Sokna language explained

Sokna
Nativename:Tasuknit
States:Libya
Region:Fezzan
Extinct:?
Ref:e17
Familycolor:Afro-Asiatic
Fam2:Berber
Fam3:Eastern
Fam4:Awjila–Sokna
Iso3:swn
Glotto:sawk1238
Glottorefname:Sawknah-Fogaha
Dia1:Sokna
Dia2:Fezzan (Foqaha, Tmessa)

Sokna (also Sawknah, Sukna; native name: Tasuknit)[1] is a presumably extinct Eastern Berber language which was spoken in the town of Sokna (Isuknan) and the village of Fuqaha in northeastern Fezzan in Libya. According to Václav Blažek (1999), Sokna was also spoken in the oasis of Tmassa.[2]

The most extensive and recent materials on it are Sarnelli (1924)[3] for Sokna and Paradisi (1963)[4] for El-Fogaha. Both articles report that the language was spoken only by a handful of old people at the time, so it is generally presumed to be extinct.

Aikhenvald & Militarev (1984) and Blench (2006) consider Sokna and Fezzan to be separate languages. Blench lists Tmessa and Al-Foqaha as dialects of Fezzan.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Linguasfera: Tamazic (Berber) . ca . Llengües, Literatures i Cultures del Món, [LLCM] . 2015-10-27.
  2. Book: Blažek, Václav . Václav Blažek . Numerals: Comparative-etymological Analyses of Numeral Systems and Their Implications : Saharan, Nubian, Egyptian, Berber, Kartvelian, Uralic, Altaic and Indo-European Languages . Spisy Masarykovy univerzity v Brně, Filozofická fakulta . 1999 . 322 . 9788021020702.
  3. Sarnelli . Tommaso . 1924–1925 . Il dialetto berbero di Sokna: Materiali lessicali, testi manoscritti in caratteri arabi, con trascrizione e traduzione . Supplemento All'Africa Italiana . it.
  4. Paradisi . Umberto . 1963 . Il linguaggio berbero di El-Fogaha (Fezzan) . Istituto Orientale di Napoli . XIII . 93–126.