Rifi redirects here, for the place that is called Rifi in Greece, see Rifi, Greece

Tarifit is a Northern Berber language of the Zenati subgroup, spoken mainly in the Moroccan Rif by about 2 million people. ISO 639 is one of several international standards that lists short codes for language names. ... SIL International is a non-profit, Christian, scientific organization with the main purpose to study, develop and document lesser-known languages for the purpose of expanding linguistic knowledge, promoting world literacy and aiding minority language development. ... This list of languages is alphabetical by English name. ... The Northern Berber languages are a dialect continuum across the Maghreb that form a sub-family within the Berber languages. ... 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. ... This is about a region in Morocco: RIF is also an acronym/initialism. ...

Classification

Tarifit is a Berber language, belonging to the Zenati subgroup of Northern Berber, and possibly the Rif subgroup of Zenati. Afro-Asiatic - Berber The Berber languages (or Tamazight) are a group of closely related languages mainly spoken in Morocco and Algeria. ... 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 Northern Berber languages are a dialect continuum across the Maghreb that form a sub-family within the Berber languages. ...

Geographic distribution

Tarifit is spoken mainly in the Moroccan Rif by about 2 million people, with a few speakers across the border in Algeria. There is also a substantial Tarifit-speaking community in the Netherlands. Its own speakers simply call it thamazighth, or Tamazight, a term also often applied in a broader sense to Berber languages in general. This is about a region in Morocco: RIF is also an acronym/initialism. ... Afro-Asiatic - Berber The Berber languages (or Tamazight) are a group of closely related languages mainly spoken in Morocco and Algeria. ... Afro-Asiatic - Berber The Berber languages (or Tamazight) are a group of closely related languages mainly spoken in Morocco and Algeria. ...

Sounds

Tarifits most noticeable differences from other Berber languages are that: Afro-Asiatic - Berber The Berber languages (or Tamazight) are a group of closely related languages mainly spoken in Morocco and Algeria. ...

• /l/ becomes /r/ [like ul (heart) --> ur]
• /r/ after a vowel but before a consonant is dropped [somewhat as in British English.] [like taddart (house/home) --> taddat] (but in e.g. tamara the /r/ is conserved, because, like said, it is not followed by a consonant)
• /ll/ [geminated (double) /l/] becomes /dj/ [like ylli (daughter) --> ydji]
• /lt/ becomes /tch/ [like ultma (sister) --> utchma]
• Most /k/ becomes /ch/ while in some local sub-accents just a softened /k/.
• Also, the initial masculin a- prefix gets dropped in certain words, like afus (hand) becomes fus, and afighar (snake) becomes fighar, further distantiating Tarifit from neighbouring dialects such as Atlas-Tamazight and Tachelhit.

British English (BrE) is a term used to refer to the form of the English language spoken in the British Isles. ...

Writing system

Like other Berber languages, it has been written with several different systems over the years. Most recently (since 2003), Tifinagh has become official throughout Morocco, while the Arabic alphabet and Latin alphabet continue to be used unofficially online and in various publications. However, unlike the nearby Tachelhit (Tasusit), Tarifit has little written literature before the twentieth century. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing the Arabic language. ... The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world. ... Tachelhit is an Afro-Asiatic language of the Berber subgroup; it is spoken in Morocco and Algeria. ...

See also

• List of Mzab-Wargla languages
• List of Zenati languages
• List of Northern Berber languages
• Ghomara language
• Rif languages
• Senhaja De Srair language
• East Zenati languages

The Mzab-Wargla languages include 4 (SIL estimate) languages and dialects spoken in Africa and western Asia; this language group is a part of the Zenati language family. ... 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 Northern Berber languages are a dialect continuum across the Maghreb that form a sub-family within the Berber languages. ... The language of the Ghomara is a Northern Berber language of the Zenati subgroup, spoken on the eastern edge of the Rif in Morocco. ... According to ethnologues, the Rif languages are a genetic subgroup of the Zenati languages including two languages and dialects spoken in the Rif area of Morocco. ... The language of the Senhaja de Srair is a Northern Berber language spoken in the southern part of the Moroccan Rif. ... The East Zenati languages, according to the Ethnologue, is a subgroup of the Zenati languages which includes 3 languages and dialects spoken in Tunisia and Libya. ...

References

McClelland, Clive. The Interrelations of Syntax, Narrative Structure, and Prosody in a Berber Language (Studies in Linguistics and Semiotics, V. 8). Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2000. (ISBN 0773477403)

External link

• Ethnologue report on Tarifit