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Tarifit language
*** Shopping-Tip: Tarifit language
:''Rifi redirects here, for the place that is called Rifi in
Greece, see
Rifi, Greece''
{{language
|name=Tarifit
|states=
Morocco,
Algeria
|region=
Rif
|speakers=2 million
|familycolor=Afro-Asiatic
|fam2=
Berber languages Berber
|fam3=
Northern Berber languages Northern
|fam4=
Zenati languages Zenati
|fam5=
Rif languages Rif
|iso2=ber|iso3=rif}}
'''Tarifit''' is a
Northern Berber languages Northern Berber language of the
Zenati languages Zenati subgroup, spoken mainly in the
Morocco Moroccan Rif by about 2 million people.
Classification
Tarifit is a
Berber languages Berber language, belonging to the
Zenati languages Zenati subgroup of
Northern Berber languages Northern Berber, and possibly the
Rif languages Rif subgroup of Zenati.
Geographic distribution
Tarifit is spoken mainly in the
Morocco Moroccan Rif by about 2 million people, with a few speakers across the border in
Algeria. There is also a substantial Tarifit-speaking community in the
Netherlands. Its own speakers simply call it ''thamazighth'', or
Tamazight, a term also often applied in a broader sense to
Berber languages in general.
Sounds
Tarifits most noticeable differences from other
Berber languages are that:
* /l/ becomes /r/ as in ''ul'' (heart) -> ''ur''
* /r/ after a vowel but not followed by a vowel is dropped, as in ''taddart'' (house/home) -> ''taddat''. In e.g. ''tamara'' the /r/ is conserved because it is followed by a vowel.
* /ll/ (geminated (double) /l/) becomes /dj/ as in ''ylli'' (daughter) -> ''ydji''.
* /lt/ becomes /tch/ as in ''ultma'' (sister) -> ''utchma''.
* Most /k/ becomes /ch/ while in some local sub-accents just a softened /k/.
* Also, the initial masculin ''a-'' prefix gets dropped in certain words, like ''afus'' (hand) becomes ''fus'', and ''afighar'' (snake) becomes ''fighar''. This change, characteristic of
Zenati languages Zenati Berber varieties, further distances Tarifit from neighbouring dialects such as Atlas-Tamazight and
Tashelhiyt language Tashelhiyt.
Writing system
Like other Berber languages, it has been written with several different systems over the years. Most recently (since 2003),
Tifinagh has become official throughout Morocco, while the
Arabic alphabet and
Latin alphabet continue to be used unofficially online and in various publications. However, unlike the nearby
Tachelhit (Tasusit), Tarifit has little written literature before the twentieth century.
See also
*
List of Mzab-Wargla languages
*
List of Zenati languages
*
List of Northern Berber languages
*
Ghomara language
*
Rif languages
*
Senhaja De Srair language
*
East Zenati languages
References
*McClelland, Clive. ''The Interrelations of Syntax, Narrative Structure, and Prosody in a Berber Language'' (Studies in Linguistics and Semiotics, V. 8). Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2000. (ISBN 0773477403)
External links
-
Ethnologue report on Tarifit
Category:Berber languages
Category:Languages of Morocco
Category:Languages of Algeria
Category:Rif
br:Tarifiteg
de:Tarifit
es:Idioma rifeño
*** Shopping-Tip: Tarifit language
