Nafusi language

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]

Nafusi
Ažbali;[1] Mazoɣ / Maziɣ[2] (Nafusi)
Native toLibya
RegionNafusa Mountains
Native speakers
300,000 (2020)[3]
Dialects
  • Jerbi
  • Zuwara
  • Tamezret
Arabic script
Language codes
ISO 639-3jbn
Glottolognafu1238

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
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]

Consonants
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

References
  1. Provasi (1973:503)
  2. Beguinot (1931:220)
  3. Nafusi at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
  4. Beguinot (1931:VIII)
  5. Lewicki (1934:277)
  6. Basset (1934:298)
  7. Beguinot (1931)
  8. de Calassanti-Motylinski (1898:1)
  9. Kossmann (1999:29–33)
  10. 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.
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