Nafusi | |
---|---|
Ažbali;[1] Mazoɣ / Maziɣ[2] (Nafusi) | |
Native to | Libya |
Region | Nafusa Mountains |
Native speakers | 300,000 (2020)[3] |
Dialects |
|
Arabic script | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | jbn |
Glottolog | nafu1238 |
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]
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
High | i | u | |
Mid | ɛ | ə | ɔ |
Low | a |
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 |