Languages of the world
Zenaga (ⵜⵓⴹⴹⵓⵏⴳⵉⵢⴰ/Tuẓẓungiyya)
Basic facts
Number of native speakers: 200
Recognized minority language: Mauritania
Language of diaspora: Senegal
Script: Tifinagh, 33 letters/Latin, 44 letters
Grammatical cases: 0
Linguistic typology: fusional, SVO/VSO
Language family: Afro-Asiatic, Amazigh, Western
Number of dialects: 2
History
17th century - beginning of the decline of Zenaga
Writing system and pronunciation
These are the letters that make up the Neo-Tifinagh script: ⴰ ⴱ ⴳ ⴳⵯ ⴷ ⴹ ⴻ ⴼ ⴽ ⴽⵯ ⵀ ⵃ ⵄ ⵅ ⵇ ⵉ ⵊ ⵍ ⵎ ⵏ ⵓ ⵔ ⵕ ⵖ ⵙ ⵚ ⵛ ⵜ ⵟ ⵡ ⵢ ⵣ ⵥ.
These are the letters that make up the Latin alphabet: a ä ā b č d ð ḍ ð̣ e ə f g ǧ γ h ḥ i ī k l m n ñ o q r s š t θ θ̣ u ū w x y z ẓ ž ž̠ ʔ ʕ.
Long consonants are expressed through repeated letters. Consonants with a dot below them express emphasis.
Grammar
Nouns have two genders (masculine and feminine), two numbers (singular and plural), and no cases. These are marked using prefixes and/or suffixes.
Pronouns distinguish gender in the second and third person singular and plural. Numerals are placed before the noun, while possession is expressed with suffixes.
Verbs are conjugated for tense, mood (imperative, indicative, and prohibitive), gender, number, and person. The past tense also has a negative form.
Dialects
Zenaga presents significant dialectal differences, especially between the Id-ab-lahsen and Tendgha dialects.














