Siwi language

The Siwa language contains 38 consonants, each of which can appear either short or long.[22]

Notes

• /t͡ʃ/ /d͡ʒ/ are phonetically affricates, not stops.
• /ʁ ʁʷ ʢ ɦ/ can appear as approximants.
• The geminate counterpart of /ɾ/ is [rː].[23]

The transcription of these consonants differs somewhat from source to source. Naumann[24] proposes a practical Latin-based transcription inspired by common practice in other Berber languages: pharyngealised consonants are transcribed with an underdot (e.g. ṭ for /tˤ/), postalveolars are written with a hacek (č, ğ, š for /tʃ/, /dʒ/, /ʃ/), semivowel /j/ as y, uvular fricatives as corresponding velars (x, ɣ) and epiglottals as ḥ, ɛ. However, the epiglottals are often instead transcribed as corresponding pharyngeals ħ, ʕ, avoiding the danger of mistaking <ɛ> for a vowel, while the voiced postalveolar affricate/fricative is often written as j or ž. All sources transcribe the glottal fricative as h.

Siwi has six phonemic vowels: /a, e, i, o, u, ə/.[25] The mid vowels /e/ and /o/ are excluded from word-final position, and /o/ is rare. The presence of mid vowels is unusual for a Berber language, and largely reflects Siwi-specific sound changes as well as borrowing from dialectal Arabic; before these changes, the proto-Berber distinction between *i and *e had been neutralized in every environment except before word-final /n/.[26]

Siwi nouns are specified for gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural; on the occasional occurrence of duals, see Numerical system below). Most nouns incorporate a fixed prefix, usually a- for masculine singular (e.g. asen "tooth"), i- for masculine plural (e.g. isenən "teeth"), ta- for feminine singular (e.g. taṣṛəṃt "intestine"), ti- for feminine plural (e.g. tiṣəṛṃen "intestines").[31] Arabic loans often start with invariant (ə)l-, usually assimilating to a following coronal, e.g. ləqləm "pen", ddhan "oil".[32] Many nouns also incorporate a suffix, usually feminine singular -t, masculine plural -ən, feminine plural -en, as seen above; Arabic loans often show a feminine singular suffix -ət or -a, and a feminine plural suffix -at or -iyyat, e.g. ɣṛaḅa "raven" vs. ɣṛaḅiyyat "ravens".[33] Pluralization is often also marked on the stem itself by internal changes, e.g. azidi "jackal" vs. izida "jackals", ašṭiṭ "bird" vs. išəṭṭan "birds".[34]

In a noun either the last syllable or the second-to-last (penultimate) is stressed, depending on context. The factors determining stress in the noun remain a matter of debate. According to Souag (2013),[35] stress depends essentially on definiteness: definite nouns receive penultimate stress, while indefinites are stressed on the last syllable. Schiattarella (2017)[36] argues that the situation is somewhat more complicated: notably, locatives and right detached nouns receive accent on the last syllable, while left detached nouns are stressed on the penultimate.

Unlike most larger Berber languages, Siwi has no state distinction: a noun takes the same form whether used as subject or as object.[37]

Siwi adjectives agree with their heads (or their referents) in gender and number, using a subset of the same affixes given above for nouns; for example:[38]

However, agreement is not always complete. Feminine plural nouns often show masculine plural agreement.[39][40]

Adjectives may be marked with a suffix -a,[41][42] whose function, possibly aspectual, has not yet been conclusively established.

Gradable adjectives with no more than three root consonants form an invariant comparative based on the consonantal template (ə)CCəC, originally borrowed from Arabic: thus aħəkkik "small" yields əħkək "smaller", agzal "short" yields gzəl "smaller", aẓəy "bitter" yields ẓya "more bitter".[43][44][45] Adding a suffix -hŭm to this in turn yields the superlative.

Demonstratives agree with their referent in number and, if singular, in gender; medial demonstratives also agree with the addressee, a typologically unusual type of allocutive agreement.[46] The pronominal demonstratives are as follows:

• "this" (proximal): m. wa / waya, f. ta / taya, pl. wi / wiyya
• "this/that" (medial, speaking to a man): m. wok, f. tok, pl. wiyyok
• "this/that" (medial, speaking to a woman): m. wom, f. tom, pl. wiyyom
• "this/that" (medial, speaking to a group): m. werwən, f. terwən, pl. wiyyerwən
• "that" (distal): m. wih, f. tih, pl. widin

When a demonstrative modifies a noun phrase, it takes a prefix da- (ta- for feminine singular). To form a presentative ("here is..."), it instead takes a prefix ɣ-. Placeholders ("whatsit", "whatchamacallit") use the singular distal forms plus -in (wihin, tihin).

Demonstrative adverbials are based on the same series minus referent agreement markers: proximal -a / -aya, medial -ok / -om / -erwən, distal -ih. Locative adverbs ("here", "there") prefix to these gd- (or approximate locative ss-), while adverbs of manner ("like this", "like that") prefix ams-.

Siwi personal pronouns distinguish number and (in the singular only) gender. Siwi is a pro-drop language, so the use of independent forms is relatively limited; instead, agreement markers or referential suffixes usually suffice to make pronominal reference unambiguous. The following table gives the system:[47]

Some subject agreement markers take different forms before indirect object agreement markers, indicated above with dashes on both sides (e.g. -m-). 3rd person direct object suffixes take different forms depending on whether they follow another affix or directly follow the stem. After 1Sg subject agreement, second person direct objects are expressed with the corresponding independent pronouns. The special series for "because of" (msabb / mišan) is borrowed from Arabic.

Siwi verbs agree in person, number, and (when singular) gender with their subjects and their indirect objects,[48] and take suffixes marking pronominal objects. The verb "open", for example, is conjugated in the perfective as follows:[49]

fətk-ax I opened

fətk-aṭ you (sg.) opened

yə-ftək he opened

tə-ftək she opened

nə-ftək we opened

fətk-əm you (pl.) opened

yə-ftk-ən they opened

In some cases, plural nouns trigger feminine singular agreement.[50]

The order of pronominal affixes on the verb is as follows: (subject)-stem-(subject)-(indirect object)-(direct object), e.g. y-uš-as-t i talti "he gave it (m.) to the woman".[51]

Siwi verbs are also marked for aspect and mood. The basic stem is used in the imperative and in the irrealis/aorist; the latter normally takes a prefix ga- (preceding agreement suffixes), or (əd)da- for suggestatives. The perfective form is identical to the stem for most verbs, but in a few is marked by a variable suffixed vowel. The imperfective is formed from the stem by a variety of morphological strategies, including gemination of the second consonant, t prefixation, and insertion of an a. A special perfect/resultative (unusual within Berber) is formed from the perfective by suffixing -a to a fully conjugated perfective verb including any suffixes, changing ə in the last syllable to i; the same procedure, applied to an imperfective verb, yields the meaning "while".[52] Thus, for example, from the verb ukəl "walk" Siwi derives:[53]

• perfective y-ukəl "he walked"
• resultative y-ukil-a "he has walked"
• imperfective i-takəl "he walks, he is walking, he was walking"
• imperfective+a i-takil-a "while he is/was walking"
• ga+aorist g-(y)-ukəl "he will walk, he would walk"
• ədda+aorist ədd-(y)-ukəl "let him walk!"

Unlike many Berber languages, Siwi has no special verbal morphology for negation; in all aspects and moods, verbs are simply negated with the preverbal particle la. The prohibitive ("do not"), however, uses the imperfective form of the verb, unlike the imperative which uses the basic stem.

Siwi verse is written in rhyme, and is usually associated with song. Sung poetry, or adyaz, is performed mainly in bachelors' gatherings and tends to relate to love, whereas religious poetry (ləqṣidət) is recited.[57] Malim (2001:90-92, 96) distinguishes songs, led by one man, from poems, shorter verse works recited antiphonally by groups at weddings; both are accompanied by the music of drums and horns. In previous centuries these songs appear to have been of great symbolic importance to Siwi young men: a civil war in the oasis in 1712 was apparently terminated by a treaty including the stipulation that:

"if one of the Western zaggālah [bachelor farm workers] was singing in a garden, while doing his work there, and stopped, then one of the zaggālah of the Easterners should begin to sing and finish his song; the Westerner was not allowed to sing once more."[58]

The earliest Siwi lyrics to be published are those gathered by Bricchetti-Robetti (1889);[59] others have been published in Jawharī (1949)[60] and Souag (2013),[61] while Abd Allah (1917:26-27)[62] and Malim (2001:92-97) provide several songs and poems in translation. The songs were also studied from a musicological perspective by Schiffer (1936).[63] The following extract from a love song[64] may give an idea of the genre:

A Siwi tale (tanf̣ast) uses a specific opening formula:[65]

tixəṛxaṛén, tibəṛbaṛén, tiqəṭṭušén, g álbab n alħošə́nnax

"tixəṛxaṛen, tibəṛbaṛen at the door of our courtyard"

and closes with the formula:

ħattuta, ħattuta, qəṣṣəṛ ʕṃəṛha. akəṃṃús n əlxér i ənšní, akəṃṃús n šáṛ i əntnə́n

"Tale, tale, it has shortened its span. A bundle of goodness to us, a bundle of badness to them."

They were typically told by old women to children on evenings to entertain and perhaps to educate them.[66] Since the arrival of television in the oasis, this practice has largely disappeared.[67] Apart from humans and (talking) animals, a common character in such tales is the ogre (amẓa) or ogress (tamẓa). The first Siwi tales to appear in print were four short fables gathered from men ("The Jackal and the Ewe", "The Jackal and the Hyena", "The Hare, the Jackal, the Hyena, and the Lion", and "The Magic Ring") in Laoust (1932:146-150). Malim (2001)[68] gives two Siwi folk tales ("The Green Cow" and "The King's Daughter and the Three Beautiful Girls") in English translation. Schiattarella (2016) transcribes and translates fourteen tales, gathered from women.

Malim (2001:85) describes riddles as "once the preferred pastime of Siwi women", who would meet at night to exchange them, but notes that they have largely been superseded by watching television. Few Siwi riddles have been published; Malim (2001:85-87) gives some twenty, while Schiattarella (2016:117) records four, including:

Among existing publications on Siwi, only Malim (2001:95-85, 87-90) discusses proverbs in any detail, drawing a distinction between "morals", timeworn advice in proverbial form, and proverbs proper. Examples of the former include "Wear clothes that others prefer, but eat and drink what you prefer"; of the latter, "A man who sells a cow, and asks for more money for the insect on it" (in his transcription, Yzenz tfonst, eftash aflokrad ines), mocking excessive concern about small sums.