred" and "a thousand". There is also an indefinite numeral meaning "several, many" or "how many?" which morphologically and syntactically patterns with the numerals 1 to 10. For numbers of 20 and over, Arabic numerals are commonly used.Numerals 1 to 10, indefinite numeral
These are listed below. The formation of feminine "one" and "two" is irregular. The numerals 1 to 10 are constructed with nouns (inflected nouns in the EA), the gender of the numeral agreeing with that of the noun: : "one EA-horse" : "one EA-cow" : "two EA-horses" : "two EA-cows". The same obtains with the indefinite numeral: : "several/many EA-horses, how many horses?" : "several/many EA-cows, how many cows?" Numerals , "one" also serve as indefinite article, for example "one Westerner, a Westerner", and they are used independently with the meaning "anyone" (), "anything" (): : "he didn't see anyone" : "I'm not afraid of anything" The final of masculine "one" and "two" is often assimilated or fused to a following , or : : → "one EA-day" : → "one EA-year" : → "a place" : → "two EA-years" : → "two EA-months"Teens
The teens are made by connecting the numerals 1 to 9 to the numeral 10 with the preposition "with". In the premodern language, both numerals took the gender of the counted noun, with the following noun in the plural (EA): : (two with ten EA-horses) "twelve horses" : (two with ten EA-cows) "twelve cows" In the modern language, fused forms have developed in which the first numeral is always masculine, while the following noun is in the singular, and connected with the preposition "of": : (twelve of EA-horse) "twelve horses" : (twelve of EA-cow) "twelve cows"Tens, hundreds, thousands
There are three inherited nouns to denote "a tensome", "a hundred" and "a thousand". These now seem to be obsolete, but they are well attested in the premodern manuscripts. Morphologically, they are ordinary inflected nouns. The tens, hundreds and thousand were formed by combining the numerals 1 to 10 with the numeral nouns: : (two EA-tensomes) "twenty" : (two EA-hundreds) "two hundred" : (two EA-thousands) "two thousand" The numeral nouns are connected with the preposition "of" to a noun, which is most often in the singular: : (EL-hundred of EA-horse) "a hundred horses" : (two EA-hundreds of EA-horse) "two hundred horses" : (EL-thousand of EA-cow) "a thousand cows" : (two EA-thousands of EA-cow) "two thousand cows" In the modern language the Arabic tens are used, which have developed a separate feminine form: : (twenty of EA-horse) "twenty horses" : (twenty of EA-cow) "twenty cows" The numerals between the tens are most frequently made with the Arabic numerals 1 to 10: : (five and twenty of EA-horse) "twenty-five horses" : (five and twenty of EA-cow) "twenty-five cows" The Arabic hundreds and thousands are used in the modern language, taking the places of the original numeral nouns while the original syntax is maintained: : (hundred of EA-horse) "a hundred horses" : (two PL hundred of EA-horse) "two hundred horses" : (thousand of EA-cow) "a thousand cows" : (two EA-thousands of EA-cow) "two thousand cows" There is also a vigesimal system built on the Arabic numeral "twenty, score", for example (two PL score of EA-cow) "forty cows".Ordinal numerals
''First'' and ''last'' are usually expressed with relative forms of the verbs "to be first" and "to be last": : (page which.is.first) "the first page" : (days which.are.last) "the last days" There are also agent nouns derived from these verbs which are apposed to a noun or used independently: : (furrow the.first.one) "the first furrow" : (she.arrived hither the.last.one) "she arrived last" The other ordinals are formed by prefixing masc. , fem. to a cardinal numeral, which is then constructed with a plural noun in the usual manner: : (ORD-three EA-days) "the third day" : (ORD-three EA-times) "the third time" The ordinal prefixes is also used with Arabic numerals and with the indefinite numeral: : "the 25th ayofVerbs
A Shilha verb form is basically a combination of a person-number-gender (PNG) affix and a mood-aspect-negation (MAN) stem.Sample verb
The workings of this system are illustrated here with the full conjugation of the verb "to give". The perfective negative goes with the negation "not". The imperfective goes with the preverbal particle (except usually the imperative, and the relative forms). The verb "give" has the full complement of four different MAN stems: *Aorist ― in 1st, 2nd and 3rd singular, 1st plural, and the imperatives, but in 2nd and 3rd plural *Perfective ― in 1st and 2nd singular, but with the other forms *Perfective negative ― all forms *Imperfective (an irregular formation) ― all formsPerson-number-gender affixes
There are two basic sets of PNG affixes, one set marking the subject of ordinary verb forms, and another set marking the subject of imperatives. Two suffixes (singular , plural ) are added to the 3rd singular and masculine 3rd plural masculine verb forms respectively to make relative forms (also known as "participles"), as in "who gives", "who give".Mood-aspect-negation stems
A few verbs have just one MAN stem. The majority of verbs have two, three or four different MAN stems. The Aorist stem serves as theUses of MAN stems
The table below is adapted from Kossmann (2012:40, table 2.12 Uses of MAN stems in Figuig Berber).Stative verbs
Shilha has around twentyVerbal deictic clitics
There are two deictic clitics which are used with verbs to indicate movement toward or away from the point of reference: centripetal "hither" and centrifugal "thither": * :(not he.knew which EL-day hither they-return) :"he knew not on which day they would return (toward him)" * :(I.killed father-your I.threw tither EL-head of.him in EA-waterhole) :"I killed your father and threw his head (away from me) into a waterhole" The use of these clitics is compulsory (idiomatic) with certain verbs. For example, the verb "come" almost always goes with the centripetal particle, and "find" with the centrifugal clitic: * :(he.came hither one EA-messenger from Ali Oumhaouch)) :"a messenger came to their place from Ali Oumhaouch" * :(he.descended to EA-waterhole he.finds tither EL-head of EA-ram) :"he descended into the waterhole and found the head of a ram" When the verbal deictic clitics occur after an object pronoun, they change to and : * :(he.put them hither in one EA-pouch) :"he put them in a pouch" * :(them tither we.are.putting in EA-jar) :"we usually put them in a jar"Possession
Within a noun phrase
A possessive construction within a noun phrase is most frequently expressed as Possessee Possessor. The preposition "of" requires a following inflected noun to be in the annexed state. This kind of possessive construction covers a wide range of relationships, including both alienable and inalienable possession, and most of them not involving actual ownership: : "Daoud's waterhole" : "the entrance of the grain silo" : "Brahim's children" : "pots of clay" : "a little salt" : "the price of maize" : "after lunch" : "the city of Istanbul" : "the rising of the sun" : "the road to school" : "the religion of the Jews" : "the story of Joseph" Many such possessive constructions are compounds, whose meaning cannot be deduced from the ordinary meaning of the nouns: : "road of straw: the Milky Way" : "mouth of jackal: a length measure" : "ravine of lice: nape, back of the neck" : "needle of hedges: kind of bird" The possessor can itself be a possessee in a following possessive construction: : "the era of the reign of Moulay Lahcen" : "the time of the giving birth of the sheep and goats" As a rule, the preposition assimilates to, or fuses with, a following , , or : : → "the language of the Arabs" : → "horse-doctor" : → "the season of rain" : → "the king of the Muslims" : → "orange tree" : → "maize of Egypt" The possessor can also be expressed with a pronominal possessive complement. This consists of a pronominal suffix added to the preposition, which then takes the shape (see ). The form of the 1st singular possessive complement is anomalous: after a vowel, and after a consonant (or, in some dialects, ): : "my head" : "my hands" : "my leg" : "your (sg.m.) pouch" : "your (sg.f.) affairs" : "his clothes" : "her opinion" : "its smell" : "our neighbours" : "your (pl.m.) occupation" : "your (pl.f.) friends" : "their (m.) livelihood" : "their (f.) locks of hair"Within a clause
There are two ways to express possession within a clause. The most common way is to use the "exist with" construction: * :(she.exists with.him one EA-pumpkin) :"he has a pumpkin" * :(not with.me it.exists EA-anything what thither I.wear) :"I've got nothing to wear" The verb "exist" (perfective ) is usually omitted, leaving aPossessed nouns
These are a subtype of uninflected nouns. As with proper names, gender is not transparently marked on possessed nouns, which take gender agreement according to the natural sex of the referent. Plurals are either suppletive or made with the preposed pluralizer . Most possessed nouns are consanguinal kinship terms which require a possessive suffix (the table contains a selection). These kinship terms cannot occur without pronominal suffix. Example: If these nouns are part of an NP-internal possessive construction, possession must be indicated twice: : (father-her of EA-bride) "the father of the bride" : (son-his of brother-my) "my brother's son" : (daughter-its of EA-river) "the daughter of the river: fever" (compound) The suffix must also be added when possession is expressed in a clause: * :(not he.possesses except one sister.his) :"he only has one sister" Some kinship terms are not possessed nouns but inflected nouns which take possessive complements (see examples above). Another group of possessed nouns require a following noun phrase, occurring only in an NP-internal possessive phrase. A following inflected noun must be in the EA. These four possessed nouns occur as first element in compound kinship terms (see above; then becomes in "the brother of"). They also serve to indicate descent, origin and ethnicity: : "Ahmed son of Moussa" (name of a famous saint) : "member of the Aït Brayyim ethnic group" : "native of outside: a foreigner" : "a native of Taroudant" : "the natives of Aguercif" : "native woman of Aglou" : "the women of Tafraout" When is followed by another (phonemic) the result is : : → "native of Ouijjane" (also surname: Gouijjane) : → "a man, son of a man: a man of virtue" occurs in many Shilha ethnonyms: : "the Sons of Boubker" (Aït Boubker), singular : "the Sons of Ouafka" (Aït Ouafka), singular →Proprietive and privative elements
The proprietive elements masc. "he with, he of" and fem. "she with, she of" are borrowed from Arabic (original meaning "father of", "mother of"). They are used as formative elements and require a following inflected noun to be in the annexed state. The plural is formed with the pluralizer : : (he of seven EA-words) "a liar" : (he of EA-forest) "wild boar" : (he with EA-letters) "postman" : (PL he with EA-bucket) "French soldiers (wearing aLexicon
Shilha retains a large native (non-borrowed) lexicon, supplemented by borrowings from the languages with which its speakers came into contact.Sources
The main available lexicographical sources for the modern language are: Stumme 1899 (contains Shilha–German wordlist, pp. 155–246) ; Destaing 1920 (French–Shilha); Cid Kaoui 1907 (French-Shilha, not entirely reliable); Jordan 1934 (Shilha–French, extracted from Laoust 1921); Destaing 1940 (a collection of texts with copious lexicographical notes and a Shilha index); Ibáñez 1954 (Spanish–Shilha); Boumalk and Bounfour 2001 (Shilha-French). An indigenous source for the premodern language is in van den Boogert (1998). These sources will be made accessible, with much additional data, in Stroomer's (forthcoming). No reliable wordlist in Shilha and English is available in print.Basic vocabulary
Below is the Leipzig-Jakarta list for Shilha, extracted from Destaing (1920, dialects of the central Anti-Atlas). As far as can be determined, there are only five borrowed items in the list, all loans from Arabic. Note that the first item in the list, the most stable (least borrowed) item among the world's languages, is actually a loan in Shilha.Loanwords
The earliest identifiableSecret languages
Destaing mentions a secret language (Sample text
;Text Podeur (1995:140–141). (1) :, feminine noun, "story" (Arabic loan) :, preposition, "of" :, masculine numeral, "one, a" :, masculine noun, annexed state, "man" :, relative pronoun, "who" (Arabic loan) :, singular relative verb form, "who is selling" (causative < "be sold") :, feminine noun, free state, "honey" :, preposition, "in" :, masculine noun, "market" (Arabic loan) (2) :, masculine numeral, "one, a" :, masculine noun, annexed state, "man" :, 3sg.m. perfective, "he filled" (Arabic loan) :, masculine indefinite numeral, "several, many" :, masculine plural noun, annexed state, "skins, leather bags" :, preposition, "of" :, feminine noun, annexed state, "honey" :, preposition, "in" :, masculine noun, "market" (Arabic loan) (3) :, 3sg.m. aorist (consecutive), "he came" :, directional particle, centripetal, "thither" :, preposition + 3sg. suffix, "with him" :, masculine numeral, "one, a" :, masculine noun, annexed state, "man" :, 3sg.m. perfective, "he wanted" :, prospective preverbal particle :, preposition + 3sg. suffix, "with him" :, 3sg.m. aorist, "he buys" :, feminine noun, free state, "honey" (4) :, 3sg.m. perfective, "he said" :, inserted consonant (hiatus breaker) :, 3sg. indirect object clitic, "to him" :, question word, "how much?" : , "is-it-that" :, 2sg. aorist, "you sell" (causative < "be sold") :, feminine noun, free state, "honey" :, demonstrative particle, distal, "that" (5) :, 3sg.m. perfective, "he said" :, inserted consonant (hiatus breaker) :, 3sg. indirect object clitic, "to him" :, imperative singular, "taste!" :, 3sg.f. object clitic, "it" :, conjunction, "if" :, 2sg.m. indirect object clitic, "to you" :, 3sg.f. perfective, "it pleased" (Arabic loan) :, imperfective preverbal :, preposition + 3sg. suffix, "in it, about it" :, 2sg. imperfective, "you talk, you can talk" (6) :, 3sg.m. aorist (consecutive), "he picked up" :, masculine noun, annexed state, "man" :, demonstrative particle, distal, "that" :, masculine numeral, "one, a" :, masculine noun, annexed state, "skin, leather bag" :, 3sg.m. aorist (consecutive), "he poured out" :, 3sg.m. object clitic, "it" :, 3sg.m. aorist (consecutive), "he tasted" :, feminine noun, free state, "honey" :, 3sg.m. aorist (consecutive), "he gave" :, 3sg.m. object clitic, "it" :, preposition, "to" :, masculine noun, "owner" :, 3sg. possessive complement, "of it" (7) :, 3sg.m. perfective, "he said" :, 3sg. indirect object clitic, "to him" :, imperative singular, "hold!" :, preposition, "until" :, conjunction, "when" :, 1sg. perfective, "I tasted" :, masculine singular, "another one" (8) :, 3sg.m. aorist (consecutive), "he held" :, 3sg.m. object clitic, "it" :, preposition, "with" :, masculine noun, annexed state, "hand" :, 3sg. possessive complement, "of him" :, 3sg.m. aorist (consecutive), "he picked up" :, adverb, "also" :, masculine noun, annexed state, "buyer" (agent noun < sɣ "buy") :, demonstrative particle, anaphoric, "the aforementioned" :, masculine singular, "another one" :, 3sg.m. aorist (consecutive), "he poured out" :, 3sg.m. object clitic, "it" :, 3sg.m. aorist (consecutive), "he tasted" :, feminine noun, free state, "honey" :, 3sg.m. aorist (consecutive), "he gave" :, 3sg.m. object clitic, "it" :, adverb, "also" :, preposition, "to" :, masculine noun, "owner" :, 3sg. possessive complement, "of it" (9) :, 3sg.m. aorist (consecutive), "he held" :, 3sg.m. object clitic, "it" :, preposition, "with" :, masculine noun, annexed state, "hand" :, 3sg. possessive complement, "of him" :, "other" :, 3sg.m. aorist (consecutive), "he picked up" :, masculine agent noun, annexed state, "buyer" :, masculine numeral, "one, a" :, masculine noun, annexed state, "skin, leather bag" :, preposition, "of" :, feminine noun, annex state, "honey" :, 3sg.m. aorist (consecutive), "he fled" (10) :, 3sg.m. aorist (consecutive), "he was incapable of" :, masculine proprietive element, "he of" (Arabic loan) :, feminine noun, annexed state, "honey" : , "what it-is-that" :, imperfective preverbal particle :, 3sg.m. imperfective, "he is doing, he can do" :, preposition, "to" :, masculine plural noun, annexed state, "skins, leather bags" :, relative pronoun, "which" (Arabic loan) :, 3sg.m. perfective, "he held" (11) :, imperfective preverbal :, 3sg.m. "he is calling, he starts calling" : , preposition, "to" :, masculine plural noun, "people" : , prospective preverbal particle :, 3sg.m. object clitic, "him" :, 3pl.m. aorist, "they liberate" (Arabic loan). ;Free translation (1) The story of the man who sold honey in the souk. (2) A man had filled several leather bags of honey in the souk. (3) There came another man to him, who wanted to buy honey. (4) He said: "At how much do you sell that honey?" (5) He (the seller) said to him: "Just taste it, and if it pleases you, you can make a bid." (6) He (the man) took a bag, poured out some, tasted the honey and gave it back to its owner. (7) He said: "Hold it, until I have tried another one". (8) He (the seller) held it in his hand, while the buyer took another bag, poured out some, tasted the honey and gave it back to its owner. (9) He held it in his other hand; then the buyer took one bag of honey and ran away. (10) He (the seller) could not do anything because of the bags he held. (11) He started calling out to people to liberate him.Notes and references
Cited works and further reading
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* * * *John ColemanExternal links