Mzab–Wargla languages explained

Mzab–Wargla
Region:	North Africa
Familycolor:	Afro-Asiatic
Fam2:	Berber
Fam3:	Northern Berber
Fam4:	Zenati
Glotto:	moza1250
Glottorefname:	Northern Saharan Oasis Berber
Map:	Map of Northern Saharan Berber dialects.PNG
Mapcaption:	Kossmann's "Northern Saharan oasis" dialects

The Mzab–Wargla languages or Northern Saharan oasis dialects are a dialect cluster of the Zenati languages, within the Northern Berber subbranch. They are spoken in scattered oases of Algeria and Morocco.

Subclassification

Kossmann (2013)

Maarten Kossmann (2013) listed six "Northern Saharan oasis" dialects:^[1]

• South Oranie and Figuig
• Gurara
• Tuwat-Tidikelt
• Mzab
• Wargla
• Wad Righ (Tugurt)

Ethnologue (2009)In Ethnologue XVI (2009), the "Mzab–Wargla" languages are listed as:

• Tagargrent (Wargli)
• Temacine Tamazight (Tugurt)
• Taznatit ("Zenati": Gurara, Tuwat and South Oran)
• Tumzabt (Mozabite)

Unlike Kossmann, Ethnologue considers the Berber dialect spoken in Tidikelt as a separate branch of the Zenati group, distinct from Tuwat.

BlenchRoger Blench (2006) listed eight varieties:^[2]

• Gurara
• Mzab, Ghardaia (Mozabite)
• Wargla
• Tugurt
• Seghrušen
• Figuig
• Senhaja
• Iznacen

However, Senhaja is actually an Atlas language.

Notes and References

1. M. Kossmann, The Arabic Influence on Northern Berber, pp.23-24 (Brill, 2013)
2. Blench, Roger M. (2006) "The Afro-Asiatic Languages: Classification and Reference List". Cambridge: Mallam Dendo.