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Nafusi

Nafusi is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Tunisia and Libya, by about 140 thousand people. Glottolog rates it moribund.

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Nafusi · 31.9°N 11.8°E

Nafusi (also spelt Nefusi; in Nafusi: Ažbali or Maziɣ / Mazoɣ) is a Berber language spoken in the Nafusa Mountains (Adrar 'n Infusen), a large area in northwestern Libya. Its primary speakers are the Ibadi Muslim communities around Jadu, Nalut (Lalut), and Yafran.

The dialect of Yefren in the east differs somewhat from that of Nalut and Jadu in the west. Old Nafusi phrases appear in Ibadite manuscripts as early as the 12th century.

The dialect of Jadu is described in some detail in Beguinot (1931). Motylinski (1898) describes the dialect of Jadu and Nalut as spoken by a student from Yefren.

From Wikipedia · Nafusi language · CC BY-SA 4.0

Words in Nafusi

MeaningWordRomanization
personbnad3m*
namel3s3m*
eyetit*
eartm3jit*
nosetinz3rt*
toothsin*
tongueil3s*
handuf3s*
bloodid3m3n*
bonex3s*
skinuglim*
kneeuf3d*
livertusa*
wateraman
firetwaft*
suntufut*
startri*
stonedxax*
mountaindrar*
treel3sZar*
leaf3lw3rq*
nightit*
dogyudi*
fish3lhut*
lousetilSit*
oneujun*
twos3n*
In3C*
youS3k*
wen3C3n*

* in the simplified ASJP transcription

Most similar languages

Vocabulary

Vocabulary compares 40 basic words (ASJP); grammar compares 195 features (Grambank). Similar is not always related.

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Glottolog · nafu1238 · Wikipedia (English) · Ethnologue · jbn