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- Zenaga (autonym Tuḍḍungiyya) is a Berber language spoken by some 200 to 300 people (Ethnologue estimate, 1998) between Mederdra and the Atlantic coast in southwestern Mauritania. The language shares its basic structure with other Berber languages, but specific details are quite different; in fact, it is probably the most divergent surviving Berber language, with a significantly different sound system made even more distant by sound changes such as /l/ > /dj/ and /x/ > /k/, as well as a difficult to explain profusion of glottal stops. The name 'Zenaga' comes from that of a much bigger ancient Berber tribe, known to medieval Arab geographers as the Senhaja; the name "Senegal" is thought to derive from "Zenaga" as well. Zenaga was once spoken throughout much of Mauritania, but fell into decline when its speakers were defeated by the Maqil Arabs in the Char Bouba war of the 17th century. After this war, they were forbidden to bear arms, and variously became either specialists in Islamic religious scholarship or servants to more powerful tribes. It was among the former, more prestigious group that Zenaga survived longest. In 1940 (Dubié 1940), Zenaga was spoken by about 13,000 people belonging to four nomadic tribes distributed in an area roughly bounded by St. Louis, Podor, Boutilimit, and Nouakchott (but including none of these cities): Tashumsha ("the five"): 4653 speakers out of 12000 members D-abu-djhes (Arabic Id-ab-lahsen): 5000 out of 5000 Gumdjedjen (Arabic Ikumleilen), subtribe of the Ida ou el Hadj: 700 (out of Ida ou el Hadj population of 4600) Tendgha: 2889 out of 8500 (Zenaga names from Nicolas These tribes, according to Dubié, traditionally specialised in Islamic religious scholarship, and led a nomadic lifestyle, specialising in sheep and cows. Even then, many speakers were shifting to Hassaniya Arabic, the main language of Mauritania, and all were bilingual. Zenaga was used only within the tribe, and it was considered impolite to speak it when non-speakers were present; some speakers deliberately avoided using Zenaga with their children, hoping to give them a head start in Hassaniya. However, many speakers regarded Zenaga as a symbol of their independence and their religious fervor; Dubie cites a Hassaniya proverb: "A Moor who speaks Zenaga is certainly not a Zenagui " Half a century later, the number of speakers is reportedly under 300 . However, while Zenaga appears to be nearing extinction, Hassaniya, the dominant Arabic language of Mauritania, contains a substantial number of Zenaga loanwords There are significant dialect differences within Zenaga, notably between the Id-ab-lahsen and Tendgha dialects. The ISO 639-2 code for Zenaga is: zen.
- Zenaga [Eigenbezeichnung: Tuḍḍungiyya] ist eine Berbersprache, die von etwa 200 bis 300 Menschen zwischen Mederdra und der Atlantikküste in Süd-Mauretanien gesprochen wird. Zenaga ist wahrscheinlich die ungewöhnlichste überlebende Berbersprache. Die Sprache hat zwar die gleiche Grundstruktur wie andere Berbersprachen, aber bestimmte Details unterscheiden sich deutlich, insbesondere das Lautsystem mit Lautveränderungen wie zum Beispiel l > dj und kh > k, sowie eine schwer zu erklärende Überfülle von Glottisschlägen. Der Name Zenaga kommt von einem früher viel größeren Berberstamm, den arabische Geografen des Mittelalters Sanhadscha nannten. Der Name Senegal leitet sich ebenfalls von Zenaga ab. Die Sprache scheint auszusterben, da sie von ihren Sprechern nicht deren Kindern beigebracht wird. Letztere lernen stattdessen Hassania, den in Mauretanien dominierenden Dialekt der Arabischen Sprache, der seinerseits eine größere Zahl Leihwörter aus dem Zenaga enthält. Zenaga wird von muslimischen Nomaden gesprochen, die schwarzafrikanische und mittelöstliche Vorfahren haben. Einige sind Nachfahren von Sklaven, die vor Jahrhunderten in diversen Kriegen gefangen genommen wurden. Der ISO 639-2 Code für Zenaga ist: zen.
- Le zenaga ou zénaga (znaga dans la langue même) est une langue berbère parlée par environ 200 à 300 personnes au sud-ouest de la Mauritanie entre Mederdra et la côte atlantique. Comme l'attestaient déjà les écrits de René Basset et Louis Faidherbe, le zenaga est également parlé au Sénégal. Le mot zenaga est d'ailleurs l'une des étymologies envisagées pour le nom du fleuve Sénégal, et donc du pays. Le nombre de locuteurs y serait d'environ 1 900 selon une source québécoise.
- La lingua zenaga è una varietà di berbero parlata da qualche migliaio di persone tra Mederdra e la costa atlantica a sudovest della Mauritania. Il nome zenaga deriva da quello di una potente tribù berbera dell'antichità, conosciuta dai geografi medievali come Senhaja; sembra che anche lo stesso nome "Senegal" derivi a sua volta da "zenaga". Ciononostante, oggi come oggi la lingua ha perso molto del suo prestigio, ed i suoi locutori cercano di non farsi riconoscere perché essere riconosciuti come zenaga comporta una posizione disprezzata nella società maura attuale. Per questo è difficile valutare con precisione il numero dei parlanti, che usano questa lingua solo tra le mura domestiche, e in molti casi tendono anche a non trasmetterla più alle nuove generazioni, che di conseguenza passano all'uso della hassaniya, il dialetto arabo predominante in Mauritania (dialetto arabo che a sua volta contiene un gran numero di prestiti zenaga, valutati intorno al 10% del lessico). I locutori di zenaga sono per lo più nomadi di religione islamica.
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