Native to Libya Native speakers < 10,000 (2006) ISO 639-3 gha | Region Ghadamès Dialects Ayt Waziten, Ayt Ulid | |
Language family Afro-Asiatic
Berber
Eastern
Ghadamès | ||
Ghadames (Berber: Ɛdimes, [ʕdimes] or Ɣdames, [Ɣdames]; Arabic: غدامس, [ɣadaːmes]) is a Berber language that is spoken in the oasis town of Ghadames in Nalut District, Libya.
Contents
Research
Ghadamsi 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, 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 Ghadames based on Lanfry’s materials.
Number of speakers
Lanfry mentions the number of c. 4,000 speakers as an optimistic estimate. The actual number of speakers is not known with certainty. Ethnologue cites a number of c. 10,000 speakers in 2006, with another 2,000 living outside the area. However, the number of 10,000 reflects the total number of inhabitants of Ghadames, who are not all native speakers of Ghadamès. In addition, the number of 2,000 emigrant speakers is based on a very old source. Ethnologue classifies the language as 6b (Threatened).
The language
Ghadames constitutes a Berber language on its own, preserving several unique phonological and morphological features, and the Ghadames 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
Like other Berber languages and Arabic, Ghadames has both pharyngealized ("emphatic") and plain dental consonants. Gemination is contrastive. Consonants listed between brackets occur only very sporadically.
Most Berber languages have just three phonemic vowels. Ghadames, like Tamasheq, has seven vowels.