DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49270#0173
98
J. Abercromby
L when initial, remains; medially and finally it sometimes changes into r.
M remains, but when final changes into n.
R when initial, remains; medially and finally it sometimes exchanges with I. The letters I and r are
often intercalated in the middle of words. Cf. aduf(r)e, ca,lib(r)e, almocaf(r)e, a(Ji)mirante.
ST is softened to z (c, p).
(Sp.) mozarabe from (Ar.) mosta'rab.
(Sp.) ecija from (Ar.) estiga.
(Sp.) alfocigo from (Ar.) al-fostoq.
From the above remarks it may be assumed as certain that for the earlier writers
Gomez Escudero, Cedeno, and Espinosa, x had the sound of s; and a Spanish j before any
vowel, together with ge, gi, had the sound of g or French j. As regards Viana it is not so
certain. But for Galindo and subsequent authors x had the value of h; and Spanish j
before any vowel, together with ge, gi, had the sound of h, he, hi. This change is seen in
later variants of xiraxi which is transcribed gerage and hirahi.
Transcription of Berber and Arabic words
The vowels are pronounced approximately as in Italian: the consonants b, d, f, h, k,
1, m, n, r, s, t, w, y, z, as in English.
Additional letters.
c = ch in ‘child’ or in Spanish ‘chibo’.
S = th in ‘ this ’, or modern Greek SeXra.
S = emphatic 3.
d = emphatic d, spoken from the back of the
mouth.
0 = th in ‘ think’ or Greek Gyra.
g = gin‘gem’.
g = Ar. (5? like French r grasseye. French
writers usually write it r'.
h = Ar. It is not a Berber sound.
h = Ar. = Greek x = Spanish Jota.
j = French j in ‘jour’.
n = ng in ‘bang’.
q = Ar. o? • A strong k spoken in the throat,
s = Ar. is a strong palatal s.
s = sh in ‘shall ’.
t = emphatic t spoken from the back of the
mouth.
z = emphatic z spoken from the back of the
mouth.
' = Ar. sounded with a constriction of the
throat. Not a Berber sound.
The Distribution of Berber-speaking people
The people known under the generic title of Berbers are scattered over a wide extent
of country in northern Africa, though often separated from each other by great intervals.
They may be distributed geographically into three zones, a northern, a central, and a
southern. The first extends from the oasis of Siwah in the east, across Tripolitana, Tunisia,
Algeria, and Morocco to the Atlantic Ocean, the southern boundary being the Great Atlas
range. But in Morocco the northern zone extends south of the Atlas into the province of
Sus. The middle belt lies between the Atlas Mountains and the northern fringe of the
Sahara. The third zone is bounded on the south by the Niger and Senegal rivers.
J. Abercromby
L when initial, remains; medially and finally it sometimes changes into r.
M remains, but when final changes into n.
R when initial, remains; medially and finally it sometimes exchanges with I. The letters I and r are
often intercalated in the middle of words. Cf. aduf(r)e, ca,lib(r)e, almocaf(r)e, a(Ji)mirante.
ST is softened to z (c, p).
(Sp.) mozarabe from (Ar.) mosta'rab.
(Sp.) ecija from (Ar.) estiga.
(Sp.) alfocigo from (Ar.) al-fostoq.
From the above remarks it may be assumed as certain that for the earlier writers
Gomez Escudero, Cedeno, and Espinosa, x had the sound of s; and a Spanish j before any
vowel, together with ge, gi, had the sound of g or French j. As regards Viana it is not so
certain. But for Galindo and subsequent authors x had the value of h; and Spanish j
before any vowel, together with ge, gi, had the sound of h, he, hi. This change is seen in
later variants of xiraxi which is transcribed gerage and hirahi.
Transcription of Berber and Arabic words
The vowels are pronounced approximately as in Italian: the consonants b, d, f, h, k,
1, m, n, r, s, t, w, y, z, as in English.
Additional letters.
c = ch in ‘child’ or in Spanish ‘chibo’.
S = th in ‘ this ’, or modern Greek SeXra.
S = emphatic 3.
d = emphatic d, spoken from the back of the
mouth.
0 = th in ‘ think’ or Greek Gyra.
g = gin‘gem’.
g = Ar. (5? like French r grasseye. French
writers usually write it r'.
h = Ar. It is not a Berber sound.
h = Ar. = Greek x = Spanish Jota.
j = French j in ‘jour’.
n = ng in ‘bang’.
q = Ar. o? • A strong k spoken in the throat,
s = Ar. is a strong palatal s.
s = sh in ‘shall ’.
t = emphatic t spoken from the back of the
mouth.
z = emphatic z spoken from the back of the
mouth.
' = Ar. sounded with a constriction of the
throat. Not a Berber sound.
The Distribution of Berber-speaking people
The people known under the generic title of Berbers are scattered over a wide extent
of country in northern Africa, though often separated from each other by great intervals.
They may be distributed geographically into three zones, a northern, a central, and a
southern. The first extends from the oasis of Siwah in the east, across Tripolitana, Tunisia,
Algeria, and Morocco to the Atlantic Ocean, the southern boundary being the Great Atlas
range. But in Morocco the northern zone extends south of the Atlas into the province of
Sus. The middle belt lies between the Atlas Mountains and the northern fringe of the
Sahara. The third zone is bounded on the south by the Niger and Senegal rivers.