Nafusi language (original) (raw)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Berber language spoken in Libya
| Nafusi | |
|---|---|
| Ažbali;[1] Mazoɣ / Maziɣ[2] (Nafusi) | |
| Native to | Libya |
| Region | Nafusa Mountains |
| Native speakers | 300,000 (2020)[3] |
| Language family | Afro-Asiatic BerberEastern (?)Nafusi |
| Dialects | Jerbi Zuwara Tamezret |
| Writing system | Arabic script |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | jbn |
| Glottolog | nafu1238 |
Nafusi (also spelt Nefusi; in Nafusi: Ažbali / Maziɣ / Mazoɣ) is a Berber language spoken in the Nafusa Mountains (Adrar 'n Infusen), a large area in northwestern Libya. Its primary speakers are the Ibadi Muslim communities around Jadu, Nalut (Lalut), and Yafran.[3]
The dialect of Yefren in the east differs somewhat from that of Nalut and Jadu in the west.[4] Old Nafusi phrases appear in Ibadite manuscripts as early as the 12th century.[5][6]
The dialect of Jadu is described in some detail in Beguinot (1931).[7] Motylinski (1898) describes the dialect of Jadu and Nalut as spoken by a student from Yefren.[8]
Nafusi shares several innovations with the Zenati languages, but unlike these Berber varieties, it preserves the initial vowel in words where Zenati has dropped it. For example: ufəs "hand" < *afus, rather than Zenati fus. It appears especially closely related to the Sokna and Siwi languages to its east.[9]
| | Front | Central | Back | | | --------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | High | i | | u | | Mid | ɛ | ə | ɔ | | Low | | a | |
- Vowels may also be shortened /ĭ, ɛ̆, ă, ɔ̆, ŭ/ or lengthened as /iː, ɛː, aː, ɔː, uː/.
- /a/ can also be heard as [æ, ɒ] and /u/ as [ʊ] in different environments.[10]
| | Labial | Alveolar | Post-alv./Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Glottal | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | plain | phar. | plain | phar. | | | | | | | | | Plosive | voiceless | | t | tˤ | | | k | q | | ʔ | | voiced | b | d | dˤ | | | g | | | | | | Affricate | voiceless | | ts | | tʃ | | | | | | | voiced | | dz | dzˤ | dʒ | | | | | | | | Fricative | voiceless | f | s | sˤ | ʃ | | | χ | ħ | h | | voiced | | z | zˤ | ʒ | ʒˤ | | ʁ | ʕ | | | | Nasal | m | n | | | | | | | | | | Lateral | | l | ɫ | | | | | | | | | Trill | | r | rˤ | | | | | | | | | Approximant | w | | | j | | | | | | |
- ^ Provasi (1973:503)
- ^ Beguinot (1931:220)
- ^ a b Nafusi at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
- ^ Beguinot (1931:VIII)
- ^ Lewicki (1934:277)
- ^ Basset (1934:298)
- ^ Beguinot (1931)
- ^ de Calassanti-Motylinski (1898:1)
- ^ Kossmann (1999:29–33)
- ^ Di Tolla & Shinnib (2020)
- Basset, André (1934). "Note additionnelle". Revue des études islamiques. VIII.
- Beguinot, F. (1931). Il berbero Nefûsi di Fassâṭo. Grammatica. Testi raccolti dalla viva voce. Vocabolarietti. Roma: Istituto per l'Oriente.
- de Calassanti-Motylinski, A. (1898). Le Djebel Nefousa: transcription, traduction française et notes, avec une étude grammaticale. Paris: Ernest Leroux.
- Di Tolla, Anna Maria; Shinnib, Mohamed (2020). Grammatica di berbero nefusi. Ulrico Hoepli Editore. ISBN 9788820391836.
- Kossmann, Maarten (1999). Essai sur la phonologie du proto-berbère. Köln: Köppe. ISBN 9783896450357.
- Lewicki, Tadeusz (1934). "De quelques textes inédits en vieux berbère provenant d'une chronique ibāḍite anonyme". Revue des études islamiques. VIII.
- Provasi, Elio (1973). "Testi berberi di Žâdo (Tripolitania)". Annali dell'Istituto Orientale di Napoli (23): 503.
- Nafusi Swadesh List