Ghomara language

The language of the Ghomara is a Northern Berber language. While included in the Zenati subgroup by some sources (such as the Ethnologue), it is probably more closely related to southern Moroccan languages, such as Central Moroccan Berber and Tashelhiyt. Ghomara Berber is spoken on the western edge of the Rif in Morocco. Contrary to the Ethnologue, it is not extinct; Peter Behnstedt reports that it is spoken in at least the douar of Amtiqan and its immediate neighborhood, just west of Oued Ouringa. However, it is spoken by only a small minority of the Ghomara; even in 1931, according to Carleton Coon, only one of their eight tribes, the Beni Bu Zra, continued to speak it. It is relatively similar to the so-called Senhadja de Srair Berber varieties, spoken around Ketama, but s probably difficult to understand for a speaker of the mainstream dialects of Tarifit.

Some typical features which show the difference with Tarifit are the use of the preposition "dar" instead of general Tarifit "ghar", the feminine plural ending "-an" instead of "-in", and the absence of spirantisation in word-initial position (as witnessed by the texts in Colin 1929).

Bibliography

* Peter Behnstedt, "La frontera entre el bereber y el árabe en el Rif", "Estudios de dialectología norteafricana y andalusí" vol. 6, 2002.
* Georges Séraphin Colin, "Le parler berbère des Gmara", "Hesperis" 9, 1929, pp. 43-58.