Judeo-Berber language
Encyclopedia
Judeo-Berber , is a term used primarily for the Berber varieties traditionally spoken by the Jewish communities of certain parts of central and southern Morocco
. Speakers emigrated to Israel in the 1950s and 1960s. While mutually comprehensible with the Tamazight spoken by most inhabitants of the area (Galand-Pernet et al. 1970:14), these dialects are distinguished by the use of Hebrew loanwords and the pronunciation of š as s (as in many Jewish Moroccan Arabic dialects).
, Ouijjane, Asaka, Imini, and Ait Bou Oulli (in the Tamazight-speaking Middle Atlas), and Oufrane and Illigh (in the Tasheliyt-speaking Sous). (Galand-Pernet et al. 1970:2)
Almost all speakers of Judeo-Berber left Morocco in the years following its independence, and their children have mainly grown up speaking other languages. As of 1992, about 2,000 speakers remain, mainly in Israel
; all are at least bilingual in Judeo-Arabic.
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
. Speakers emigrated to Israel in the 1950s and 1960s. While mutually comprehensible with the Tamazight spoken by most inhabitants of the area (Galand-Pernet et al. 1970:14), these dialects are distinguished by the use of Hebrew loanwords and the pronunciation of š as s (as in many Jewish Moroccan Arabic dialects).
Geographic distribution
Communities where Jews spoke Judeo-Berber included TinerhirTinerhir
Tinghir , located in south-eastern Morocco, south of the High Atlas and north of the Little Atlas, is part of the region of Ouarzazate.The name originally referred Tinghir the mountain "IGHIR" which meant the shoulder Tamazight, but it has gradually expanded to bring together all the villages...
, Ouijjane, Asaka, Imini, and Ait Bou Oulli (in the Tamazight-speaking Middle Atlas), and Oufrane and Illigh (in the Tasheliyt-speaking Sous). (Galand-Pernet et al. 1970:2)
Almost all speakers of Judeo-Berber left Morocco in the years following its independence, and their children have mainly grown up speaking other languages. As of 1992, about 2,000 speakers remain, mainly in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
; all are at least bilingual in Judeo-Arabic.
Usage
Apart from its daily use, Judeo-Berber was used for explaining religious texts, and occasionally written, using Hebrew characters; a manuscript Pesah Haggadah written in Judeo-Berber has been reprinted (Galand-Pernet et al. 1970.) A few prayers, like the Benedictions over the Torah, were recited in Berber.Example
Taken from Galand-Pernet et al. 1970:121 (itself from a manuscript from Tinghir):- יִכְדַמְן אַיְיִנַגָא יפּרעו גְמַצָר. יִשוֹפִגַג רבי נּג דְיְנָג שוֹפוֹש נִדְרע שוֹפוֹש יִכיווֹאַנ
- ixəddamn ay n-ga i pər3u g° maṣər. i-ss-ufġ aġ əṛbbi ənnəġ dinnaġ s ufus ən ddr3, s ufus ikuwan.
- Rough word-for-word translation: servants what we-were for Pharaoh in Egypt. he-cause-leave us God our there with arm of might, with arm strong.
- Servants of Pharaoh is what we were in Egypt. Our God brought us out thence with a mighty arm, with a strong arm.
External links
- Judeo-Berber, by Haim Zafrani (in French)
- Except from Haggadah