Moribund Berber language of Mauritania and Senegal
Zenaga
ⵜⵓⵥⵥⵓⵏⴳⵉⵢⵢⴰ (Tuẓẓungiyya)
Native to
Mauritania, Senegal
Region
Mederdra
Native speakers
3,500 (2018–2021)[1]
Language family
Afro-Asiatic
Berber
Western
Zenaga
Writing system
Tifinagh
Official status
Recognised minority language in
Mauritania
Language codes
ISO 639-2
zen
ISO 639-3
zen
Glottolog
zena1248
ELP
Zenaga
Zenaga (autonym: Tuẓẓungiyya or āwӓy ən uẓ̄nӓgӓn) is a Berber language on the verge of extinction currently spoken in Mauritania and northern Senegal by a few hundred people. Zenaga Berber is spoken as a mother tongue from the town of Mederdra in southwestern Mauritania to the Atlantic coast and in northern Senegal. The language is recognized by the Mauritanian government.[2]
It shares its basic linguistic structure with other Berber idioms in Morocco and Algeria, but specific features are quite different. In fact, Zenaga is probably the most divergent surviving Berber language, with a significantly different sound system made even more distant by sound changes such as /l/ > /dj/ and /x/ > /k/ as well as a difficult-to-explain[clarification needed] profusion of glottal stops.
The name Zenaga comes from that of a much larger ancient Berber tribe, the Iznagen (Iẓnagen), who are known in Arabic as the Sanhaja. Adrian Room's African Placenames[3] gives Zenaga derivations for some place-names in Mauritania.
^Zenaga at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
^"Arab League 2016 summit puts spotlight on isolated Mauritania". english.alarabiya.net. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
Zenaga (autonym: Tuẓẓungiyya or āwӓy ən uẓ̄nӓgӓn) is a Berber language on the verge of extinction currently spoken in Mauritania and northern Senegal by...
Zenaga may refer to: the Zenaga people the Zenagalanguage This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Zenaga. If an internal link...
languages of Mauritania mainly consist of various Afroasiatic languages, including: Zenaga-Berber, Tamasheq-Berber, Hassaaniya Arabic and Standard written...
modern Berber languages was "bb" or "bʷ" in Numidian. This is only found in the Zenagalanguage of Mauritania in modern times. As Zenaga was one of the...
the most widely used today. With the exception of Zenaga, Tetserret, and Tuareg, the Berber languages form a dialect continuum. Different linguists take...
eastern Mauritania. Their language is, according to some sources, a dialect of Hassaniyya, according to others, a mixture of Zenaga, Soninke and Hassaniyya...
Berber languages, a family within the Afroasiatic languages. It is believed to have broken off very early from Proto-Berber, although after the Zenaga language...
especially in its Berber form. Other names for the population include Zenaga, Znaga, Sanhája, Sanhâdja and Senhaja. Ibn Khaldun and others defined the...
acquired from the neighbouring Zenaga Berber language along with a whole palatal series /c ɟ ɲ/ from Niger–Congo languages of the south. At least some speakers...
many words from contact with Carthaginian Punic and Latin. Only the Zenagalanguage lacks Punic loanwords. The Nubian civilization flourished along the...
The Western Berber languages are a branch of the Berber languages. They comprise two languages: Zenaga Tetserret Zenaga is spoken in southwestern Mauritania...
An endangered language is a language that it is at risk of falling out of use, generally because it has few surviving speakers. If it loses all of its...
include the Znaga, a tribe whose name is a remnant of the pre-historic Zenagalanguage. Other major groups of people include the: Toubou, Nubians, Zaghawa...
The number of languages natively spoken in Africa is variously estimated (depending on the delineation of language vs. dialect) at between 1,250 and 2...
Berber language to share a number of sound shifts with Zenaga of Mauritania. It also has non-Tuareg vocabulary found in other Berber languages. For example...
Senhaja de Srair ("Senhaja of Srair") is a Northern Berber language. It is spoken by the Sanhaja Berbers inhabiting the central part of the Moroccan Rif...
toponymy (the mountain, the pass and the village which bear the name of Zenaga are witnesses). In addition to Berber-speaking sedentary people, the population...
Taclḥiyt, IPA: [tæʃlħijt]), is a Berber language spoken in southwestern Morocco. When referring to the language, anthropologists and historians prefer...
Paris, 6, 1984, p. 35-50. Masqueray, E., Comparaison d’un vocabulaire des Zenaga avec les vocabulaires correspondents des dialectes Chawia et des Beni Mzab...
Paris, (1984), p. 35-50. Masqueray, E., Comparaison d’un vocabulaire des Zenaga avec les vocabulaires correspondants des dialectes Chawia et des Beni Mzab...
varieties subsequent to the fall of Carthage in 146 B.C.; only Guanche and Zenaga lack Punic loanwords. Additionally, Latin loanwords in Proto-Berber point...
Portuguese: Saarauís German: Sahraui(s) Nomadic Berbers, mainly of the Senhaja / Zenaga tribal confederation, inhabited the areas now known as Western Sahara, southern...
Tamazight (Tarifit: Tmaziɣt [θmæzɪχt], Arabic: تريفيت) is a Zenati Berber language spoken in the Rif region in northern Morocco. It is spoken natively by...
The Zenata (Berber languages: Iznaten; Arabic: زناتة) are a group of Berber tribes, historically one of the largest Berber confederations along with the...
The Lamtuna (Berber languages: Ilemteyen) are a nomadic Berber tribe belonging to the Iẓnagen / Sanhaja (Zenaga) confederation, who traditionally inhabited...
Carvajal asserts that the Portuguese called it Zenega, the 'Zeneges' (Berber Zenaga) called it the Zenedec, the 'Gelofes' (Wolofs) call it Dengueh, the 'Tucorones'...
Tifinagh (Tuareg Berber language: ⵜⴼⵏⵗ; Neo-Tifinagh: ⵜⵉⴼⵉⵏⴰⵖ; Berber Latin alphabet: Tifinaɣ; Berber pronunciation: [tifinaɣ]) is a script used to write...
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