Солтүстік Мароккодағы Тарифит тілі

Zenati Berber language of northern Morocco

Tarifit Berber, also known as Riffian or locally as Tamazight ( , تريفيت) is a Zenati Berber language spoken in the Rif region in northern Morocco. It is spoken natively by some 1,271,000 Rifians primarily in the Rif provinces of Al Hoceima, Nador and Driouch. Tarifit is strongly influenced by the Arabic language, and borrowed foreign loanwords represent 51.7% of the total Tarifit vocabulary (56.1% of nouns and 44.1% of verbs).

In the Rif, the native name of this language is 'Tmaziɣt' (pronounced Tmazixt in most dialects). Speakers may specify by calling it 'Tarifiyt' (pronounced Tarifect in central dialects).

Riffian is a Zenati Berber language which consists of various sub dialects specific to each clan and of which a majority are spoken in the Rif region, a large mountainous area of Northern Morocco, and a minority spoken in the western part of neighbouring Algeria.

There is a large amount of dialectal variation in Riffian Berber; this can easily be seen using the dialect Atlas (Lafkioui, 1997), however Riffian compose a single language with its own phonetical innovations distinct from other Berber languages. Majority of them are spoken in Northern Morocco, this includes the varieties of Al Hoceima, Temsamane, Nador, Ikbadene (including Iznasen) and the more southernly variety in the Taza province. Besides Riffian, two other related and smaller Berber languages are spoken in North Morocco: the Sanhaja de Srair and the Ghomara languages. They are only distantly related to Riffian and are not mutually intelligible with it.

A few Riffian dialects are or used to be in the western part of Algeria, notably by the Beni Snouss tribe of the Tlemcen, as well in Bethioua but also in various colonial districts Riffians started to emigrate to since the 19th century.

There is no consensus on what varieties are considered Riffian and not, the difference of opinion mainly lie in the easternmost dialects of the Iznasen and the westernmost dialects of Senhaja de Sraïr and Ketama. Dialects include West Riffian (Al Hoceima), Central Riffian (Nador) and East Riffian (Berkan). Iznasen (Iznacen, Beni Snassen) is counted as a dialect in Kossman (1999), but Blench (2006) classifies it as one of the closely related Mzab–Wargla languages.

Postvocalic preceding a consonantal coda is dropped, as in taddart > taddaat 'house/home'. Thus in tamara 'hard work/misery' the is conserved because it precedes a vowel. These sound shifts do not occur in the easternmost Riffian dialects of Icebdanen and Iznasen and the westernmost dialects beyond Ayt Waayaɣeř.

Additionally, the initial masculine a prefix is dropped in certain words, e. g., afus 'hand' becomes fus, and afiɣaṛ 'snake' becomes fiɣạạ. This change, characteristic of Zenati Berber varieties, further distances Riffian from neighbouring dialects such as Atlas Tamazight and Shilha.

Like other Berber languages, Riffian has been written with several different systems over the years. Unlike the nearby Tashelhit (Shilha), Riffian Berber has little written literature before the twentieth century. The first written examples of Riffian berber start appearing just before the colonial period. Texts like R. Basset (1897) and S. Biarnay (1917) are transcribed in the Latin alphabet but they are transcribed in a rather deficient way. Most recently (since 2003), Tifinagh has become official throughout Morocco. The Arabic script is not used anymore for writing Riffian Berber. The Berber Latin alphabet continues to be the most used writing system online and in most publications in Morocco and abroad.

Tarifit has loaned a fair amount of its vocabulary from Arabic, Spanish and French. Around 51.7% of the vocabulary of Tarifit is estimated to have been borrowed (56.1% of nouns and 44.1% of verbs). All loaned verbs follow Riffian conjugations, and some loaned nouns are Berberized as well. A lot of loans are not recognizable because of sound shifts that have undergone, e. g. ǧiřet 'night' (Arabic: al layla), hřec 'sick' (Arabic: halaka).

ddenya: 'world' (orig. al dunyā الدنيا)
tayezzaat: 'island' (orig. jazīra جزيرة)
řebḥaa: 'ocean' (orig. al baḥr البحر)
lwalidin: 'parents' (orig. al wālidayn الوالدين)
ḥseb: 'to count' (orig. ḥasaba حسب)

familiya: 'family' (orig. familia)
tpabut: 'duck' (orig. pavo)
ṣpiṭạạ: 'hospital' (orig. hospital)
pṛubaa: 'to try' (orig. probar)
arrimaa: 'to land' (orig. arrimar)

maamiṭa: 'pot' (orig. marmite)
furciṭa: 'fork' (orig. fourchette)
ṣuṣis: 'sausage' (orig. saucisse)
fumaḍa: 'cream' (orig. pommade)
jjarḍa: 'garden' (orig. jardin)

faacu: 'eagle' (orig. falco)
aqninni: 'rabbit' (orig. cuniculus)
fiřu: 'thread' (orig. filum)
aɣaṛṛabu: 'boat' (orig. carabus)
asnus: 'donkey foal' (orig. asinus)