Tuareg languages

Tuareg
Tamasheq, Tamajaq, Tamahaq
Native to Mali, Niger, Libya, Algeria, Burkina Faso
Region Sahara
Ethnicity Tuareg people
Native speakers
 (1.2 million cited 1991–1998)[1]
Latin, Tifinagh, Arabic
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
Mali (National language)[2][3]
Niger (National language)[4][5]
Language codes
ISO 639-2 tmh
ISO 639-3 tmh – inclusive code
Individual codes:
thv – Tahaggart Tamahaq
taq – Tamasheq
ttq – Tawallammat Tamajaq
thz – Tayart Tamajeq
Glottolog tuar1240[6]

Tuareg (English pronunciation: /ˈtwɑːrɛɡ/), also known as Tamasheq (English pronunciation: /ˈtæməʃɛk/), Tamajaq, or Tamahaq, and ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵌⴰⵆ in Tifinagh, is a Berber language, or a family of very closely related languages and dialects, spoken by the Tuareg Berbers, in large parts of Mali, Niger, Algeria, Libya, and Burkina Faso, with a few speakers, the Kinnin, in Chad.[7]

Description

Tuareg dialects belong to the South Berber group, and are commonly regarded as a single language (as for instance by Karl-G. Prasse). They are distinguished mainly by a few sound shifts (notably affecting the pronunciation of original z and h). The Tuareg varieties are unusually conservative in some respects; they retain two short vowels where Northern-Berber languages have one or none, and have a much lower proportion of Arabic loanwords than most Berber languages. The Tuareg languages are traditionally written in the indigenous Tifinagh alphabet. However, the Arabic script is commonly used in some areas (and has been since medieval times), while the Latin script is official in Mali and Niger. In Morocco, of the three official languages (Arabic, French and Berber), Central Atlas Tamazight is the second Berber language. Some scholars claim that Tifinagh-Tamazight is "one of the oldest languages in the world," being close both linguistically and in alphabet to Old Phoenician; that the Phoenician alphabet was progenitor of the Greek, and thereby Western, alphabets.

Subclassification

Blench (ms, 2006) lists the following as separate languages, with dialects in parentheses:[9]

Speakers of Tin Sert (Tetserret) identify as Tuareg, but the language is Western Berber.

Orthography

The Tuareg languages may be written in the Latin script, the Arabic script, or Tifinagh. The Malian national literacy program DNAFLA has established a standard for the Latin alphabet, which is used with modifications in Prasse's Lexique and the government literacy program in Burkina, while in Niger a different system was used. There is also some variation in Tifinagh and in the Arabic script.[10]

The Arabic script is mostly in use by tribes more involved in Islamic learning, and little is known about its conventions.[11]

Tifinagh usage is restricted mainly to writing magical formulae, writing on palms when silence is required, and recently letter-writing.[12]

Traditional Tifinagh, including various ligatures of t and n. Gemination is not indicated. Most of the letters have more than one common form. When the letters l and n are adjacent to themselves or to each other, the second one is inclined: || l, |/ nn, ||/ ln, |// nl, ||// ll, |/| nnn.
Representative alphabets for Tuareg[13][14][15][16]
DNAFLA
(Mali)[17] 		Niger[18] Tifinagh Arabic
a a
â
ă ă
ǝ ǝ
b b ⵀ ب
(ḅ)
c
d d ⴷ د
ḍ ḍ ⴹ ض
e e
ê
f f ⴼ ف
g g ⴳ گ ݣ‎
i i
î
j j ⴶ چ
ǰ
ɣ ɣ ⵗ غ
h h ⵂ ه
k k ⴾ ک
l l ⵍ ل
ḷ ḷ
m m ⵎ م
n n ⵏ ن
ŋ ŋ
o o
ô
q q ⵆ ⵈ ق
r r ⵔ ر
s s ⵙ س
ṣ ṣ ⵚ ص
š (ʃ) š ⵛ ش
t t ⵜ ت
ṭ ṭ ⵟ ط
u u
û
w w ⵓ و
x x ⵅ خ
y y ⵢ ⵉ ي
z z ⵌ ⵣ ز
ẓ ẓ ⵥ ظ
ž (ʒ) ǧ ⵊ ج
ḥ ⵆ ح
(ʕ) ⵄ ع

The DNAFLA system is a somewhat morphophonemic orthography, not indicating initial vowel shortening, always writing the directional particle as < dd⟩, and not indicating all assimilations (e.g. ⟨Tămašăɣt⟩ for [tămašăq]).[19]

In Burkina Faso the emphatics are denoted by "hooked" letters, as in Fula, e.g. ⟨ɗ ƭ⟩.[20]

Phonology

Vowels

The vowel system includes 5 long vowels, /a, e, i, o, u/, "emphatic" versions of /e, o/, and two short vowels, /ə, ă/.[21] Karl Prasse argued that /e/ goes back to Proto-Berber, while /o/ is derived from /u/.[22] Comparative evidence shows that /ə/ derives from a merger of Proto-Berber */ĭ/ and */ŭ/.

Sudlow classes the "semivowels" /w, j/ with the vowels, and notes the following possible diphthongs: /əw/ (> [u]), /ăw/, /aw/, /ew/, /iw/, /ow/, /uw/, /əj/ (> [i]), /ăj/, /aj/, /ej/, /ij/, /oj/, /uj/.[23]

Before emphatics, vowels lower, turning /ə/ into [ă], /e, i/ into "emphatic" [e], and /u, o/ into "emphatic" [o], with some dialectal variation (with the realizations of /i, u/ "less open" than /e, o/).[24]

Consonants

Tamasheq consonants[25]
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngeal Glottal
plain emphatic
Nasal m n ŋ
Stop b t d tˤ dˤ ɟ[26] k ɡ q (ʔ)
Fricative f s z (sˤ) zˤ ʃ ʒ x ɣ[27] (ħ ʕ) h
Lateral l (lˤ)

The consonant inventory largely resembles Arabic: differentiated voicing; uvulars, pharyngeals (traditionally referred to as emphatics) /tˤ/, /lˤ/, /sˤ/, /dˤ/, /zˤ/; requiring the pharynx muscles to contract and influencing the pronunciation of the following vowel (although /lˤ, sˤ/ only occur in Arabic loans and /ɫ/ only in the name of Allah).[28]

/ŋ/ is rare, /ʒ/ is rare in Tadraq, and /ħ, ʕ/ are only used in Arabic words in the Tanəsləmt dialect (most Tamasheq replace them with /x, ɣ/ respectively).[25]

The glottal stop is non-phonemic. It occurs at the beginning of vowel-initial words to fill the place of the initial consonant in the syllable structure (see below), although if the words is preceded by a word ending in a consonant, it makes a liaison instead. Phrase-final /a/ is also followed by a phonetic glottal stop.[24]

Gemination is contrastive.[29] Normally /ɣɣ/ becomes [qː], /ww/ becomes [ɡː], and /dˤdˤ/ becomes [tˤː].[29] /q/ and /tˤ/ are predominantly geminate. In addition, in Tadraq /ɡ/ is usually geminate, but in Tudalt singleton /ɡ/ may occur.[29]

Voicing assimilation occurs, with the first consonant taking the voicing of the second (e.g. /edˤkăr/ > [etˤkăr]).[30]

Cluster reduction turns word/morpheme-final /-ɣt, -ɣk/ into [-qː] and /-kt, -ɟt, -ɡt/ into [-kː] (e.g. /tămaʃăɣt/ > [tămaʃăq] 'Tamasheq'[31]).[32]

Phonotactics

Syllable structure is CV(C)(C), including glottal stops (see above).[24]

Suprasegmentals

Contrastive stress may occur in the stative aspect of verbs.[21]

Dialectal differences

Different dialects have slightly different consonant inventories. Some of these differences can be diachronically accounted for. For example, Proto-Berber *h is mostly lost in Ayer Tuareg, while it is maintained in almost every position in Mali Tuareg. The Iwellemmeden and Ahaggar Tuareg dialects are midway between these positions.[33] The Proto-Berber consonant *z comes out differently in different dialects, a development that is to some degree reflected in the dialect names. It is realized as h in Tamahaq (Tahaggart), as š in Tamasheq and as simple z in the Tamajaq dialects Tawallammat and Tayart. In the latter two, *z is realised as ž before palatal vowels, explaining the form Tamajaq. In Tawallammat and especially Tayart, this kind of palatalization actually does not confine itself to z. In these dialects, dentals in general are palatalized before /i/ and /j/. For example, tidət is pronounced [tidʲət] in Tayart.[34]

Other differences can easily be traced back to borrowing. For example, the Arabic pharyngeals ħ and ʻ have been borrowed along with Arabic loanwords by dialects specialized in Islamic (Maraboutic) learning. Other dialects substitute ħ and ʻ respectively with x and ɣ.

Grammar

The basic word order in Tuareg is verb–subject–object. Verbs can be grouped into 19 morphological classes; some of these classes can be defined semantically. Verbs carry information on the subject of the sentence in the form of pronominal marking. No simple adjectives exist in the Tuareg languages; adjectival concepts are expressed using a relative verb form traditionally called 'participle'. The Tuareg languages have very heavily influenced Northern Songhay languages such as Sawaq, whose speakers are culturally Tuareg but speak Songhay; this influence includes points of phonology and sometimes grammar as well as extensive loanwords.

Syntax

Tamasheq prefers VSO order; however it contains topic–comment structure (like in American Sign Language, Modern Hebrew, Japanese and Russian), allowing the emphasized concept to be placed first, be it the subject or object, the latter giving an effect somewhat like the English passive.[35] Sudlow uses the following examples, all expressing the concept “Men don’t cook porridge” (e denotes Sudlow’s schwa):

meddăn wăr sekediwăn ăsink SVO
wăr sekediwăn meddăn ăsink VSO
ăsinkwăr ti-sekediwăn meddăn ‘Porridge, men don’t cook it.’
wădde meddăn a isakădawăn ăsink ‘It isn’t men who cook porridge.’
meddăn a wăren isekediw ăsink ‘Men are not those who cook porridge.’

Again like Japanese, the “pronoun/particle ‘a’ is used with a following relative clause to bring a noun in a phrase to the beginning for emphasis,” a structure which can be used to emphasize even objects of prepositions.[36] Sudlow’s example (s denotes voiceless palato-alveolar fricative):

essensăɣ enăle ‘I bought millet.’
enăle a essensăɣ ‘It was millet that I bought.’

The indirect object marker takes the form i/y in Tudalt and e/y in Tadraq.[37]

Morphology

As a root-and-pattern, or templatic language, triliteral roots (three-consonant bases) are the most common in Tamasheq. Niels and Regula Christiansen use the root k-t-b (to write) to demonstrate past completed aspect conjugation:

Tamasheq subject affixes[38]
Person
s 1 ...-ăɣ
2 t-...-ăd
3 m y-...
f t-...
part.[39] m y-...-ăn
f t-...-ăt
pl 1 n-...
2 m t-...-ăm
f t-...-măt
3 m ...-ăn
f ...-năt
part.[39] ...-nen
Conjugation of k-t-b 'write'[40]
Person Singular Plural
1st ektabaɣ ‘I wrote’ nektab ‘We wrote’
2nd (m) tektabad ‘You (2s) wrote’ tektabam ‘You (2p/m) wrote’
(f) tektabmat ‘You (2p/f) wrote’
3rd (m) iktab ‘He wrote’ ektaban ‘They (3p/m) wrote’
(f) tektab ‘She wrote’ ektabnat ‘They (3/p/f) wrote’

The verbal correspondence with the use of aspect; Tamasheq uses four, as delineated by Sudlow:

  1. Perfective: complete actions
  2. Stative: "lasting states as the ongoing results of a completed action."
  3. Imperfective: future or possible actions, "often used following a verb expressing emotion, decision or thought," it can be marked with "'ad'" (shortened to "'a-'" with prepositions).
  4. Cursive: ongoing actions, often habitual ones.
aspects
Verb Perfective/simple perfect Stative/intensive perfect Imperfective/simple perfect Cursive/intensive imperfect
z-g-r izgăr izgăr
'He went out' 'He has gone out'
b-d-d ibdăd ibdăd
'He stood up' 'He stood up (and so he is standing up)'
ekkeɣ hebu ekkêɣ hebu
'I went to market' 'I am going to market'
l-m-d ad elmedăɣ Tămasăq lammădăɣ Tămasăq
'I will learn Tamasheq' 'I am learning Tamasheq'
a-dd-as asekka
'He will arrive (here) tomorrow'
iwan tattănăt alemmoZ
'Cows eat straw'
ăru tasăɣalăɣ siha
'I used to work over there'

Commands are expressed in the imperative mood, which tends to be a form of the imperfective aspect, unless the action is to be repeated or continued, in which case the cursive aspect is preferred.[41]

Further reading

Bibliographies

Dictionaries

Page 247 of the 1951 Dictionnaire Touareg–Français, showcasing De Foucauld's meticulous handwriting accompanied by detailed illustrations of tasdest 'tent-pole' and other tent-building terms of the Kel Ahaggar.

Grammars

Texts

Linguistic topics

References

  1. ↑ Tuareg at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Tahaggart Tamahaq at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Tamasheq at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Tawallammat Tamajaq at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Tayart Tamajeq at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ "Ethnologue report for language code: taq". 2009. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
  3. ↑ Leclerc, Jacques (2010). "Mali" (in French). Retrieved August 20, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Ethnologue report for language code: ttq". 2009. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
  5. ↑ Leclerc, Jacques (2010). "Niger" (in French). Retrieved August 20, 2012.
  6. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Tuareg". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  7. ↑ Monique Jay, “Quelques éléments sur les Kinnin d’Abbéché (Tchad)". Études et Documents Berbères 14 (1996), 199-212 (ISSN 0295-5245 ISBN 2-85744-972-0).
  8. ↑ "Ethnologue report for language code: thz". Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  9. ↑ AA list, Blench, ms, 2006
  10. ↑ Sudlow (2001:33–36)
  11. ↑ Project: Orthography in a plurigraphic society: the case of Tuareg in Niger
  12. ↑ Penchoen, Thomas G. (1973). Tamazight of the Ayt Ndhir. Los Angeles: Undena Publications. p. 3.
  13. ↑ Sudlow (2001:28,35–36)
  14. ↑ Ridouane Ziri, Rachid. "Les différents systèmes d'écriture amazighe" (in French). Retrieved August 19, 2012.
  15. ↑ Bizari, Brahim. "Ecriture amazigh" (in French). Archived from the original on April 5, 2001. Retrieved August 19, 2012.
  16. ↑ Fukui, Yusuf Yoshinori; Walett Mahmoud, Khadijatou. "Alphabets of Tamashek in Mali: Alphabetization and Tifinagh". Archived from the original on February 1, 2004. Retrieved August 18, 2012.
  17. ↑ Osborn, Don (2002). "Base extended-Latin characters and combinations for languages of Mali". Retrieved August 18, 2012.
  18. ↑ Enguehard, Chantal (2007). "alphabet tamajaq (arrété 214-99 de la République du Niger)" (in French). Retrieved August 19, 2012.
  19. ↑ Sudlow (2001:34)
  20. ↑ Sudlow (2001:33)
  21. 1 2 Sudlow (2001:25)
  22. ↑ K.-G. Prasse (1990), New Light on the Origin of the Tuareg Vowels E and O, in: H. G. Mukarovsky (ed), Proceedings of the Fifth International Hamito-Semitic Congress, Vienna, I 163-170.
  23. ↑ Sudlow (2001:25–26)
  24. 1 2 3 Sudlow (2001:27)
  25. 1 2 Sudlow (2001:26–28)
  26. ↑ Sudlow (2001:26) does not make it clear whether this is a true palatal stop or something else, possibly a front velar stop or some sort of affricate.
  27. ↑ Sudlow (2001:26) doesn't specify whether these are velar or uvular.
  28. ↑ Sudlow (2001:26–7)
  29. 1 2 3 Sudlow (2001:28)
  30. ↑ Sudlow (2001:28–29)
  31. ↑ Note that the geminate is dropped if not followed by a vowel.
  32. ↑ Sudlow (2001:29)
  33. ↑ Prasse 1969, Kossmann 1999
  34. ↑ Prasse e.a. 2003:xiv
  35. ↑ Sudlow, (2001:46)
  36. ↑ Sudlow (2001:48)
  37. ↑ Sudlow (2001, 1.1.)
  38. ↑ Sudlow (2001:118)
  39. 1 2 Participle form, i.e. "who ..."
  40. ↑ Christiansen 2002, p. 5.
  41. ↑ Sudlow (2001:57)

Bibliography

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