Tarifit, step by step

Sounds & alphabet

Before we start learning words, first learn how your Tarifit sounds. If the sounds are right, you will immediately sound much more natural.

The three vowels

Tarifit has only three "real" vowels — a, i and u — plus the short e. Each vowel has two pronunciations: a plain one, and a "dark" variant next to an emphatic (dark) consonant: ḍ, ḏ̣, ṛ, ṣ, ṭ, ẓ. If such a letter is in a word, all vowels in that word become dark — the darkness spreads.

The e is not a full vowel — it is a short intermediate sound, like the "uh" in English duh. In fast speech it often disappears completely. Don't worry about the exact pronunciation.

Sometimes vowels also become dark without a visible dark letter — ɣ, q, l or c can cause it too. You learn that word by word. Examples: mucc "cat", ameqqran "big".

The most difficult sounds: guttural sounds

These are the sounds that make Tarifit so recognizable. They are new to most English speakers — but if you master them, you will immediately sound much better.

Three classes of additional letters

Underline (ḇ, ḏ, ṯ, ḵ) — blowing/spirant:
ḏ= "th" in English this  ·  ṯ= "th" in English think  ·  ḇ= soft Spanish b.

Dot below (ḍ, ṣ, ṭ, ẓ, ṛ) — dark consonants:
Deeper pronounced, at the back of the mouth. The darkness spreads over the entire word - all vowels in that word sound duller.

One character per sound: c= "sh" (shawl)  ·  ǧ= "y" in joke(web:dj)  ·  tc= "ch" in China.

The three R's: r(short roll-r), ř(used to be one l), ṛ(dark r).

Exercises for this lesson

Personal pronouns

“I, you, he, she…” — the first words you need to say something about yourself and others.

The free pronouns

These are the noun forms — the "loose" pronouns, like English me, you, him.

When do you use this?

Mainly for two things:

1. In sentences without verb("I am Mimoun") — you will learn this in Lesson 03
2. For emphasis("What me concerns, I think...")

In normal verb sentences, pronouns usually become not used — the verb itself contains all the information about who is doing something (as in Spanish or Italian).

Examples from the book

necc ḏ Mimun— "I am Mimoun"
ḏ necc— "it is I" (lit. "it is I")

Exercises for this lesson

“I am…” — sentences without a verb

The great thing about Tarifit: you don't need a verb for "I am X". You can do this now!

The trick: the particle ḏ

In Tarifit you simply say for "X is Y":X · ḏ · Y. The little word ḏ(pronounced like the "th" in English this) does the work of the verb "to be".

"He's My Brother"

Combine with family words (Lesson 04):

• netta ḏ uma— “he is my brother”
• ḏ uma— "it's my brother"

When do you use ḏ NOT?

If what comes after is not a noun, but for example a prepositional phrase or adverb:

• wanita nnes— "this one here is his" (no ḏ)
• necc ammu— "I'm like this" (none ḏ)

Exercises for this lesson

Family words

The easiest words to get started with — and the words you use every day. Bonus: they automatically mean "mine".

The trick: "mine" is already there

Family words in Tarifit are a special category (Class III). The great thing: they already mean automatically mine X. You don't need to add a separate word for "my".

"Your father / his father / her father"

For other owners, add a suffix:

The same pattern works for all family words:yemma-c "your mother", uma-s "his brother", učma-ṯney "our sister".

Combine with Lesson 03

• netta ḏ uma— he's my brother
• nettaṯ ḏ učma— she is my sister
• ḏ uma-s— it is his/her brother

Exercises for this lesson

Greetings & Daily Expressions

Practical phrases you can use right away — built from everything you've learned so far.

The standard greeting

This is a common expression — you hear it every day in Riffian families. aqqa roughly means "look here!" or "here you are", and mliḥ means "good".

Fixed expressions from the book

These are from texts in Chapter 18 of the book — real sentences from stories and conversations:

When someone gives something to you

For "please, here (you have it)":

• aɣ-am— please (V)(to woman)
• aɣ-am-ṯ— here you have it (V)

“Thank you,” “please” — the practice

The Arabic word for "thank you" is often used cukran used, or in a religious context baṛakallahu fik("may God bless you"). The book does not give a specific Tarifit equivalent here — Riffian families like to mix this with Arabic.

Exercises for this lesson

What is a verb in Tarifit?

Before we conjugate, first understand: what does a Tarifit verb look like, and what is different from English?

Three things that are different

1. The basic form is the imperative mood

English dictionaries use the infinitive: "to walk", "to eat", "to see". In Tarifit dictionaries, the basic form is the imperative: "walk!", "eat!", "see!" — just the pure stem, without an ending.

• qqim - sit! / to sit
• cc - eat! / to eat
• ari— write! / to write
• ru— cry! / to cry

2. Prefixes AND suffixes

Tarifit verbs take conjugation endings on both sides — before and after the stem. English doesn't change the verb form much, but Tarifit has both prefixes and suffixes ("neqqim" = "we are sitting").

3. Verbs Have “Aspect,” Not “Tense”

This is the biggest difference — and you'll learn it in Lesson 09. For now, remember that one verb like "walk" in Tarifit has multiple forms depending on whether the action:

• has been completed
• still in progress
• is habit
• hasn't happened yet

Example: "sit"

The verb "sit" has the stem qqim. Here you can see what it looks like on different people — you will learn the pattern in Lesson 07:

Do you see the pattern? The stem qqim remains the same, but is given different prefixes and suffixes for each person.

Exercises for this lesson

Conjugation: I / you / he / she

Half of all conjugations — for the singular persons. Learn this pattern once, and you can conjugate any verb.

The pattern

For most verbs the following applies:

What stands out?

• "you" gets both a prefix (ṯ-) as a suffix (-eḏ) — that's why I said prefixes AND suffixes in Lesson 06.
• "he" and "she" differ only in the prefix:y- for male, ṯ- for feminine.
• The prefix y- is often realized as a short i- or even disappears in speech. We'll put it in writing.

Try it with other verbs

Verb cc "food" (a very short stem!):

• cciɣ— I ate
• ṯecciḏ— you ate
• yecca— he ate(note: extra a at the end — this is a special group, see Lesson 09)
• ṯecca— she ate

Verb ari "to write":

• ariɣ— I write / I wrote
• ṯariḏ— you write
• ɣari— he writes
• ṯari— she writes

Exercises for this lesson

Conjugation: we / you / they

The other half. Just like in Lesson 07: one pattern, all verbs.

The plural forms

Complete table: the verb qqim

Imperative: "sit!"

The imperative mood is simply the stem, without conjugation:

• qqim - sit! (1 person)
• qqimeṯ or qqimem - are you sitting down? (M / mixed)
• qqimenṯ— are you sitting (F)!

Exercises for this lesson

Aspect: rounded vs ongoing

The biggest difference between Tarifit and English. Once understood, everything suddenly makes sense.

English thinks in TIME

In English it's all about when something happens:

• Past: "I worked"
• Present: "I work"
• Future: "I will work"

Tarifit thinks in ASPECT

In Tarifit it's the other way around how the action stands for. Three main shapes:

Example: "I eat"

One English sentence → three Tarifit forms:

Do you see the stem changing? For "eat" it is:

• Aorist / Imperative:cc
• Perfective:cca(with additional a)
• Imperfective:tett(completely different shape!)

A few common verbs

The particle qa "now, at this moment"

In front of "I'm eating" (ongoing action) put qa for the Imperfective:

• qa teteɣ— I'm eating
• qa yetru— he is crying
• qa baba qa yeggʷa-d— my father is coming

Exercises for this lesson

Future with ad

For "I will..." and "I want...". One particle, and you can already make sentences about the future.

The rule

Set the particle ad before the verb (in the Aorist form):

Mergers — take note!

For one ṯ or n is becoming ad often just a:

• a ṯeffeɣ ← ad ṯeffeɣ "she will go out"
• a neffeɣ ← ad neffeɣ "we will go outside"

Not just future

ad actually means "not yet realized" — which could also be:

• Future: ad yaggʷeḥ "he will go home"
• Wish / possibility: ad yaggʷeḥ "may he go home/should he go home"
• After "want": xseɣ ad meřcey“I want to get married” (lit. “I want to get married”) — see Lesson 21

Exercises for this lesson

Male vs female

Like French or German, Tarifit has two genders. But — good news — you can usually tell by the shape.

The golden rule

Feminine = masculine +ṯ- at the beginning and -ṯ at the end.

Examples

Sometimes it's different words

Just like in English "bull" and "cow" — sometimes male and female have a different root:

Languages ​​are always feminine

• ṯmazixṯ— Berber language (en: a Berber woman)
• ṯaɛrabṯ— Arabic (en: an Arab woman)
• ṯaspanyuṯ— Spanish (en: a Spanish woman)

Sometimes M = large, V = small

For some objects Tarifit uses the difference for large/small:

Exercises for this lesson

Singular vs plural

Tarifit doesn't have one way to create plurals — there are multiple patterns. But there is one very common rule.

The main rule:a- is becoming i-

The prefix a- in masculine words i- in the plural. There is often one -en or -an behind.

For feminine words

Same, but with ṯ- before and -in behind:

Other patterns

Not all plurals follow the main pattern. A few common exceptions:

Vowels in the stem change

• azru → izra "stone/stones"
• asrem → iserman "fish/fishing"

Completely different form (supplementary)

• uma → ayeṯma "brother/brothers"
• učma → issma "sister/sisters"
• aydi → iṯan "dog/dogs"
• yis → iysan "horse/horses"

With inserted -aw-

• uř → uřawen "heart/hearts"
• ṯitṯ → ṯitṯawin "eye/eyes"

Exercises for this lesson

"My, your, his, her..."

Declare ownership. Works differently than in English — possessive forms attach at the end of the word.

Two ways to own

1. Family nouns — direct suffix

With family words the possession is immediately attached (see Lesson 04):

• baba— my father
• baba-c— your father
• baba-s— his/her father

2. Other words — with n "by"

For all other words you use the preposition n "of" + form of possession:

In sentences

Exercises for this lesson

"this" and "those"

Point to something. Tarifit has three distances — and all three are practical.

Three suffixes

The third —-enni— is unique to Tarifit. English has "the aforementioned X". Dutch approximately "that X we were talking about".

Examples

Loose pointers

For "this (M)", "this (V)" etc. without a noun:

"Here, There, Now"

Exercises for this lesson

Free & connected state

The most important concept of Tarifit that does not exist in English. A word changes form depending on where it is in the sentence.

What's happening?

A Class-I noun (= most words starting with a-, i-, u- or ṯ-) has two shapes:

• Free state— the basic form, "at rest"
• Connected state— when the word is connected to another word (after a preposition, or as a subject after a verb)

How does the shape change?

The rules:

• M singular:a- is becoming wa- or u-
• V singular:ṯa- is becoming ṯe- or ṯ-
• V plural:ṯi- is becoming ṯ-

When which form?

You use Free State (FS):

1. On its own: āryaz "a man"
2. As a subject at the beginning: āryaz-a ḏ ayyaw-nnes "this man is his grandson"
3. As direct object: yessawař ṯaspanyuṯ "he speaks Spanish"
4. After aṛ "until" and břa "without": břa āryaz-nnes "without her husband"

Connected State (AS) you use:

1. As subject AFTER the verb: yeqqim wāryaz "the man stayed"
2. After almost all prepositions: baba-s n wāryaz "the man's father"

Compare two sentences

Both phrases mean “the man works” — the difference is in emphasis and style. But the concept is essential:the shape depends on the position.

Exercises for this lesson

Sentence order: VSO

Tarifit puts the verb first. Not "the man eats bread", but "eats the man bread".

The basic order

The normal order is:

Verb — Subject — Direct Object — Prepositional Phrases

In English this is called VSO (Verb–Subject–Object). English normally uses SVO.

Example from the book

Translation: "My father gave money to Mimoun."

What stands out?

• The verb (yewca "he gave") comes before the subject (baba "my father")
• The subject after the verb is in connected state(see Lesson 15) — but baba is a family word (Class III) so it doesn't have one
• The direct object (ṯṯmenyaṯ "money") comes after the subject
• The prepositional phrase (i Mimun "to Mimoun") comes at the end

With another example

• yexḏem wāryaz— "does the man work" = "the man works"
  (NB:āryaz is becoming wāryaz in connected state)
• yeqqim wāryaz ḏi barra— "the man stays outside" = "the man stays outside"

Verb without subject

It is very normal to not pronounce the subject at all — the verb conjugation says all who do it:

• yus-d— he has come(no extra "he" needed)
• yexḏem— he works
• cciɣ— I ate

Exercises for this lesson

Prepositions

The little words for relationships:in, on, to, with, from. Here are the most important ones.

The most important prepositions

Possession with ɣaa: "to have"

Tarifit does not have a separate verb for "to have". Instead you say: "at X there is Y" with ɣaa:

The shapes of ɣaa+ pronoun:

• ɣari— with me
• ɣaak— with you (M)
• ɣaam— with you (V)
• ɣaas— with him/her
• ɣaaneɣ— with us
• ɣaawem— with you (M)
• ɣaakenṯ— with you (V)
• ɣaasen— with them (M)
• ɣaasenṯ— with them (V)

Exercises for this lesson

Counting words 1–10

All but one borrowed from Arabic — so if you know Arabic, this is easy.

The numbers

How do you use them?

For 2 and above: use n "of" between the number and the noun:

• ṯřaṯa n ṯemɣarin— three women(lit. "three of women")
• aaḇɛa n ṯfunasin— four cows
• xemsa n yewdan— five people

But “one” works differently

ijjen used no n:

• ijjen wāryaz— a man / one man
• icṯ ṯamɣārṯ— a woman / one woman
• ijjen ṯaḏḏarṯ— a house

“One man” or “one man”?

ijjen means both "one" and "an" (indefinite article). Just like in English: "one man" / "a man" — both are possible one.

Count higher

11–19 have separate forms, then come tens:

• 11 —ḥidɛac
• 20 —ɛicrin
• 30 —ṯřaṯin
• 100 —mya
• 1000 —ařef

Exercises for this lesson

Question words

Who, what, where, when, how, why — everything you need to ask questions.

The question words

Yes/no questions

Two ways:

1. With the particle ma at the beginning

• ma ḏ cekk?— “is it you?”
• ma iwden-d?— “did they get here?”

2. With rising intonation (as in Dutch)

• ḏ wa?— “is it this one?”
• mliḥ ca?— “are you okay?”

Combine with prepositions

• zi meřmi?— “since when?”
• aṛ mani?— “until where?”

Exercises for this lesson

Disclaimer: "not"

How to deny something. Works differently than in English — Tarifit often uses two words.

The basics

For "not" you use waa before the verb, and often ca after:

Just like in French "ne... pas" —waa... ca envelops the verb.

The verb form changes

In negation, the form of the verb changes slightly. a is often i:

Don't ("don't eat!")

For forbidden you use waa+ Imperfective:

• waa tett— don't eat!
• waa ṯeggʷeḏ ca— don't be afraid

Other negative words

"Not to be"

For "X is not Y" you use waaǧi:

• cem waaǧi bu ḏ yemma— “you are not my mother”
• waaǧi bu amenni— "it's not like that"

Exercises for this lesson

Wanting, being able to, starting

"I want to go", "I can swim". Works differently than in English — no infinitive, but two conjugated verbs.

The trick: two verbs, both conjugated

English has an infinitive: "I want to go". Tarifit uses two fully conjugated verbs:

• xseɣ ad meřcey— "I want I-will-get-married" = "I want to get married"
• yebda yeṯxemmem— "he started he-thinks" = "he started thinking"

The most important auxiliary verbs

Examples

• xseɣ ad ariɣ— "I want to write"
• waa zemmaay ad sbaay— "I can't wait anymore"
• yebda usaaḏun-nnes itett-iṯ— “his mule started eating it”
• yufi-ṯ yeṯxemmem— “he found him thoughtful”

"Become" - dweř

For change of state:

• qa yedweř ḏ adbib— “he became a doctor”
• yedweř qaɛ yeggenfa— “he was completely healed”

"That" - illa / belli

For “I know that...":

• yessen illa ad ariɣ— “he knows I will write”
• qa ṯessned illa ḏ mmi-m— "you know it's your son"

In denial you use ma instead of illa:

• waa ssineɣ ma yus-d— "I don't know if he came"

Exercises for this lesson

Pronoun suffixes

“Him, her, us” as suffixes. Sticking to verbs. Powerful once you realize it.

Direct object ("him, her...")

Pastes after the verb:

Examples

• yessufɣ-iṯ— “he let him out”
• yecc-iṯ— “he ate it”
• ṯ-ẓṛiɣ— "I saw her"

Indirect object ("to him, to us...")

Examples

• wciɣ-as pabu— "I gave him a turkey"
• yenna-am— "he said to you (V)"
• ṯenna-ayi— "she said to me"

Combinations — fixed order

If you use both, the order is always:

Verb — Indirect Object — Direct Object —ḏ "over here"

• yiwy-ac-ṯ-id— “he brought it here for you”
  (ac= to you, ṯ= it, iḏ= over here)

The direction marker -d "over here"

Sticks to the verb and indicates that the action is directed towards the speaker:

• yedweř ɣaa Naḍuār— "he returned to Nador"(speaker is NOT in Nador)
• yedweř-d ɣaa Naḍuār— "he returned to Nador"(IS speaker in Nador)

Exercises for this lesson

And, or, but, if

Conjunctions to link sentences together.

“And” — two different words

Examples:

• necc ḏ uma— "me and my brother"
• imendi ḏ farina ḏ yārḏen— "barley, soft grain and wheat"

"Or"

niɣ means "or":

• ma ḏ azeggʷaɣ niɣ ḏ acemřař?— “is it red or white?”

"But"

Different options (depending on nuance):

• maca— ordinary "but"
• walakin— "but" (more formal, borrowed)
• seɛɛa— "but in reality"

“As” — two kinds

Hypothesis (may be true):mařa

• mařa ṯexseḏ a ḏam-ṯ-newc— "if you want, we'll give it to you"

Counterfactual (it wasn't):mři, meɛlik

• mři ḏ-usiɣ ifi cciɣ— “if I had come, I would have eaten”

"When"

Other conjunctions

Exercises for this lesson

Time expressions

“Today, yesterday, now, before” — putting time into sentences.

The particle tuɣa "past"

Put the action/state before now. Works like a past tense marker:

• tuɣa-c ḏ ameddukeř inu— "you were my friend"
• tuɣa-ayi ḏi ṯaḏḏarṯ— "I was at home"
• zzman tuɣa ṯnayen n duru tsekkʷa— "in the past, two duros were worth a lot"

Negative form:tuyi

Time adverbs

Parts of the day

• s nnhaa - during the day
• s ǧiřeṯ— at night
• ɣaa wezyen n nnhaa— at noon (lit. "at half the day")
• ɣaa ṯmeddiṯ— in the afternoon

Counts in time context

Tarifit uses special "counting forms" for time units:

• ɛam— one year
• ɛamayen— two years (Arabic dualis!)
• ṯeřṯ snin— three years
• cḥaa— a month
• cehrayen— two months
• nnhaa— a day
• yumayen— two days
• iyyam— days (3+)

Exercises for this lesson

Special pronunciation: vocalized R

The finishing touch. What makes Nador-Tarifit so recognizable — and what many people in the diaspora no longer do.

The story of the three R's

Tarifit has three different R letters:

The ř is unique to Tarifit. In other Berber languages ​​you still have the l. It is in Nador-Tarifit l changed over time to an r-like sound.

Examples of the l → ř change

Double ll became ǧ

A double ll from old Berber became one in Tarifit ǧ:

• yelli → yeǧi(daughter)
• ulli → uǧi(cattle)
• lluz → ǧuz(be hungry)

The combination lt became tc

• taɣyult → ṯaɣyutc(donkey)
• tanwalt → ṯanwatc(cabin)

Practical for you

If you see a word with ř, ǧ of tc, you know: there used to be one here l, ll or lt. This helps you recognize conjugations — the same root can show different letters in different forms.

Example: the word "egg"

See how one word family the ǧ, ř and tc all appear? All "used to be an l".

The vocalized R

This is perhaps Nador-Tarifit's most striking line. When a r is not immediately followed by a real vowel, the pronunciation changes. In spelling we keep the r, but we indicate the change with a macron (a line above the vowel).

Well-known examples

When no vocalization?

If the r is immediately followed by a real vowel (a, i, u), it just remains one r:

• ru "cry" — r for u → remains r
• ari "esparto-gras" — r for i → remains r

Exercises for this lesson

Adjectives

"The big man", "a new house". Works differently than in English — in Tarifit, adjectives are actually a kind of noun.

The basics

Adjectives in Tarifit are a sub-category of nouns. They are inflected for gender and number in the same way:

Two constructions — definite vs indefinite

A. Definitely: just put them next to each other

• ṯammuaṯ ṯameqqṛanṯ— "the big country"
• ṯammuaṯ-a ṯameqqṛanṯ— “this great country”

B. Indefinite: with ḏ in between

• ijjen weyyur ḏ ameqqṛan— "a big donkey"
• aɣyur ḏ ameqqṛan— "a big donkey"

Two exceptions

jjdid "new" and nneɣni inflect "other". not for gender or number:

• qama n jjdid— "the new bed" (note:n before)
• ijjen qama ḏ jjdid— "a new bed"
• āryaz-a nneɣni— “this other guy”
• āryaz nneɣni ḏ ṯamɣārṯ nneɣni— “another man and another woman”

Adjectives as verbs

Many "adjectival" qualities are expressed as verb+ relative clause:

• qutci-nni yeyran— "the expensive car" (lit. "the car that is expensive")

We see this further elaborated in Lesson 32 (relative clauses).

Useful adjectives

Exercises for this lesson

Collective vs. countable — fruits, vegetables, animals

Tarifit has a special category for things you usually see in groups: fruit, vegetables, small animals. One word means the species, another one piece.

Triple nouns

Some words have three forms:collective(the species in general), one piece(V), and plural(V).

How do you use them?

1. If you the species means (general) — collective

• sɣiɣ ɛenba— "I bought grapes" (= grapes in general)
• řbacua qa attas— "there are many figs"

2. If you one piece means — countable singular (V)

• sɣiɣ ṯaɛenbaṯ— "I bought one grape"
• cciɣ ṯbacuaṯ— "I ate one fig"

3. If you several pieces means — countable plural (V)

• sɣiɣ ṯřaṯa n ṯiɛenbaṯin— "I bought three grapes"
• aaḇɛa n ṯibacuarin— "four figs"

Other collectives

Some words exist only as plural (plural tantum) —aman "water" is always grammatically plural, even though it is one mass.

Exercises for this lesson

tribal names, bu-, mu-

"Someone from the Rif", "someone with a beard", "the one with the big nose" — Tarifit has elegant prefixes to name someone based on origin or characteristic.

Stem prefix:aṯ "the one of..."

The prefix aṯ means "those of X, those belonging to X" — especially for tribal affiliations:

• aṯ Naḍuār— “those of Nador” (people from Nador)
• aṯ Iqeṛɛiyen— "the Iqeṛɛiyen" (the Iqeṛɛiyen tribe)

The prefix bu- "the one with..."

Makes masculine characterizations — "someone who has characteristic X":

• bu ṯmarṯ— “the one with the beard”
• bu ṯɣanjayṯ— "the one with the spoon" (the cook)
• bu yiman— "someone with soul/character"

The prefix mu-

Similar to bu-, sometimes used for specific professions or traits:

• mu lḥuyuṯ— "one connected to talismans/magic"

Female variant

The female counterpart is mm- or m-:

• mm ṯaḥcunṯ— “the one with the nice ass” (negative for “vain woman”)
• m ṯmarṯ— “the one with the beard” (V — for a woman with noticeable facial hair)

The prefix u- "son of"

In old names and nicknames:

• u-Mmuh— "Mmuh's Son"

The prefix i- for tribe members

For "members of the X tribe":

• aqeṛɛi "someone from Iqeṛɛiyen" → plural iqeṛɛiyen
• arifi "Riffin" → plural irifiyen
• aspanyu "Spaniard" → plural ispunya
• aliman "German" → plural ilimanen

Exercises for this lesson

Causative: make someone do X

One small prefix ss- changes "walk" to "walk", "eat" to "feed". Tarifit's most powerful distraction.

The rule:ss-= "let X's"

Paste ss- for a verb and you get: "make X happen" or "make someone do X":

Three rules for the form

1. Double initial consonant → single after ss-

• ggenfa → sgenfa(not ssggenfa)

2. Verb with double initial + one consonant gets u

• ffeɣ → ssufeɣ(out *ssffeɣ)

3. Verb with initial a→ becomes i in causative

• adef → ssidef(not ssadef)
• aheř → ssiheř "tire"

Examples in sentences

• yessgenfa-yi adbib— “the doctor cured me”
• yessecc aydi-nnes— “he feeds his dog”
• a t-ssidfeɣ— "I'll let him in"

Exercises for this lesson

Reciprocal mm- and passive twa-

Two other prefixes:mm- for "xing each other" and twa- for "to become x-d".

The middle prefix mm-

Creates verbs involving persons each other to do something to — which in English becomes "each other" or a reciprocal verb.

Variant: passive meaning

Some mm- -verbs have a passive meaning ("Y-d become"):

• nḍar "throw" →mmenḍar "to be thrown"
• aani "add" →mmaani "to be added"

In the Imperfective such a verb often gets the additional meaning "X-baar":

• temmenz ṯṯumubin-nni— “that car has been sold” (Perfect)
• tetmenza ṯṯumubin-nni— “that car is sellable” (Imperfective)

The passive prefix twa-

Makes a true passive: "X is being done / was done".

Subtle difference: passive vs intransitive

Bee unstable verbs(verbs that are both transitive and intransitive) there is a subtle difference between the basic form and the twa- -form:

• icaaz uyyaa— “the field is plowed” (condition, no actor in the picture)
• yetwacaaz uyyaa— “the field has been plowed” (focus on the action that took place)

Combinations

You can combine the prefixes — for example, passive of a causative case:

• azzeř "run" →ssizzeř "let run" →twasizzeř "to be made to run"
• neqq "kill" →mneɣ "fight" →ssemneɣ "let fight"

Exercises for this lesson

Pseudo-verbs:aqqa, ṯɣiř, ay

Four little words that behave like verbs without actually being verbs. Already seen in lesson 5 — now in detail.

What are pseudo-verbs?

They are words that:

• Not having a complete verb conjugation (no aspect forms)
• Being able to have personal pronouns as a suffix
• The direction element -d can get

Compare French voici/voila: "voici" is not a verb, but you can le-voici saying "here he is".

aqqa— “look here!” / "here is..."

For presenting something or someone. It becomes the direct object aqq-:

Standard greeting: aqq-ec mliḥ? "are you good?"

Often preceded by ha "look!":

• necc, ha aqq-ayi— "as for me, look here I am"

ṯɣiř— "it seems"

Always with indirect object suffix: "it looks like X (that...)":

• ṯɣiř-ayi ḏ ssehh— “it seems true to me / I thought it was true”
• ṯɣiř-asen ṯemmuṯ— “they thought she had died”
• waa ḏayi-ṯɣiř bu ḏ ssehh— "I didn't think it was true"

aɣ— "here you have it"

When handing over something — always with indirect object suffix:

• aɣ-am— “please (V), here!”
• aɣ-am-ṯ— "here you have it (V)"
• aɣ-as adlis— “here he/she has a book”

qa— “current relevance”

The pseudo-verb you will hear most often. Three main uses:

1. In non-verbal sentences — to tell where something is

• qa-ṯ ḏiha— "he's there"
• qa-yen di ṯaḏḏarṯ— “they are home”

2. With Imperfective — for "being"

• qa baba qa yeggʷa-d— "(qa) my father is coming"
• qa yetru— “he is crying”

3. With Perfective — for "X is/has (just) happened, now relevant"

• qa yenna-ac uǧeǧid— "the king has said to you..."
• qa igemmaa ayarraf s waman— “he has (just) filled the jar with water”

ṯuɣa— "past"

Put the action/condition in the past:

• ṯuɣa-c ḏ ameddukeř inu— "you were my friend"
• ṯuɣa-ayi ḏi ṯaḏḏarṯ— "I was at home"
• mani c-ṯuɣa?— “where have you been?”

Negative form:ṯuyi

Exercises for this lesson

Relative clauses ("that...")

“The man that one came", "the car that I bought". Tarifit has different constructions here — depending on whether the main word is determined or not.

Two types

Indefinite clauses — just stick them after them

Very simple: put the subordinate clause directly after the main word. The verb retains its normal form. There is a pronoun that refers to the head:

• qa yewt-ayi ijjen sseyyed [ucaay-as aysum]
  "a man I stole meat from hit me"
  [dependent clause in brackets]
• iwden ɣaa ijjen ṯaḏḏarṯ [ṯexřa]
  "they arrived at a house that was abandoned"

Certain clauses — four special features

1. No pronoun that refers to the head
2. For subject clauses: the verb gets the participle-form
3. Clitic fronting— pronouns jump before the verb
4. ad is becoming ɣa

The participle

For subject clauses, the verb is given a special form: prefix y-+ suffix -en. No personal conjugation.

With the relative marker i

For direct objects and prepositional phrases you use i as a connecting word:

• āryaz [i d-iwyeɣ]— “the man I brought here” (direct object)
• missa [i x ssaaseɣ řkas-nni]— “the table where I put that glass” (preposition)

For "to whom" —umi

• āryaz [umi ṯ-wciɣ]— "the man I gave it to"
• ṯenni [umi ɣa yegg ṯiggesṯ]— “every woman he makes a tattoo to”

Practical — recognize the pattern

A few common patterns you'll encounter in Tarifit stories:

• wenni d-yusin— “he who came here”
• ṯenni d-ṯusin— “she who came here”
• inni d-usin— "they (M) who came here"
• ṯinni d-usinṯ— "they (V) who came here"

Exercises for this lesson

Cleft sentences ("it is X that...")

For added emphasis: "It's my father who came" instead of simply "my father came". Often used in everyday speech.

The structure

A cleft sentence consists of two parts:

1. It predicate(often with ḏ)
2. The relative clause(mandatory with i)

Examples

Subject cleft

• (d) netta i d-yusin nhar-a
  "it is he who came today"
• ḏ baba i d-yiwden
  "it is my father who has arrived"

Direct object cleft

• (d) Mimun i ẓṛiɣ
  "it's Mimoun I saw"
• ḏ nečč i waa ṯ-yezrin
  "it's me who didn't see him"

Difference with question word questions

Question word questions work almost the same, but with two differences:

• No ḏ before the question word
• No i as a connector

Compare:

Exercises for this lesson

Reading a story — about telling fairy tales

An excerpt from an autobiographical text. Real Tarifit, with literal translation — to see everything you learned in action.

The author

This text comes true Tudunin war itizyen(“Wounds that do not heal”) by Eali Amaziɣ — a Moroccan-Dutch writer who describes his childhood in the Rif region.

The text — about how fairy tales were told

Literally per part:

• am— “like” (preposition)
• necc— "I" (free pronoun, na am)
• wattas— "much" (connected state of attas)
• n - "by"
• yewdan— “people” (related state)
• mamec - "how"
• i— relative-marker
• ɛeqřey— "I remember"

ṯuɣa xminni i ɣa raḥey ad ttseɣ degg" xxam jaa yayeṯma ḏ yemma...

Translation:"...when I went to sleep in the room between my brothers and my mother..."

Parts:

• ṯuɣa— past marker
• xminni— “when” (conjunction)
• i ɣa raḥey— “that I go” — note:ɣa instead of ad in subordinate clause (Lesson 32)
• ad ttseɣ— "I will sleep"
• degg" xxam— "in the room" (merged form of ḏi + wexxam)
• jaa - "between"
• yayeṯma— “my brothers” (connected state)
• ḏ yemma— "and my mother"

Key phrase from the story

Ḥenna ṯuɣa ṯessen ijjen wattas n ṯḥuja

Translation:"My grandmother knew many stories."

• Ḥenna— "my grandmother"
• ṯuɣa— past
• ṯessen— "she knows/knows" (3SG:F)
• ijjen wattas— “a lot, a lot”
• n ṯḥuja— "of stories"

The nickname phrase — “are you asleep yet?”

A dialogue from the story. Grandmother calls the grandson:

A ɛli-inu, ma ṯettsed niɣ ɛad waa ṯettised ca?

Translation:“My Ali, are you asleep yet or not yet?”

• A ɛli-inu— “O my Ali” (invocation)
• ma— demand particle
• ṯettsed— “you are sleeping” (Imperfective 2SG)
• niɣ— "or"
• ɛad— "yet" (adverb)
• waa... ca— denial
• ṯettised— Negative Imperfective 2SG

The boy's answer: A ḥenna, necc ɛad waa ttiseɣ ca

“Oh grandmother, I'm not sleeping yet.”

Exercises for this lesson

The fairy tale of the pearl boy

A traditional story from the Rif. Starts like all Tarifit fairy tales:yekkaa "once upon a time..."

The opening formula

Ruḥ xas, a xas nraḥ waa nteggʷeḏ! Ḥajit-ek!

"We go in without fear. The story!"

Ḥajit-ek is an Arabic loanword that means "I tell you" — a fixed opening. Just like Dutch "Once upon a time..."

The first sentence

Yekkaa ijj uzeǧid ɣaas ijjen yiyyaa n yārḏen yemyaa.

"There once was a king who had a large wheat field."

Parts:

• yekkaa— "it rose" (Perfect of kkaa "get up, start") — fixed storytelling formula to introduce something new
• ijj uzeǧid— “one king” (connected state after ijj)
• ɣaas— “with him” — possession construction (Lesson 17)
• ijjen yiyyaa— "one field"
• n yārḏen— "of wheat" (related state)
• yemyaa— "it's big" (Perfect, tripod)

The story continues

Uca yus-d zeɛma yemsennaḏ. Uca kkinṯ ssin ṯmeḥtac.

"Then it got to the point where it was leaning. Then three mowers passed by."

• uca— “then, next” — narrative word
• yus-d— “it came (here)” — note the direction element -d
• zeɛma— “so to speak, so” (narrative)
• yemsennaḏ— “it hangs over” — verb with the medial m- prefix (Lesson 30)
• kkinṯ— "they (V) passed by" (Perfect 3PL:F of kk)
• ssin— "along there"
• ṯmeḥtac— “mowers” ​​(Confederate State)

The wishes of the three girls

The first says:

— Mri ḏayi ɣa yawi bab n yiyyaṛ-a, a ḏas-ggeɣ ajeǧab s ijj uɣeyḏu.

“If the lord of this field were to marry me, I would make him a robe of one roll (wool).”

The second:

— Mara yiwy-ayi bab n yiyyaṛ-a, a ḏas-ggeɣ seksu s ijjen ṯiḏaatṯ.

“If the lord of this field marries me, I would make him couscous from one grain of wheat.”

The third — and crucial:

— Mara yiwy-ayi bab n yiyyaṛ-a, a ḏas-d-jjeɣ mmi-s ɣaas ṯyuqiṯ n wuṛɣ ḏi ṯenyirṯ.

“If the lord of this field marries me, I will bear him a son with a pearl of gold on his forehead.”

What stands out?

• Conditionally of mri(counterfactual — “as it would be”) and mařa(hypothetical — "if it is")
• Possess of ɣaas "with him"
• Pronouns attached to verbs:ḏas-ggeɣ "I make for him"
• Cleft-like emphasis in bab n yiyyaṛ-a "the lord of this field"

The end of the opening scene

Netta ṯuɣa-ṯ ḏinni, ṯuɣa yeṯɛesses, ṯuɣa yennuffaa yesḥessa ɣaasenṯ.

“He was there, he was keeping watch, he was hiding and listening to them.”

Yekkaa iruḥ yexḏeb ṯamezwaruṯ
"He got up and went to ask the first..."

Exercises for this lesson

Practical dialogues

The last lesson. Short conversations that you could have in daily Riffian conversations.

Greeting at the door

Ask about family

Offer something

On the way out

Question about health

Final interview — upon departure

Exercises for this lesson