Tamazight
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Borrowed from Central Atlas Tamazight ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ (tamaziɣt), the feminine form of ⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖ (amaziɣ).
The construction ⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖ (maziɣ) suggests that it is the agent noun for a root *ZƔ (=*-ⵉⵣⵉⵖ (*-iziɣ)/*-ⵓⵣⴰⵖ (*-uzaɣ)). Very few traces of this ancient root remain. One hypothesis is that it is related to ZƔ (“to set up tent”) as attested in Central Atlas Tamazight and the names ⵜⴰⵣⵇⵇⴰ (tazqqa, “house”) (pl. ⵜⵉⵣⵖⵡⵉⵏ (tizɣwin)). The original meaning of the word a-maziɣ could thus be “the nomad, the one who lives under the tent”[1] or perhaps “the one who owns a tent”, which may explain why it has historically been used in some dialects to mean “noble” or “free”.
This has caused some authors to translate Tamazight as the noble/free language. In any case, ⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖ (maziɣ) is an ethnonym for the Amazigh people today, and it has been historically the case for a number of Amazigh groups in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya and under variant forms amongst the Tuareg. Tamazight is, naturally, the name of the language of the Imazighen.
Pronunciation[edit]
- enPR: ˈtăʹm-ə-zĭgt, IPA(key): /ˈtæm.ə.zɪɡt/
- enPR: ˈtăʹm-ə-zīt, IPA(key): /ˈtæm.ə.zaɪt/ (Can we verify(+) this pronunciation?)
Proper noun[edit]
Tamazight
- The continuum of closely-related Berber languages spoken in Morocco, Algeria, Libya, and other parts of northern Africa.
- A specific continuum of mutually intelligible dialects spoken mainly by the Imazighen of the Middle Atlas and High Atlas regions in Morocco.
