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Nafusi language

{{Short description|Berber language spoken in Libya}}

{{Infobox language

| name = Nafusi

| nativename = {{native name|jbn|Ažbali;{{harvcoltxt|Provasi|1973|p=503}} Mazoɣ / Maziɣ{{harvcoltxt|Beguinot|1931||p=220}}}}

| states = Libya

| speakers = {{sigfig|301,500|2}}

| region = Nafusa Mountains

| date = 2020

| ref = e27

| familycolor = Afro-Asiatic

| fam2 = Berber

| iso3 = jbn

| glotto = nafu1238

| glottorefname = Nafusi

| fam3 = Northern

| fam4 = Zenati

| fam5 = East

| dia1 = Jerbi

| dia2 = Zuwara

| dia3 = Tamezret

| script = Arabic script

}}

Nafusi (also spelt Nefusi; {{langx|ber-Latn|Ažbali / Maziɣ / Mazoɣ|label=in Nafusi}} or Tanfust) is a Berber language spoken in the Nafusa Mountains ({{lang|jbn|Adrar 'n Infusen}}), a large area in northwestern Libya. Its primary speakers are the Ibadi Muslim communities around Jadu, Nalut ({{lang|jbn|Lalut}}) and Yafran.

The dialect of Yefren in the east differs somewhat from that of Nalut and Jadu in the west.{{harvcoltxt|Beguinot|1931|page=VIII}} Old Nafusi phrases appear in Ibadite manuscripts as early as the 12th century.{{harvcoltxt|Lewicki|1934|p=277|}}{{harvcoltxt|Basset|1934|p=298}}

The dialect of Jadu is described in some detail in Beguinot (1931).{{harvcoltxt|Beguinot|1931}} Motylinski (1898) describes the dialect of Jadu and Nalut as spoken by a student from Yefren.{{harvcoltxt|de Calassanti-Motylinski|1898|p=1}}

Nafusi shares several innovations with the Zenati languages, but unlike these 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.{{harvcoltxt|Kossmann|1999|pp=29-33}}

Phonology

= Vowels =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

!

!Front

!Central

!Back

High

|{{IPA link|i}}

|

|{{IPA link|u}}

Mid

|{{IPA link|ɛ}}

|{{IPA link|ə}}

|{{IPA link|ɔ}}

Low

|

|{{IPA link|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.{{harvcoltxt|Di Tolla|Shinnib|2020}}

= Consonants =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |

! rowspan="2" |Labial

! colspan="2" |Alveolar

! colspan="2" |Post-alv./
Palatal

! rowspan="2" |Velar

! rowspan="2" |Uvular

! rowspan="2" |Pharyngeal

! rowspan="2" |Glottal

plain

!phar.

!plain

!phar.

rowspan="2" |Plosive

!voiceless

|

|{{IPA link|t}}

|{{IPA link|tˤ}}

|

|

|{{IPA link|k}}

|{{IPA link|q}}

|

|{{IPA link|ʔ}}

voiced

|{{IPA link|b}}

|{{IPA link|d}}

|{{IPA link|dˤ}}

|

|

|{{IPA link|g}}

|

|

|

rowspan="2" |Affricate

!voiceless

|

|{{IPA link|ts}}

|

|{{IPA link|tʃ}}

|

|

|

|

|

voiced

|

|{{IPA link|dz}}

|{{IPA link|dzˤ}}

|{{IPA link|dʒ}}

|

|

|

|

|

rowspan="2" |Fricative

!voiceless

|{{IPA link|f}}

|{{IPA link|s}}

|{{IPA link|sˤ}}

|{{IPA link|ʃ}}

|

|

|{{IPA link|χ}}

|{{IPA link|ħ}}

|{{IPA link|h}}

voiced

|

|{{IPA link|z}}

|{{IPA link|zˤ}}

|{{IPA link|ʒ}}

|{{IPA link|ʒˤ}}

|

|{{IPA link|ʁ}}

|{{IPA link|ʕ}}

|

colspan="2" |Nasal

|{{IPA link|m}}

|{{IPA link|n}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

colspan="2" |Lateral

|

|{{IPA link|l}}

|{{IPA link|ɫ}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

colspan="2" |Trill

|

|{{IPA link|r}}

|{{IPA link|rˤ}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

colspan="2" |Approximant

|{{IPA link|w}}

|

|

|{{IPA link|j}}

|

|

|

|

|

References

{{Reflist}}

Works Cited

  • {{cite journal |last=Basset |first=André |title=Note additionnelle |journal=Revue des études islamiques |volume=VIII |year=1934}}
  • {{cite book |last=Beguinot |first=F. |year=1931 |title=Il berbero Nefûsi di Fassâṭo. Grammatica. Testi raccolti dalla viva voce. Vocabolarietti |location=Roma |publisher=Istituto per l'Oriente}}
  • {{cite book |last=de Calassanti-Motylinski |first=A. |title=Le Djebel Nefousa: transcription, traduction française et notes, avec une étude grammaticale |location=Paris |publisher=Ernest Leroux |year=1898 |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k84115w.texteImage}}
  • {{Cite book |last1=Di Tolla |first1=Anna Maria |title=Grammatica di berbero nefusi |last2=Shinnib |first2=Mohamed |publisher=Ulrico Hoepli Editore |year=2020 |isbn=9788820391836}}
  • {{cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten |year=1999 |title=Essai sur la phonologie du proto-berbère |location=Köln |publisher= Köppe |isbn=9783896450357}}
  • {{cite journal |last=Lewicki |first=Tadeusz |title=De quelques textes inédits en vieux berbère provenant d'une chronique ibāḍite anonyme |journal=Revue des études islamiques |volume=VIII |year=1934}}
  • {{cite journal |last=Provasi |first=Elio |year=1973 |title=Testi berberi di Žâdo (Tripolitania) |journal=Annali dell'Istituto Orientale di Napoli |issue=23 |page=503}}

External links

  • [https://archive.org/stream/rosettaproject_jbn_swadesh-1/jbn.txt Nafusi Swadesh List]

{{Languages of Libya}}

{{Berber languages}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nafusi Language}}

Category:Eastern Berber languages

Category:Berbers in Libya

Category:Languages of Libya

Category:Tripolitania

{{Berber-lang-stub}}