An Anthology of Tashelhiyt Berber Folktales (South Morocco)

Author: Harry Stroomer. Series edited by: Harry Stroomer.

Series: BS Berber Studies Volume 2

2001
219 pp.
2 maps: the languages of Morocco and the Tashelhiyt Berber region, 11 facsimile reproductions of original texts, 1 transcription table
Text language(s): English
E-book
€ 49.80

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The Berber languages, along with old Egyptian and the Chadic, Cushitic, Semitic as well as Omotic languages, belong to the phylum of Afro-Asiatic languages. At present, Berber languages are found from Egypt (Siwa) across Libya and Algeria to Morocco and from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea to south of the Sahara, see the map on the book covers. Among the Berber languages, Tashelhiyt Berber represents the largest individual language with an estimated 6 to 8 million speakers. It is found geographically in Southern Morocco.

The texts selected for this anthology were gathered and subsequently published over a period of some hundred and fifty years, e.g. by de Slane, Stumme or Roux. These transcriptions varied linguistically to a considerable degree. The aim of this present book is to present these folktales in a modernized version which is phonologically and morphologically adequate and consistent, and includes a full translation in English.

The reader will find the following genres included in this collection: fairy tales, animal stories, funny anecdotes, imam/taleb stories, stories about fools, clever people, clever answers, clever solutions, human relations, oversexed women, stories explaining words or phrases, and stories about (local) saints.

How you can see from the illustrations opposite, the text edition was reprinted unchanged by the IRCAM Institut Royal de la Culture Amazighe, Rabat/Morocco, and by this available in northern Africa.

In addition to this text collection, the following editions with Berber transcription and translation into English or French have been published in this series:

Accompanying material:

• Contes berbères de Figuig (Sud-est marocain) (ISBN 978-3-89645-934-3)
• Tashelhiyt Berber Folktales from Tazerwalt (South Morocco) (ISBN 978-3-89645-383-9)
• Tashelhiyt Berber Texts from Ida u Tanan (South Morocco) (ISBN 978-3-89645-388-4)
• Tashelhiyt Berber Texts from the Ayt Brayyim, Lakhsas and Guedmioua Region (South Morocco) (ISBN 978-3-89645-384-6)
• The Travels of Sindbad the Sailor – Text in Tashelhiyt Berber (South Morocco) with a Translation in English (ISBN 978-3-89645-959-6)

Cross-reference:

• Poésie berbère de Figuig (ancienne et moderne) (ISBN 978-3-89645-948-0)
• Poetic Meter and Musical Form in Tashlhiyt Berber Songs (ISBN 978-3-89645-398-3)

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