Ghadamès (Berber: ⵄⴰⴷⴻⵎⴻⵙ / Ɛadēməs [ʕadeːməs], Standard Arabic غدامس /ɣadaːmis/, Libyan Arabic /ɣdaːməs/) also called Ghadamsi or Ghadamsian is a Berber language that is spoken in, and named after, the oasis town of Ghadames in Nalut District, western Libya.

Ghadamès
Ghadāmis
Native toLibya
RegionGhadames
Native speakers
17,000 (2020)[1]
DialectsAyt Waziten, Ayt Ulid
Language codes
ISO 639-3gha
Glottologghad1239
ELPGhadamès

Research

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Ghadamès language materials have been gathered by two linguists. The first materials were published in 1903 and 1904 by Adolphe de Calassanti Motylinski (1854–1907). A more copious and reliable source is provided by the works of White Father Jacques Lanfry (1910-2000), who stayed in Ghadames from 1944 to 1945 and who published his main works in 1968 and 1973. No new research has been undertaken on location since then. Recently, Kossmann (2013) has published a modern grammar of Ghadamès based on Lanfry’s materials.

Number of speakers

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Lanfry mentions the number of c. 4,000 speakers as an optimistic estimate.[2] The actual number of speakers is not known with certainty. Ethnologue cites a number of 13,100 speakers in 2016, including 2,000 living outside the area. However, this number reflects the total number of inhabitants of Ghadames, who are not all native speakers of Ghadamès, while the number of 2,000 emigrant speakers is based on a very old source.[3] Ethnologue classifies the language as 6b (Threatened).

The language

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Ghadamès is a Berber language on its own, preserving several unique phonological and morphological features, and the Ghadamès lexicon, as recorded by Lanfry, shows relatively little influence from Arabic. There is as yet no consensus on the classification of Ghadamès within the Berber language group. Aikhenvald and Militarev (1984) group it as Eastern Berber, and Kossmann (1999) specifically groups it together with Awjila. Ethnologue classifies it as East Zenati.

Phonology

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Consonants

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Like other Berber languages and Arabic, Ghadamès has both pharyngealized ("emphatic") and plain dental consonants. Gemination is contrastive. Consonants listed between brackets occur only very sporadically.

Consonant phonemes (IPA)
Labial Inter-
dental
Dental Dental
phar.
Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngeal Glottal
Nasal m
Plosive voiceless (p) t̪ˤ () k q
voiced b ɟ ɡ
Fricative voiceless f (θ) s̪ˤ ʃ x ħ h
voiced β (ð) z̪ˤ ʒ ɣ ʕ
Approximant w l̪ˤ j
Trill r̪ˤ

Vowels

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Most Berber languages have just three phonemic vowels. Ghadamès, like Tamasheq, has seven vowels.

Vowel phonemes (IPA)
Front Central Back
Close i u
Close-mid e o
Mid ə
Near-open ɐ
Open a

Basic vocabulary

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Below is the Leipzig-Jakarta list for Ghadames, extracted from Lanfry (1973). Lanfry's unconventional transcription has been adapted to modern usage. Symbols ă, ḥ, j, š, ž, y are equivalent to IPA ɐ, ħ, ɟ, ʃ, ʒ, j. Lanfry's length notation on vowels probably represents lexical stress (Kossmann 2013: 5, 15).

1 fire ōfa
2 nose tənzart
3 to go as with verbal deictic n "thither" (cf. 11 to come)
4 water aman (plurale tantum)
5 mouth ame
6 tongue ēləs
7 blood dămmăn (plurale tantum)
8 bone ɣăṣṣ
9 2SG pronoun šăgg(ən) (M), šămm(ən) (F)
10 root aẓur "root of plant"
11 to come as with verbal deictic d "hither" (cf. 3 to go)
12 breast bab, admār
13 rain anaẓar
14 1SG pronoun năšš(ən)
15 name ism
16 louse talləkt
17 wing afraw
18 flesh/meat aksəm
19 hand/arm ōfəss "hand", āɣil "arm"
20 fly izi
21 night ēβăḍ
22 ear ēsəm
23 neck takorəmt (cf. 47 back)
24 far (not attested)
25 to do/make əqḍu "to do, achieve" < Arabic, ăj "to put, to make"
26 house daž, taddart
27 stone/rock ērəj
28 bitter iẓēk "to be bitter"
29 to say ăn
30 tooth asēn "incisor", taɣməst "molar", tawjlet "canine"
31 hair azaw
32 big (not attested)
33 one yōn (M), yōt (F)
34 who? anno
35 3SG pronoun (n)itto (M), (n)ittāt (F)
36 to beat/hit ŏwət
37 leg/foot aḍar
38 horn aškaw
39 this -o
40 fish (not attested)
41 yesterday ənḍəβăd
42 to drink ăsw
43 black săṭṭăf "to be black" (perfective stem; aorist stem not attested)
44 navel tamet
45 to stand ăβdəd "to be standing", ăkkər "to stand up"
46 to bite ămbər
47 back akorm, təkurmēn (cf. 23 neck)
48 wind aḍo "wind, odour"
49 smoke ōβo
50 what? ke, me
51 child (kin term) ara, tarwa
52 egg tasadəlt
53 to give ăkf
54 new (not attested)
55 to burn (intr.) ărɣ
56 not wăl, ak
57 good samēḥ < Arabic
58 to know ăssən
59 knee ōfəd
60 sand tamallilt
61 to laugh ăḍs
62 to hear ăsl
63 soil tammurt "earth, soil"
64 leaf təfra "leaf of tree"
65 red azŭggaɣ "red one" (prob. /azəggʷaɣ/)
66 liver tōsa
67 to hide əkənn
68 skin/hide ēlăm "animal skin"
69 to suck ăzməm
70 to carry ăbb "to carry, bring", ăškəl "to carry, lift"
71 ant takəṭfet
72 heavy ăẓẓāk "to be heavy" (perfective stem; aorist stem not attested)
73 to take āβăʕ "to take", ōməẓ "to seize, hold"
74 old imqōr, iwsər "to be old, elderly (human)"
75 to eat ăšš
76 thigh taɣma
77 thick izwər "to be thick"
78 long əzzəjrət "to be long"
79 to blow sβəḍ
80 wood asɣēr "(piece of) wood"
81 to run ăzzəl
82 to fall ōḍu
83 eye awăll
84 ash ēšəd
85 tail tabaḥṣuṣṣ < Arabic?
86 dog ēde
87 to cry/weep ăẓẓəf
88 to tie ăqqēn
89 to see ălləm
90 sweet (not attested)
91 rope tazara
92 shade/shadow tēle
93 bird ajaḍiḍ
94 salt tēsənt
95 small imtēt "to be small"
96 wide (not attested)
97 star iri
98 in dəj, -i
99 hard (not attested)
100 to grind/crush ăẓəd "to grind", ăddəβ "to crush (in a mortar)"

References

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  1. ^ Ghadamès at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)  
  2. ^ Lanfry (1973:iv).
  3. ^ Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edition, article Ghadāmis (1952): 2,000 persons with a background in Ghadames living in Tunis; quoted by Lanfry (1973:iv).

Cited works

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  • Calassanti Motylinski, A. de (1903). "Note sur la mission dans le Souf pour y étudier le dialecte berbère de R'adamès". Journal Asiatique. 1903, II: 157–162.
  • Calassanti Motylinski, A. de (1904). Le dialecte berbere de R’edamès. Paris: Leroux.
  • Kossmann, M. (2013). A Grammatical Sketch of Ghadames Berber (Libya). Köln: Köppe. ISBN 978-3-89645-940-4.
  • Lanfry, J. (1968). Ghadamès: Etude linguistique et ethnographique. I, Textes, notes philologiques et ethnographiques. Fort-National: Fichier de documentation berbère.
  • Lanfry, J. (1973). Ghadamès: Etude linguistique et ethnographique. II, Glossaire (parler des Ayt Waziten). [Fort-National]: Le fichier périodique.