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Tamazight- How to use this book

    Tamazight- How to use this book

    Tamazight Dictionary

    English - Tamazight
    Tamazight - English

    Peace Corps/Morocco
    NOV. 2007

    How to Use This Book
     

    This dictionary was written in transcription, meaning that some of the sounds may not be readily apparent. In addition, some of the Arabic letters do not exist in English, and as such I have used other symbols to represent some of these sounds. Letters and symbols used in this dictionary that do not necessarily follow the normal English sounds that we are used to are as follows:

    “x” is the equivalent of the Arabic letter “ ﺥ ” It makes a “kh” sound, pronounced like “ch” in the German word “Nacht.”

    “q” is the equivalent of the Arabic letter “ ق ” It sounds like the “k” in “cork.”

    “H” is the equivalent of the Arabic letter “ ح ” It sounds like the “h” in “hat.”

    “i” is the equivalent of the Arabic letter “ ي ” It sounds like “ee,” as in “feet”

    “u” is the equivalent of the Arabic letter “ ﻮ ” It sounds like “oo,” as in “food”

    “š” is the equivalent of the Arabic letter “ ﺸ ” It sounds like “sh,” as in “shame”

    “ş” is the equivalent of the Arabic letter “ ص ” It is pronounced like the “s” in “saw.”

    “ţ” is the equivalent of the Arabic letter “ ط ” It sounds like the “t” in “torn.”

    “ď ” is the equivalent of the Arabic letter “ ض ” It sounds like the “da” in “dam.”

    “ġ” is the equivalent of the Arabic letter “ غ ” It sounds like “gh,” or the rolling French “r.”

    ع is the only Arabic letter that is used in this document. It sounds like “aa,” as in “baa.”

    In addition to these letters, there are some symbols that have been included to indicate the presence of pronouns. These are as follows:

    ^ indicates that a possessive pronoun (inu, u, nm, nk, ns, nġ, nun, nknt, nsn, nsnt) should be added

    * indicates that an indirect object pronoun (i, am, ak, as, aġ, awn, awnt, asn, asnt) should be added

    ٭ indicates that a direct object pronoun (i, km, k, t, tt, tn, tnt) should be added

    Words in italics indicate words that may be considered Hšuma, or inappropriate, and should therefore be used with caution.

    / separates masculine and femine forms

    Finally, all English words followed by an asterisk (*) or Tamazight words followed by two asterisks (**) indicate Arabic words that are also used in Tamazight.