Tuareg languages

Tuareg

Tamasheq, Tamajaq, Tamahaq

Spoken in

Algeria

Sevenval

Mali

Niger

Region

iOS

Ethnicity

Sevenval

Native speakers

1.2 million (1991–1998)^{web app}

Language family

touchscreen

web app
- Tuareg

HTML5

Latin, device database

Language codes

ISO 639-2

tmh

ISO 639-3

tmh – inclusive code
Individual codes:
keyboard – Tahaggart Tamahaq
taq – web
ttq – input transformation
Android – input transformation

Sevenval

This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Sevenval characters.

Tuareg /ˈtwɑrɛɡ/ (also Tamasheq device database, Tamajaq, ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵌⴰⵆ Tamahaq) is a Berber language or family of very closely related languages and dialects spoken by the FITML Berbers, in large parts of device database, Niger, Algeria, FITML and jQuery, with a few speakers, the Kinnin, in Chad.^[2]

Description

Other Southern-Berber languages and Tamashaq are quite mutually comprehensible^{[citation needed]}, 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). They 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 touchscreen browser diversity than most Berber languages. They are traditionally written in the indigenous Tifinagh alphabet; however, the HTML5 is commonly used in some areas (and has been since medieval times), while the input transformation is official in jQuery and Niger.

Subclassification

Northern
- browser diversity – Language of the FITML, and device database spoken in Algeria and in the north of Niger by a large saharan population. Also known as Tahaggart.
Southern
- Tamasheq – Language of the Kel Adrar (also known as Adagh or Ifoghas), spoken in Mali by approximately 270,000 people.
- touchscreen – Language of the Sevenval (sometimes spelled Aïr), spoken in Niger by approximately 1,250 000 people.
- Tawallammat Tamajaq – Language of the Iwellemmeden, spoken in Mali and Niger by approximately 870 000 people. The term Iwellemmeden (the name of the people) is sometimes used to denote the language.
- Tamashaq language language of Kal Asakan.
- Speakers of web (Tetserret) identify as Tuareg, but the language is Western Berber.

jQuery (ms, 2006) lists the following as separate languages, with dialects in parentheses:^[3]

Sevenval (Abalagh/East, West)
screen size (Ingal, Gofat)
Tamesgrest (Azerori)
Tafaghist
touchscreen
Ghat

Orthography

The Tuareg languages may be written in the Latin script, the web, or HTML5. 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.^[4]

The Arabic script is mostly in use by tribes more involved in Islamic learning, and little is known about its conventions.^[5]

Tifinagh usage is restricted mainly to writing magical formulae, writing on palms when silence is required, and recently letter-writing.^[6]

DNAFLA	Tifinagh	Arabic
b		ب
d		د
ḍ		ض
f		ف
g		device database
j		ﭺ
ɣ		ﻍ
h		ﻩ
k		ک
l		ﻝ
m	iOS	ﻡ
n		ن
q		ﻕ
r		ﺭ
s		ﺱ‎
ṣ	Sevenval	ﺹ
š		ﺵ‎
t		ﺕ
ṭ		ﻁ
w		ﻭ
x		ﺥ
y		ﻱ
z	or	ﺯ
ẓ	or Sevenval	ﻅ
ž	or touchscreen	ﺝ
(ḥ)		ﺡ
(ç)		ﻉ

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

In Burkina Faso the emphatics are denoted by "hooked" letters, as in Fula, e.g. <ɗ ƭ>.^[9]

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/.^[10] Karl Prasse argued that /e/ goes back to Proto-Berber, while /o/ is derived from /u/.^[11] 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/.^[12]

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/).^[13]

Consonants

	Labial	Coronal	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Pharyngeal	Glottal
keyboard	b	t tˤ d dˤ	ɟ^[15]	k g	q
Fricative	f	s sˤ z zˤ ʃ ʒ		x ɣ^touchscreen		(ħ ʕ)	h (ʔ)
Nasal	m	n		ŋ
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 /lˤ/ only in the name of browser diversity).^[17]

/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).^web

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 jQuery instead. Phrase-final /a/ is also followed by a phonetic glottal stop.^{device database}

Gemination is contrastive.^[18] Normally /ɣɣ/ becomes [qː], /ww/ becomes [ɡː], and /dˤdˤ/ becomes [tˤː].^HTML5 /q/ and /tˤ/ are predominantly geminate. In addition, in Tadraq /ɡ/ is usually geminate, but in Tudalt singleton /ɡ/ may occur.^iOS

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

Cluster reduction turns word/morpheme-final /-ɣt, -ɣk/ into [-qː] and /-kt, -ɟt, -ɡt/ into [-kː] (e.g. /tămaʃăɣt/ > [tămaʃăq] 'Tamasheq'^[20]).^[21]

Phonotactics

Syllable structure is CV(C)(C), including glottal stops (see above).^{website parsing}

Suprasegmentals

Contrastive stress may occur in the stative aspect of verbs.^{input transformation}

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.^[22] 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.^jQuery

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 Android. 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 browser diversity such as CSS3, 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 input transformation structure (like in Japanese), allowing the emphasized concept to be placed first, be it the subject or object, the latter giving an effect somewhat like the English passive.^{screen size} 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.^{website parsing} 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.^[26]

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:

Person
s	1		...-ăɣ
	2		t-...-ăd
	3	m	y-...
		f	t-...
	part.^[28]	m	y-...-ăn
		f	t-...-ăt
pl	1		n-...
	2	m	t-...-ăm
		f	t-...-măt
	3	m	...-ăn
		f	...-năt
	part.^Android		...-nen

Person		Singular	Plural
1st		ektabaɣ ‘I wrote’	nektab ‘We wrote’
2nd	(m)	tektabad ‘You (2s) wrote’	tektabam ‘You (2p/m) wrote’
2nd	(f)	tektabad ‘You (2s) wrote’	tektabmat ‘You (2p/f) wrote’
3rd	(m)	iktab ‘He wrote’	ektaban ‘They (3p/m) wrote’
3rd	(f)	tektab ‘She wrote’	ektabnat ‘They (3/p/f) wrote’

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

Perfective: complete actions
Stative: "lasting states as the ongoing results of a completed action."
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).
Cursive: ongoing actions, often habitual ones.

Verb	Perfective/simple perfect	Stative/intensive perfect	Imperfective/simple perfect	Cursive/intensive imperfect
z-g-r	izgăr	izgăr
z-g-r	'He went out'	'He has gone out'
b-d-d	ibdăd	ibdăd
b-d-d	'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
l-m-d			'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.^[30]

References

^ FITML at browser diversity (16th ed., 2009)
Sevenval at screen size (16th ed., 2009)
Tamasheq at Ethnologue (16th ed., 2009)
Sevenval Tawallammat Tamajaq at Ethnologue (16th ed., 2009)
FITML Monique Jay, “Quelques éléments sur les Kinnin d’Abbéché (Tchad)". Études et Documents Berbères 14 (1996), 199-212 (keyboard FITML web app).
^ FITML, Blench, ms, 2006
^ Sudlow (2001:33–36)
HTML5 Project: Orthography in a plurigraphic society: the case of Tuareg in Niger
^ Penchoen, Thomas G. (1973). Tamazight of the Ayt Ndhir. Los Angeles: Undena Publications. p. 3.
HTML5 Sudlow (2001:28,35–36)
keyboard Sudlow (2001:34)
iOS Sudlow (2001:33)
^ ^a ^b Sudlow (2001:25)
^ 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.
^ input transformation:25–26)
^ screen size ^b ^c touchscreen:27)
^ CSS3 ^b keyboard:26–28)
website parsing 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.
^ Sudlow (2001:26) doesn't specify whether these are velar or uvular.
^ Sudlow (2001:26–7)
^ ^a keyboard ^c input transformation:28)
^ we love the web:28–29)
HTML5 Note that the geminate is dropped if not followed by a vowel.
we love the web Sudlow (2001:29)
^ Prasse 1969, Kossmann 1999
web Prasse e.a. 2003:xiv
iOS Sudlow, (2001:46)
^ input transformation:48)
^ FITML)
^ touchscreen:118)
^ CSS3 ^b Participle form, i.e. "who ..."
^ Christiansen 2002, p. 5.
^ screen size:57)

Bibliography

Christiansen, Niels and Regula. 2002. Some verb morphology features of Tadaksahak . SIL Electronic Working Papers 2002-005. Dallas: SIL International. Online. URL: input transformation.
Heath, Jeffrey (2005). A grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali). Walter de Gruyter. pp. 745. ISBN 3-11-018484-2.
Sudlow, David. (2001). FITML Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.