East Zenati languages explained

East Zenati
Region:North Africa
Familycolor:Afro-Asiatic
Fam2:Berber
Fam3:Northern
Fam4:Zenati
Child1:Sened
Child2:Matmata
Child3:Douiret
Child4:Jerba
Child5:Zuwara
Child6:Nafusi
Glotto:tuni1262
Glottoname:Tunisian-Zuwara
Glotto2:sene1271
Glottoname2:Sened
Glottorefname:Tunisian-Zuwara Berber
Map:Tunisia-Zuwara Berber Map.PNG
Mapcaption:Berber-speaking areas belonging to Kossmann's "Tunisian-Zuwara" dialectal group

The East Zenati languages (Blench, 2006) or Tunisian and Zuwara (Kossmann, 2013) are a group of the Zenati Berber dialects spoken in Tunisia and Libya.

Maarten Kossmann considers the easternmost varieties of Zenati dialects as transitional to Eastern Berber, but they are quite different from the neighboring Nafusi.

According to Kossmann, the dialect cluster of Tunisian Berber and Zuwara is consisting of the varieties spoken in mainland Tunisia (Sened (extinct), Matmata and Douiret), Jerba and Zuwara, but not Nafusi which is considered a dialect of Eastern Berber.[1]

Before Kossmann, Roger Blench (2006) considered East Zanati to be a dialect cluster consisting of Sened (extinct, including Tmagurt), Djerbi, Matmata (Tamezret, Zrawa & Taujjut), and Nafusi. [2]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Kossmann . Maarten . The Arabic Influence on Northern Berber . 1 January 2013 . Brill . 978-90-04-25309-4 . 13–50 . https://books.google.com/books?id=Se-BAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA24 . en . 2. Berber and Arabic. 10.1163/9789004253094_003 ., p.24
  2. http://rogerblench.info/Language/Afroasiatic/General/AALIST.pdf AA list