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In:Arabic in Contact
Edited by Stefano Manfredi and Mauro Tosco
[Studies in Arabic Linguistics 6] 2018
► pp. 135–159

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Ḥassāniyya Arabic in contact with Berber

The case of quadriliteral verbs

 | Lacito (CNRS, Universités Paris III-Sorbonne nouvelle and Inalco)
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Published online: 10 July 2018
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https://doi.org/10.1075/sal.6.07tai
Abstract
Generally speaking, it is at the edges of the Arabic speaking world that one finds the most borrowings and where the influence of contact on the internal development of Arabic is most visible. Although Mauritanian Ḥassāniyya is an exception to this general trend (Taine-Cheikh 1994, 2007), the dialect has nonetheless retained traces of the region’s past and namely of the very gradual disappearance of Zenaga Berber.
My goal here is to assess, based on the study of a particular lexical sub-category (verb forms with quadriliteral roots), the influence Berber may have had on lexical formation in Ḥassāniyya Arabic.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Ḥassāniyya Arabic
    • 1.2Reciprocal influence between Berber and Arabic
    • 1.3Quadriliteral verbs
  • 2.Probable borrowings from Berber
    • 2.1Strong formal and semantic convergence
      • 2.1.1With no other known origins
      • 2.1.2Foreign terms found in Berber
    • 2.2Partial formal and/or semantic convergence
      • 2.2.1Partial semantic convergence
      • 2.2.2Partially divergent roots
    • 2.3Roots where the 1st consonant was originally an affix
      • 2.3.1With the factitive affix ‘s’
      • 2.3.2With the nasal affix m-/n-
  • 3.Possible borrowings from Berber
    • 3.1Cognate(s) in a single Berber dialect
      • 3.1.1Nominal cognates
      • 3.1.2Pluralities of cognates
      • 3.1.3Verbal cognates
    • 3.2Presence in Ḥassāniyya of a distinctive ‘Berber’ feature
      • 3.2.1Nouns with unusual syllable structures and affixes
      • 3.2.2Presence of non-Arabic phonemes: ẓ, d y ,t y
  • 4.Puzzling etymologies
    • 4.1Insufficient or contradictory indications
      • 4.1.1Zenaga verb of the type yaCa(Ca …)Cah
      • 4.1.2Possible internal changes
    • 4.2Notable correspondences outside of Berber
      • 4.2.1In Maghreb Arabic
      • 4.2.2In Classical Arabic
      • 4.2.3In other languages
    • 4.3Complex etymologies
      • 4.3.1A note on derivatives in sa-
      • 4.3.2Arabic root and Berber formant
      • 4.3.3Complex cases of (re)borrowings
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
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Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Taine-Cheikh, Catherine
2025. Le berbère zénaga de Mauritanie, entre mort programmée et légers signes de revitalisation. In The Handbook of Multilingualism, Identity, and Language Endangerment in Africa [Springer Handbooks in Languages and Linguistics, ], ► pp. 171 ff. DOI logo

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