The Zenati languages are a branch of the Northern Berber language family of North Africa. They were named after the medieval Zenata Berber tribal confederation. They were first proposed in the works of French linguist Edmond Destaing (1915) (1920–23). Zenata dialects are distributed across the central Berber world (Maghreb), from northeastern Morocco to just west of Algiers, and the northern Sahara, from southwestern Algeria around Bechar to Zuwara in Libya. The most widely spoken Zenati languages are Tmazight of the Rif in northern Morocco and Tashawit Berber in northeastern Algeria, each of which have over 3 million speakers.
Senhaja de Srair is a Northern Berber language. It is spoken by the Sanhaja Berbers inhabiting the central part of the Moroccan Rif. It is spoken in the Ketama area west of the Tarifit speaking area in eastern Rif.
Tarifit Berber, also known as Riffian or locally as Tamazight is a Zenati Berber language spoken in the Rif region in northern Morocco. It is spoken natively by some 1,271,000 Rifians primarily in the Rif provinces of Nador, Al Hoceima and Driouch.
The Rif, also called Rif Mountains, is a geographic region in northern Morocco. It is bordered on the north by the Mediterranean Sea and Spain and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, and is the homeland of the Rifians and the Jebala people. This mountainous and fertile area is bordered by Cape Spartel and Tangier to the west, by Berkane and the Moulouya River to the east, by the Mediterranean to the north, and by the Ouergha River to the south. The Rif mountains are separated into the eastern Rif mountains and western Rif mountains.
The Sanhaja were once one of the largest Berber tribal confederations, along with the Zanata and Masmuda confederations. Many tribes in Algeria, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Tunisia and Western Sahara bore and still carry this ethnonym, especially in its Berber form.
Roger Marsh Blench is a British linguist, ethnomusicologist and development anthropologist. He has an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and is based in Cambridge, England. He researches, publishes, and works as a consultant.
Gzenaya or Igzenayen is the name of a Riffian tribe of the Rif region in the north-eastern part of Morocco. Towns such as Aknoul, Ajdir Gzenaya and Ain Hamra belong to this tribe. Many Igzenayen can also be found in cities such as Tangier, Taza and Meknes.
The Ait Ouriaghel or Ait Waryaghar is one of the biggest Riffian tribes of the Rif region of the north-eastern part of Morocco and one of the most populous. Ait Waryagher means "those who do not back off/ those who do not retreat". They inhabit most of the territory around the city of Al Hoceima. The Ait Waryaghar speak the "Western-Tarifit" dialect of the Riffian language.
A riff is an example of ostinato, a short, repeated musical phrase.
The Kebdana or Ichebdanen are a Riffian-Berber tribe of Zenata origin that lives in the eastern part of the Rif, in northeastern Morocco between Nador and Berkane. They lived primarily in the villages of Kebdana, an area in the Rif region South of Arekmane. Due to migration, many Ichebdanen live now in the cities of the region and in Europe. The main cities of the Ichebdanen are Zaio, Arekmane and Ras Kebdana. In Nador, Berkane and Selouane live many Ichebdanen because of their jobs. In the Rif region are Ichebdanen famous for their use of the consonant „l“ in many words. For example: Temlalen (eggs)
Riffian or Rifian may refer to:
Riffians or Rifians are a Berber ethnic group originally from the Rif region of northeastern Morocco. Communities of Riffian immigrants are also found in southern Spain, Netherlands and Belgium as well as elsewhere in Western Europe. They are overwhelmingly Sunni Muslims, but retain their pre-Islamic traditions such as high status for Riffian women.
Gurara (Gourara) is a Zenati Berber language spoken in the Gourara (Tigurarin) region, an archipelago of oases surrounding the town of Timimoun in southwestern Algeria. Ethnologue gives it the generic name Taznatit ("Zenati"), along with Tuwat spoken to its south; however, Blench (2006) classifies Gurara as a dialect of Mzab–Wargla and Tuwat as a dialect of the Riff languages.
The history of Bible translation into the Berber language is fairly recent. The six major Berber language/dialects are spoken by 90% of the total Berber-speaking population: Tashelhit Berber, Kabyle Berber, Central Atlas Tamazight, Riffian Berber, Shawiya Berber, and Tuareg Berber.
Jebli (Jebelia) is a pre-Hilalian Arabic dialect spoken in the mountains of northwestern Morocco.
Tuwat is a Zenati Berber language. It is spoken by Zenata Berbers in a number of villages in the Tuat region of southern Algeria; notably Tamentit and Tittaf, located south of the Gurara Berber speech area. Ethnologue considers them a single language, "Zenati", but Blench (2006) classifies Gurara as a dialect of Mzab–Wargla and Tuwat as a dialect of the Riff cluster.
Ait Boufrah is a small town and rural commune in Al Hoceïma Province of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region of Morocco. At the time of the 2014 census, the commune had a total population of 9,633. The commune is home to a majority Berber population, who speak the Riffian language (Tamazight) as their main language, in addition to Arabic. From 1912 to 1956 it belonged to the northern area of the Spanish Protectorate of Morocco.
Sheliff Basin Berber is a variety of the Berber languages that is spoken in Algeria. It is traditionally taken to be a dialect of Shenwa, one of the Western Algerian Zenati languages. Blench (2006) argues instead that the variety is part of the Riffian dialect cluster.
Jaysh al-Rifi, described in 18th-century correspondence with the British as 'the Army of all the People of the Rif', was the name of an influential Moroccan army corps in the 17th and the 18th centuries. The army was formed by Moulay Ismail out of Riffian tribesmen from the eastern Rif. Their rise coincided with the formation of the Black Guard, also by Moulay Ismail. They came to play an important role in the 17th century Moroccan wars against Spanish colonization. Cities like Tangier, Ksar el-Kebir, Mehdya, Asilah were reconquered by the Jaysh al-Rifi. One of its generals was Ali bin Abdallah al-Riffi, a native of Temsamane, who became governor of Tangier, Asilah and Tetouan. His descendants, the al-Rifi family, would govern those towns and most of the Gharb with a large degree of autonomy until 1912.
