According to a few sources, the small Nemadi hunting tribe of eastern Mauritania speak a separate language of their own; however, most sources agree that they speak a dialect of Hassaniyya, or in some cases perhaps Azer. The name "Nemadi" itself appears to come from Azer, where it means "master of dogs". Hassaniya is a dialect of Arabic derived from the Arabic spoken by the Beni Hassan tribe, who extended their authority over most of the Mauritanian Sahara between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. ...

According to Robert Arnaud (1906), "around Tichit the Nemadi employ a dialect called Azeïr which is close to Soninke." Chudeau (1913), perhaps following him, adds that "We have little information on their language, which M. Delafosse classifies provisionally with Soninké." However, Brosset (1932) says that they speak Hassaniyya, and that "their special vocabulary does not consist of vocables different from Hassaniyya, but of technical terms which need has forced them to create, which are forged from Arabic, Zenata, and maybe Azer." 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Tichit (Arabic: تيشيت) is a town at the foot of the Tagant plateau in eastern Mauritania. ... The Soninke language (Soninke: Soninkanxaane) is a Mande language spoken by the Soninke people of West Africa. ... 1913 (MCMXIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) is a leap year starting on Friday. ... Arabic (; , less formally, ) is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... The Zenati languages include 12 (SIL estimate) languages and dialects spoken in Africa and western Asia; this language group is a part of the Northern Berber language family. ... The Soninke language (Soninke: Soninkanxaane) is a Mande language spoken by the Soninke people of West Africa. ...

Ech Chinguetti's Kitab El Wasit says that "The Nmadi speak the dialect common to all the Moors (i.e. Hassaniyya). However, they do not pronounce the final m of the affixed second person plural pronoun, so they say: as-Salam alayku ("peace be upon you") for alaikum, and kayfa haluku ("how are you?") for halukum." (note: two translations given differ significantly; needs checking against source.) The Moors were the medieval Muslim inhabitants of al-Andalus (the Iberian Peninsula including the present day Spain and Portugal) and the Maghreb, whose culture is often called Moorish. // Origins of the name The name derives from the old tribe of the Mauri and their kingdom, Mauretania. ...

Laforgue claims that they speak "Zenati", i.e. Berber, a claim seen by Hermans as "very improbable". The Zenati languages include 12 (SIL estimate) languages and dialects spoken in Africa and western Asia; this language group is a part of the Northern Berber language family. ... The Berber languages (or Tamazight) are a group of closely related languages mainly spoken in Morocco and Algeria. ...

According to Gerteiny (1967), they speak "their own dialect, probably a mixture of Azêr, Zenaga, and Hassaniyya, called Ikôku by the Moors. They express themselves in brief idiomatic phrases, and the language has neither singular nor plural." 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Afro-Asiatic - Berber - Zenaga Zenaga is a Berber language spoken by some 200 to 300 people between Mederdra and the Atlantic coast in southern Mauritania. ...

The Ethnologue's former description of their language appears to be based solely on this source; however, its latest edition says that "The 'Nemadi' (Ikoku) are an ethnic group of 200 (1967) that speak Hassaniyya, but they have special morphemes for dogs, hunting, and houses"[1] Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics), a Christian linguistic service organization which studies lesser-known languages primarily to provide the speakers with native language biblical texts. ...

Hermans' verdict is that "the language spoken by the Nemadi in general (there may remain some Azer-speaking Nemadi) is Hassaniyya. But one must recognize certain peculiarities", including the lack of plural, certain argot-like expressions (cf. Fondacci), and the technical terms (cf. Brosset, Fondacci, Gabus.) Argot is primarily slang used by various groups, including but not limited to thieves and other criminals, to prevent outsiders from understanding their conversations. ...

Bibliography

• Robert Arnaud, 1906. "Chasseurs et pêcheurs du Tagant et du Hodh", in La Géographie, vol. 16.
• Capt. Diégo Brosset 1932, "Les Némadi", in Bulletin de l'Afrique de l'Ouest Française.
• Sid Ahmad Lamine ech-Chinguetti 1911. Kitab al-Wasît. Cairo.
• Raymond Chudeau 1913. "Peuples du sahara central et occidental", in l’Anthropologie.
• Capt. P. H. Fondacci 1945. "Les Némadis" (Mémoire du CHEAM n° 1009).
• Jean Gabus 1951. "Contribution à l’étude des Némadis", in Bull. Soc. Suisse d’ Anthropologie-Neuchâtel.
• Alfred G. Gerteiny 1967, Mauritania. Frederic A. Praeger.
• Jean-Michel Hermans, Les NEMADIS, chasseurs-cueilleurs du désert mauritanien
• Pierre Laforgue 1926. "Une fraction non musulmane : les Némadi", in Bulletin de l'Afrique de l'Ouest Française.