Zenaga Berber
E806254
Zenaga Berber is an endangered Berber language historically spoken by nomadic communities in parts of Mauritania and Senegal, known for its significant influence on the region’s Arabic dialects.
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Afroasiatic language
ⓘ
Berber language ⓘ endangered language ⓘ |
| alternativeName |
Tidikelt Zenaga
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Zenaga NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| causeOfEndangerment |
language shift to Arabic
ⓘ
sedentarization of nomadic groups ⓘ sociopolitical dominance of Arabic ⓘ |
| closelyRelatedTo |
Tamasheq
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
other Western Berber varieties ⓘ |
| endangerment | moribund ⓘ |
| ethnicGroup |
Berber nomadic communities
ⓘ
Zenaga people NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| geographicArea | Atlantic Sahara region ⓘ |
| hasLinguisticDescriptionBy |
Harry Stroomer
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Maurice Delafosse NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| historicallySpokenIn |
northern Senegal
ⓘ
southwestern Mauritania ⓘ |
| historicalRole | important contact language between Berber and Arabic communities in the western Sahara ⓘ |
| influenced |
Arabic dialects of Mauritania
ⓘ
Arabic dialects of Senegal ⓘ Hassaniya Arabic NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| influenceType | lexical borrowing into Hassaniya Arabic ⓘ |
| languageBranch | Berber NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| languageCodeISO639-3 | zen ⓘ |
| languageFamily | Afroasiatic ⓘ |
| lexicalFeature |
large stock of inherited Berber vocabulary
ⓘ
loanwords from Arabic ⓘ |
| morphologicalFeature |
gender distinction in nouns
ⓘ
plural formation with internal changes ⓘ root-and-pattern morphology ⓘ |
| phonologicalFeature |
emphatic consonants
ⓘ
rich consonant inventory ⓘ |
| region | south of the Senegal River ⓘ |
| shiftedTo | Hassaniya Arabic NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| speakers | very few remaining speakers ⓘ |
| spokenIn |
Mauritania
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Senegal NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| status | severely endangered ⓘ |
| subclassOf | Northern Berber language ⓘ |
| typologicalFeature |
prepositions rather than postpositions
ⓘ
use of clitic pronouns ⓘ |
| usedBy | nomadic pastoralist communities ⓘ |
| wordOrder |
SVO
ⓘ
VSO ⓘ |
| writingSystem |
Arabic script (historically, to a limited extent)
ⓘ
Latin script (in linguistic transcription) ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.