Berber language spoken in Libya
Nafusi (also spelt Nefusi; in Nafusi: Ažbali / Maziɣ / Mazoɣ or Tanfust) is a Berber language spoken in the Nafusa Mountains (Adrar 'n Infusen), a large area in northwestern Libya. Its primary speakers are the Ibadi 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] A number of 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 other Berber varieties it maintains prefix vowels before open syllables. For example, ufəs "hand" < *afus, rather than Zenati fus. It appears especially closely related to Sokni and Siwi to its east.[9]
Phonology
Vowels
- 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]
Consonants
References
- ^ 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)
Works Cited
- 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.
External links
