Ouargli language

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Ouargli
Twargrit
Native toAlgeria
RegionOuargla, N'Goussa
Native speakers
20,000 (2014)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3oua
Glottologtaga1278
ELPOuargli
Berber-speaking areas of the Mzab, Ouargla, and Oued Righ

Ouargli, or Teggargrent (also Twargrit, Təggəngusit), is a

Berber language. It is spoken in the oases of Ouargla (Wargrən) and N'Goussa (Ingusa) in Algeria
.

As of 1987, Ouargli had no more than 10,000 speakers.[2] Ethnologue estimated only 5,000 speakers as of 1995.[3]

There are some differences between the dialects of Ouargla (Təggargrənt) and N'Goussa (Təggəngusit), notably in the position of pronominal clitics; within Ouargla, there are minor differences between the three tribes At-Brahim, At-Sisin and At-Waggin.[4]

Speakers from Ouargla regard the varieties of Ouargla, N'Goussa, Tugurt/Temacine and Tumzabt/Mozabite, and possibly other Zenati varieties, as dialects of a single language they call Twargrit.[5] According to Delheure (1987:355), at Wargrən fəhhəmən d awəḥdi tawsint, "the Ouarglis understand Temacine very well."

The principal grammatical study is Biarnay (1908);[6] a less detailed sketch is provided in Basset (1893).[7] Its lexicon is fairly extensively documented in Delheure's (1987) dictionary.[8] The bilingual texts in Biarnay and Basset are more recently supplemented by the texts on daily life in Delheure (1988)[9] and the folk tale collection in Delheure (1989);[10] the latter, unlike other work on Ouargli, includes texts from N'Goussa as well.

References

  1. ^ Ouargli at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Delheure 1987:1
  3. ^ "Tagargrent". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
  4. ^ Delheure 1987:2
  5. ^ Delheure 1988:20, 24; Delheure 1987:273
  6. ^ S. Biarnay, 1908, Étude sur le dialecte berbère de Ouargla, Paris: Ernest Leroux
  7. ^ René Basset, 1893, Étude sur la Zenatia du Mzab, de Ouargla et de l'Oued-Rir'. Paris: Ernest Leroux.
  8. ^ Jean Delheure, 1987, Agerraw n iwalen teggargarent-tarumit / Dictionnaire ouargli-français, Paris: SELAF
  9. ^ Jean Delheure, 1988, Vivre et mourir à Ouargla. Tameddurt t-Tmettant Wargren. Paris: SELAF
  10. ^ Jean Delheure, 1989, Contes et légendes berbères de Ouargla : Tinfusin, Paris: Boîte à Documents

Bibliography