Tawellemmet
Tawəlləmmət
ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵌⵈ
Native toMali, Niger[1]
RegionSahara
EthnicityTuareg
Native speakers
1.3 million (2021–2022)[1]
Arabic alphabet
Latin
Tifinagh
Language codes
ISO 639-3ttq
Glottologtawa1286
Location of Tawellemmet

Tawellemmet (Tawəlləmmət) is the largest of the Tuareg languages in the Berber branch of the Afroasiatic family. It is usually one of two languages classed within a language called Tamajaq, the other language being Aïr Tamajeq. Tawellemmet is the language of the Iwellemmeden Tuareg. It is spoken in Mali, Niger and parts of northern Nigeria by approximately 1.3 million people with the largest number of speakers in Niger at 829,000 people.[2]

Phonology

Vowels

Front Central Back
High i u
Mid e ə o
Low-mid ɐ
Low a

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palato-
alveolar 		Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyn-
geal 		Glottal
plain phar.
Plosive voiceless t tˤ c k q ʔ
voiced b d dˤ dʒ ɡʲ g
Fricative voiceless f s sˤ ʃ χ ħ h
voiced z zˤ ʒ ʁ
Nasal m n ŋ
Lateral l lˤ
Trill r
Approximant w j

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Tawellemmet at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
  2. ^ "Tamajaq, Tawallammat". Ethnologue. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  3. ^ Enguehard, Chantal; Modi, Issouf. Towards an electronic dictionary of Tamajaq language in Niger.
  4. ^ Alidou, Ousseina Dioula (1997). A Phonological Study of Language Games in Six Languages of Niger. Ann Arbor: UMI. pp. 85–88.


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