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24-711: The Tuareg word azawaɣ means "savannah". Azawad , a term used for the portion of northern Mali claimed by the Tuareg rebel movement National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad , is believed to be an Arabic corruption of "Azawagh". The Azawagh refers to the dry structural basin , which once carried a northern tributary of the Niger River , the Azawagh river, known as Dallol Bosso further south. The river, which ran some 1,600 kilometres (990 mi) in prehistoric times, dried up after

48-652: A development that is to some degree reflected in the dialect names. It is realized as h in Tamahaq (Tahaggart), as š in Tamasheq and as simple z in the Tamajaq dialects Tawallammat and Tayart. In the latter two, *z is realised as ž before palatal vowels, explaining the form Tamajaq . In Tawallammat and especially Tayart, this kind of palatalization actually does not confine itself to z . In these dialects, dentals in general are palatalized before /i/ and /j/ . For example, tidət

72-411: A few sound shifts (notably affecting the pronunciation of original z and h ). The Tuareg varieties are unusually conservative in some respects; they retain two short vowels where Northern-Berber languages have one or none, and have a much lower proportion of Arabic loanwords than most Berber languages. The Tuareg languages are traditionally written in the indigenous Tifinagh alphabet. However,

96-605: A group of closely related Berber languages and dialects . They are spoken by the Tuareg Berbers in large parts of Mali , Niger , Algeria , Libya and Burkina Faso , with a few speakers, the Kinnin , in Chad . Tuareg dialects belong to the South Berber group and are sometimes regarded as a single language (as for instance by Karl-Gottfried Prasse ). They are distinguished mainly by

120-946: A structure which can be used to emphasize even objects of prepositions. Sudlow's example (s denotes voiceless palato-alveolar fricative): The indirect object marker takes the form i/y in Tudalt and e/y in Tadɣaq. As a root-and-pattern, or templatic language, triliteral roots (three-consonant bases) are the most common in Tamasheq. Niels and Regula Christiansen use the root k-t-b (to write) to demonstrate past completed aspect conjugation: ektabaɣ write. 1S ektabaɣ write.1S 'I wrote' nektab write. 1P nektab write.1P 'We wrote' tektabad write. 2S tektabad write.2S 'You wrote' tektabam write. 2P / M tektabam write.2P/M 'You wrote' tektabmat write. 2P / F tektabmat write.2P/F Wodaabe Too Many Requests If you report this error to

144-643: Is CV(C)(C), including glottal stops (see above). Contrastive stress may occur in the stative aspect of verbs. Different dialects have slightly different consonant inventories. Some of these differences can be diachronically accounted for. For example, Proto-Berber *h is mostly lost in Ayer Tuareg, while it is maintained in almost every position in Mali Tuareg. The Iwellemmeden and Ahaggar Tuareg dialects are midway between these positions. The Proto-Berber consonant *z comes out differently in different dialects,

168-495: Is a somewhat morphophonemic orthography, not indicating initial vowel shortening, always writing the directional particle as < dd⟩, and not indicating all assimilations (e.g. ⟨Tămašăɣt⟩ for [tămašăq]). In Burkina Faso the emphatics are denoted by "hooked" letters, as in Fula , e.g. ⟨ɗ ƭ⟩ . The vowel system includes five long vowels, /a, e, i, o, u/ and two short vowels, /ə, ă/ (on this page, /ă/

192-606: Is also followed by a phonetic glottal stop . Gemination is contrastive. Normally /ɣɣ/ becomes [qː] , /ww/ becomes [ɡː] , and /dˤdˤ/ becomes [tˤː] . /q/ and /tˤ/ are predominantly geminate. In addition, in Tadɣaq /ɡ/ is usually geminate, but in Tudalt singleton /ɡ/ may occur. Voicing assimilation occurs, with the first consonant taking the voicing of the second (e.g. /edˤkăr/ > [etˤkăr] ). Cluster reduction turns word/morpheme-final /-ɣt, -ɣk/ into [-qː] and /-kt, -ɟt, -ɡt/ into [-kː] (e.g. /tămaʃăɣt/ > [tămaʃăq] 'Tamasheq' ). Syllable structure

216-500: Is derived from /u/. Comparative evidence shows that /ə/ derives from a merger of Proto-Berber */ĭ/ and */ŭ/. Sudlow classes the "semivowels" /w, j/ with the vowels, and notes the following possible diphthongs: /əw/ (> [u]), /ăw/, /aw/, /ew/, /iw/, /ow/, /uw/, /əj/ (> [i]), /ăj/, /aj/, /ej/, /ij/, /oj/, /uj/. The consonant inventory largely resembles Arabic: differentiated voicing; uvulars, pharyngeals (traditionally referred to as emphatics) /tˤ/, /lˤ/, /sˤ/, /dˤ/, /zˤ/ ; requiring

240-657: Is pronounced [tidʲət] in Tayart. Other differences can easily be traced back to borrowing. For example, the Arabic pharyngeals ħ and ʻ have been borrowed along with Arabic loanwords by dialects specialized in Islamic ( Maraboutic ) learning. Other dialects substitute ħ and ʻ respectively with x and ɣ . The basic word order in Tuareg is verb–subject–object . Verbs can be grouped into 19 morphological classes; some of these classes can be defined semantically. Verbs carry information on

264-596: Is the center for the Iwellemeden Kel Denneg Federation. The region also has a nomadic population of Wodaabe Fulani and a substantial minority of Bouzou , formerly a Tuareg slave caste. In recent years, a number of Hausa and Zarma have settled in the region, primarily as government officials and traders. 18°18′N 5°18′E  /  18.300°N 5.300°E  / 18.300; 5.300 Tuareg languages The Tuareg ( English: / ˈ t w ɑːr ɛ ɡ / ) languages constitute

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288-409: Is used to represent IPA [æ] ). Some of the vowels have more open "emphatic" allophones that occur immediately before emphatic consonants, subject to dialectal variation. These allophones include [ɛ] for /e/ and /i/ (although /i/ may be less open), [ɔ] for /o/ and /u/ (although /u/ may be less open), and [ă] for /ə/ . Karl Prasse argued that /e/ goes back to Proto-Berber , while /o/

312-484: The 1,500 year old monumental tomb of the Tuareg matriarch Tin Hinan , where vestiges of a Tifinagh inscription have been found on one of its walls. Tifinagh usage is now restricted mainly to writing magical formulae, writing on palms when silence is required, and in letter-writing. The Arabic script is mostly in use by tribes more involved in Islamic learning, and little is known about its conventions. The DNAFLA system

336-618: The Arabic script is commonly used in some areas (and has been since medieval times), while the Latin script is official in Mali and Niger . Blench (ms, 2006) lists the following as separate languages, with dialects in parentheses: Speakers of Tin Sert (Tetserret) identify as Tuareg, but the language is Western Berber . The Tuareg languages may be written using the ancient Tifinagh (Libyco-Berber) script,

360-711: The Latin script or the Arabic script . The Malian national literacy program DNAFLA has established a standard for the Latin alphabet, which is used with modifications in Prasse's Lexique and the government literacy program in Burkina, while in Niger a different system was used. There is also some variation in Tifinagh and in the Arabic script. Early uses of the Tifinagh script have been found on rock art and in various sepulchres . Among these are

384-731: The Neolithic Subpluvial and created a basin of some 420,000 square kilometres (160,000 sq mi). Its valley, which geologists call the Iullemmeden Basin , is bordered by the Hoggar Mountains and their foothills in the north, the Aïr Mountains in the east, and the Adrar des Ifoghas in the west. The bedrock of the region is Cretaceous / Paleocene limestone and clay , which was cut by erosion and covered by aeolian sand in

408-584: The Popular Liberation Front of Azawad opposed the government of Mali. Despite being the size of Austria, the Nigerian portion of the Azawagh had a population of only 85,000 as of 2003. The area is dominated by the Kel Tamashek peoples, as well as some nomadic Arab-ancestry tribes including Hassaniyya -speakers (also called Azawagh Arabs , not to be confused with Niger's Diffa Arabs ). The Azawagh

432-472: The Upper Pleistocene . In ecological terms, the Azawagh basin is divided into, from north to south, a Saharian, a Sahelian and a northern Sudanese (referring to the geographic region) zone. In Niger, Azawagh generally includes the towns of Abalagh (Abalak), In Tibaraden ( Tchin-Tabaraden ), Tiliya, In Gal and Tabalaq , a village where the sole lake of the region is located. Human occupation of

456-525: The Azawagh has been dated back to 4500 BCE, with evidence of cattle-raising beginning 3200 BCE. From this period until roughly 1500 BCE, the region also supported large fauna, including waterbuck , hippopotami , and elephants . Evidence of copper-working has been found at Tekebrine dating to 1600 BCE. At around this time, climatic conditions worsened, and the Sudanese peoples of the region were replaced by Berbers who constructed tumuli . Islam reached

480-570: The Western Aïr Mountains via southwest Libya in the eighth century. The region was invaded and colonized by the French in the early twentieth century. Following the independence movements of Algeria , Mali , and the Niger , and the corresponding departure of the French, the region became divided between these three nations. During the 1970s and 1980s, a series of droughts forced increasing numbers of

504-452: The emphasized concept to be placed first, be it the subject or object, the latter giving an effect somewhat like the English passive. Sudlow uses the following examples, all expressing the concept "Men don't cook porridge" (e denotes Sudlow's schwa): Again like Japanese, the "pronoun/particle 'a' is used with a following relative clause to bring a noun in a phrase to the beginning for emphasis,"

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528-411: The pharynx muscles to contract and influencing the pronunciation of the following vowel, and no voiceless bilabial plosive . The glottal stop is non-phonemic. It occurs at the beginning of vowel-initial words to fill the place of the initial consonant in the syllable structure (see below), although if the words is preceded by a word ending in a consonant, it makes a liaison instead. Phrase-final /a/

552-582: The region's nomadic population into villages and towns. The droughts also sparked a rebellion by the region's Tuareg population, with groups such as Front for the Liberation of Aïr and Azaouak and the Front for the Liberation of Tamoust rebelling against the Nigerien government, while the Arab Islamic Front of Azawad , Popular Movement for the Liberation of Azawad , Revolutionary Liberation Army of Azawad , and

576-681: The subject of the sentence in the form of pronominal marking. No simple adjectives exist in the Tuareg languages; adjectival concepts are expressed using a relative verb form traditionally called 'participle'. The Tuareg languages have very heavily influenced Northern Songhay languages such as Sawaq , whose speakers are culturally Tuareg but speak Songhay; this influence includes points of phonology and sometimes grammar as well as extensive loanwords. Tamasheq prefers VSO order; however it contains topic–comment structure (like in American Sign Language, Modern Hebrew, Japanese and Russian), allowing

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