Course Notes

Source: Mourigh & Kossmann (2019), An Introduction to Tarifiyt Tarifit (Nador, Morocco).

Spelling: the Latin-Tarifit alphabet as used on learntarifit. Where the book š, č, ǧ, ž writes, we write c, tc, ǧ, j. Examples have been converted to this convention where necessary.

Page references: at the beginning of each chapter and for important subchapters the source page is listed as 📖 Book p. X. Open the PDF on the book page to read along.

Chapter 1 — What is Tarifit?

📖 Book p. 9–19

Brief introduction to the language covered in this course: where it is spoken, how it relates to other languages, and which dialect we learn here.

The language in short

The self-reference is ṯmazixt (general, for any Tarifit language) or ṯarifecṯ (specifically "Riffin"). The Latin name Rateifiyt used in the book — and on this site — is a conversion of ṯarifecṯ. Literally it means "the Riffian"; in Tarifit languages, language names are always expressed in the feminine form, hence the typical wrapping with ṯ at beginning and end.

The language is spoken in northeastern Morocco, in and around the Rif Mountains: Nador, Al Hoceima, Driouch and surrounding villages. About 1.35 million speakers in Morocco (4% of the population), with large communities in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Spain. Since 2003, Tarifit has had official status in Morocco, with educational programs. They use a standardized version that is barely recognizable to a Nador speaker — other branches of Tarifit are reflected, and many Arabic loanwords have been replaced by newly coined Tarifit equivalents.

Relationship with Arabic

Tarifit belongs to the Tarifit branch of the Afro-Asiatic family of languages. Arabic is in the same family but in a different branch (Semitic). The relationship is real but distant — similar to that between English and Russian: both Indo-European, different branches. That explains why Tarifit is full of Arabic loanwords without the languages ​​being sister languages.

Which dialect?

The book covers the dialect of Nador, specifically that of the Iqeṛɛiyen stem in Azghenghan (Zeghanghane). Other Tarifit variants — for example that of the Ayt Weryaghel around Al Hoceima — differ in pronunciation and vocabulary. Nothing is wrong, but what is in this course sounds most natural in mouths from Nador and the surrounding villages.

Spain colonized the Rif region between 1912 and 1956, and the city-state of Melilla — 14 km from Nador — is still Spanish. That history is anchored in the vocabulary. Examples of Spanish loanwords: aspanyu (Spaniard), řbanku (bank, off banco), řkasi (chair), kisu (cheese, off queso).

Scripture

On this site we use the Latin-Tarifit alphabet as shown learntarifit. This is in line with what most Riffians write in practice. In addition there are:

• Tifinagh (ⵜⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ) — the official standard in Morocco since 2003, used in education and on street streets.
• Arabic script — especially in religious contexts.
• Internet spelling — informal, with number substitutions: 9 for q, 3 for ɛ, 7 for ḥ, gh for ɣ, kh or ch for x. We don't use this here — one character per sound keeps things clear.

Glosses — abbreviations you will encounter in the book

The book annotates example sentences with short codes. The most common:

The full list is on p. 18–19 of the book.

Chapter 2 — Sounds, spelling and pronunciation

📖 Book p. 21–33

What Tarifit sounds like, how it is written, and why some words look different than you might expect. Once you get the hang of the sounds, you immediately sound much more natural.

Pronunciation overview

All letters of the writing system in a row. The column Commonly used variant shows how the sound often appears on the internet and in informal texts.

R-shapes

When a r in Nador-Tarifit is not immediately followed by a real vowel, the pronunciation changes. In spelling we keep the r but indicate the sound change with a macron (line above the vowel):

2.1 Why these letters?

On the Internet and in informal texts, people write Tarifit in all kinds of ways — depending on whether they learned French, Dutch or Arabic as a writing language. A few habits are widespread (such as 9 for q and 3 for ɛ), but there is no fixed standard.

This course uses the Latin-Tarifit alphabet as used on learntarifit. The choices are not random:

One character per sound. In Tarifit, many consonants are doubled — including sounds that are usually written as two letters, such as kh or ch. The word for "smoke" would then be dekhkhan become — long and unreadable. Because kh is one sound, we write one character: x (also the IPA mark for this). Likewise: ɣ for gh, c for ch/sh, ǧ for dj. Exception: tc is rarely doubled — if it is doubled, you write č.

Letters, not numbers. Being on the internet 7, 3 and 9 for the sounds ḥ, ɛ and q. Only letters are used in this course — numbers are for numbers.

Spirantization visible. The soft variants of b, d, t — pronounced like soft Spanish b, English th in this, and English th in think — get a dash under the letter: ḇ, ḏ, ṯ.

2.2 The vowels

📖 Book p. 24

Tarifit has three real vowels — a, i, u — and one neutral: the schwa e.

a, i and u

The a sounds normal like the a in bath. Words with a a: wa "this", bna "build", lalla "Madam".

The i sounds like the i in bit. Words with a i: ini "say", ifri "cave", mani "Where".

The u sounds like the ooh in book. Words with a u: ru "to cry", ura "nor", smun "collect".

The dark a, i and u

The vowels a, i, u sound duller and deeper when placed next to a dark consonant. The dark consonants are the letters with a dot underneath: ḍ, ḏ̣, ṛ, ṣ, ṭ, ẓ. If such a letter is in a word, all vowels in that word become dark - the darkness spreads.

• Dark a: as the a in father
• Dark u: as the o in your
• Dark i: barely audible difference

Example words: iṭan "dogs", ṭuṛu "she gave birth", ssuḍeṣ "put to sleep".

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

The schwa e

The e is a short neutral intermediate vowel — similar to the e in the. It does not count as a real vowel in the r-vocalization (see §2.5). Three rules:

• The schwa is standing never in an open syllable — if it were to end up there due to a grammatical step, it would be dropped or the surrounding consonant would become longer.
• It shifts to the position before the second consonant in a cluster. Example: xdem "work" → xeḏmeɣ "I work".
• In fast speech it is often not pronounced, but in the transcription it is always there.

Verbs that consist only of a double consonant are given a e in front:

• ekk "pass", egg "doing", ecc "to eat", ejj "to leave"

2.3 The consonants

📖 Book p. 25–28

Most consonants are simply written as you hear them. The letters b, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, s, t, w, y, z are recognizable from Dutch or English. For the guttural sounds x, ḥ, ɣ, ɛ, q are Arabic pronunciation videos useful — they are the exact same sounds as خ، ح، غ، ع، ق.

Dark consonants

A number of consonants are pronounced with extra muscle tension at the back of the throat — deeper and fuller. We call them dark consonants, indicated by a dot under the letter:

Darkness spreads. If there is one dark consonant in a word, all other sounds will color along with it. In nẓumm “we fast” only the ẓ is formally dark, but in pronunciation it sounds like ṇẓụṃṃ.

Compare normal vs. dark:

• zu vs ẓẓu "bark/plant"
• swa vs ẓwa "cost/cross"

The labialized ggʷ and kkʷ

Bee ggʷ and kkʷ you round your lips during pronunciation — similar to qu in English quick or gw in English Gwen. They exist only as a doubled consonant.

• aseggʷas "year"
• iggʷeḏ "fear"
• hekkʷa "descend"
• sekkʷa "cost"

Spirantization — the soft variants

📖 Book p. 26

The stops b, d, t, g, k are pronounced softly in most circumstances. This is called spirantization. The soft variants are indicated with a line under the letter:

When does the sound remain loud?

1. As the consonant doubled is: izeddeɣ "he always lives".
2. Right after n: yenḍu "he jumped".
3. In one consonant cluster at the end of one word: ṯafunasṯ "cow".

2.4 Historical L — ř, ǧ and tc

📖 Book p. 28–29

One of the most striking features of Tarifit compared to other Tarifit languages: the l has changed in three ways. If you have a ř, ǧ or tc see, do you know that there was ever one l or ll stood.

Simple l → ř

Most Tarifit languages ​​simply have a l. It is in Tarifit l turned into one r-like sound, written as ř (k with crochet). In the eastern dialects (Ikebdanen, Ayt Iznassen) the old one exists l yet.

Double ll → ǧ

The double ll has become the sound of the in Tarifit j in English joke, written as ǧ. In some dialects it became one dd.

lt combination → tc

The combination lt has not changed to řt as you would expect, but has gone even further: it became tc (/tʃ/, like ch in English China).

2.5 The r in Nador — a sound that becomes a vowel

📖 Book p. 28

In historical Tarifit and other Tarifit languages, every r as r pronounced. In Nador-Tarifit the r slowly turns into a vowel sound — mainly an /a/ sound — when not immediately followed by a real vowel. The neutral e does not count.

In spelling we keep the r, but we indicate the sound change with a macron:

The r does become like r pronounced when it comes directly before a real vowel: ru "to cry", ura "nor", ari "esparto grass".

Examples of the change:

• ɣār "to" (historical: ɣar)
• ḏ̣ār "foot" (historical: ḍar)
• kkar "rise up" (historical: kker)
• ṯaddarṯ "house" (historical: taddert)
• cuarḏu "flea" (historical: curdu)
• yārḏen "wheat" (historically: irden)

The reason for the r to be preserved in spelling: in other forms of the same word the r visibly come back. If we leave it out in one form and it suddenly shows up in another, things get confusing.

2.6 Doubled consonants (gemination)

📖 Book p. 29

You keep a double consonant longer. Gemination can change the meaning — it is not a spelling mistake. Example: yezdeɣ "he lives" opposite izeddeɣ "he always lives".

Syllables help: uccen "wolf" = uc-cen; nnem "your (feminine)" = and-nem.

Irregular doubling

For a number of consonants, the doubled form is not simply the same sound twice:

2.7 Semivowels w and y

📖 Book p. 30

The w and y can be distinguished from vowels as consonants u and i, but coincide in two situations:

1. If ye- or we- come in an open syllable, they become i- or you-. Example: yefhem "he understood" versus ifehm-as "he understood it for him".
2. Change at the end of a word -eɣ and -ew in -i and -you. But only if they take the very last position: yenḍew → yenḍu "he jumped"; ineɣ → ini "say".

2.8 Sounds that influence each other (assimilations)

📖 Book p. 30–32

No spirantization at the end of the word

In Iqeṛɛiyen-Tarifit (Nador), the last consonant of a cluster at the end of a word is not given a soft pronunciation. ṯaɛeḏḏisṯ "belly" ends in a hard t. This does not apply in other dialects.

The feminine -ṯ changes the letter before it

Feminine words end in -ṯ. That ending collides with the last consonant of the stem, leading to merging:

In the plural the ending disappears and you see the original stem again: ṯameǧatc — plural ṯimeǧařin.

No inspiration after all n

After the n soft consonants become hard — even across word boundaries.

The prepositions ḏi and zzi for vowels

The preposition ḏi "in" and zzi change "from/out" for i, y, w or u in ḏegg or say.

• ḏi yifri → ḏegg ifri "in the cave"
• zzi iḏuraa → zzegg ḏuraa "of the mountains"

The particle n "of" behaves erratically

• For u or i: the n falls away. Example: ṯaḏḏarṯ ujeǧiḏ "the king's house".
• For w: the n becomes an ng sound.
• Before a lip sound, guttural sound or l: the n assimilates completely.

Summary

Chapter 3 — Nouns

📖 Book p. 35–50

How the names of things work in Tarifit: three word classes, two genders, a rich plural system, and the concept that doesn't exist in English — the stands of a word.

3.1 Three types of words

📖 Book p. 35

Tarifit nouns fall into three classes, identified by their beginnings.

Class I — Tarifit style

By far the largest group. Words start with a vowel (a, i, u) or with ṯ, and consist of prefix + stem (+ sometimes suffix).

• afunas "beef/bull"
• ṯafunasṯ "cow"
• iri "neck"
• uḏem "sight"
• anu "water well"

Class II — Arabic style

Borrowed words from Arabic (and some from Spanish). Usually start with ř- (from Arabic l-), l- in more modern loanwords, or a doubled consonant (dd-, ss-, tt-, zz-).

• ddexxan "smoke"
• ssaḇun "soap"
• řxeḏmeṯ "work"
• ttumubin "car" (feminine but without ṯ at the end)
• Arif "the Rif (area)"

Class III — Family words without prefix

A small group, mainly family terms. Special feature: they already contain the meaning "mine".

• baba "my father"
• yemma "my mother"
• uma "my brother"
• učma "my sister"

3.2 Male and female

📖 Book p. 35–37

Tarifit has two genders: male (M) and female (F). Unlike in English ("de" or "het" without a clear pattern), you can usually tell the gender directly from the form of the word.

The golden rule for Class I

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

Sometimes man and woman are separate words

Like Dutch "bull/cow" or "cock/chicken" — some pairs are morphologically unrelated:

Male = large, female = small

📖 Book p. 36

For some objects, Tarifit uses the gender difference to determine large vs. to indicate small:

Bee ṯaɣenjacṯ has the stem-end y together with the female -ṯ to -cṯ guided (see the assimilation rule from §2.12).

Languages ​​are always feminine

The names of languages ​​are consistently given the feminine form. The masculine form then refers to the speaker:

The root ending changes due to assimilation: maziɣ + ṯ is becoming ṯmazixṯ — the ɣ is becoming x immediately before the female ṯ. The same rule explains why you ṯamɣārṯ "woman" refers to stem maɣaa-.

3.3 Singular and plural

📖 Book p. 37–38

The Tarifit plural has many patterns. The book divides them at a higher level into two main types — external plural (only affixes change) and internal plural (changing vowels in the stem) — plus a mixed group that combines both. There are several sub-patterns within each type.

External plural — affixes change

The root remains the same, only the prefix and suffix change.

Pattern - a- is becoming i- (and for feminine: ṯa- is becoming ṯi- + -ṯ is becoming -in):

Internal plural — the vowels in the stem change

Mixed — changing affix and vowel, or inserting a suffix

Sometimes it becomes -aw- or -iw- inserted before the plural suffix:

Supplementary — completely different strain

A small group uses a different word for the plural:

Mass words — one number only

Some words grammatically consist of only one number, similar to Dutch "melk" (not "melken"):

• aɣi “milk” — singular only
• řgih “etter” — singular only
• aman “water” — plural only (grammatical)
• iḏammen “blood” — plural only

That aman and iḏammen being grammatically plural means that the verb is also plural — just like English "the trousers are…".

Triple system — collective, unit (V), unit (PL)

For some types of things — especially fruits, vegetables, plants — Tarifit has three forms:

Practical use:

• “I like apples (in general)” — collective: tteffaḥ
• “Give me an apple” — unit: ṯatteffaḥṯ
• "Three apples" — plural: ṯitteffaḥin

The collective is usually Class II (starts with tt- or ř-); the unit is Class I (ṯa-…-ṯ).

3.4 The State — Free State and Annexed State

📖 Book p. 38–39

This is the concept that differs most from Dutch. Has a Class I noun two shapes, depending on where it is in the sentence:

• Free State (FS) — the basic form, "free-standing"
• Annexed State (AS) — used after certain elements (such as prepositions and verb subjects)

The closest thing Dutch has to this is "ik" versus "me" — two forms of the same word, depending on syntactic position. This happens in Tarifit all Class I nouns, not just pronouns.

The change in shape

General rules:

• M:SG a- is becoming wa- or you-
• V:SG ṯa- is becoming at- or ṯ- (the a disappears)
• M:PL usually the same, sometimes one y- before it
• V:PL ṯi- is becoming ṯ-

When Free State?

The book mentions five contexts:

When Annexed State?

Four contexts:

Two sentences, same meaning, different state

The same statement — "the man works" — can be said in two ways in Tarifit:

• āryaz yexḏem - subject for verb, so Free State: āryaz
• yexḏem wāryaz - subject after verb, so Annexed State: wāryaz

Both are correct. The difference is in emphasis and style, not in meaning.

Important exceptions

1. Class II (Arabic words) has no state distinction: ssaḇun stays ssaḇun.
2. Class III (family words) has no state distinction: baba stays baba.
3. Adjectives are listed always in Free State, even if the noun next to it is in Annexed State: n wāryaz ameqqran "of the great man" — wāryaz is AS, ameqqran remains FS.

3.5 Class II in detail

📖 Book p. 47

Class II (Arabic morphology) has a fixed Arabic article ingrained — usually ř- or l-. That article no longer has any meaning in Tarifit; it has become part of the word.

Female usually with -eṯ

• řyabeṯ "bunch"
• řgeɛḏeṯ "slope"
• řxeḏmeṯ "work"
• řemḥyameṯ "handkerchief"

Some feminine Class IIs have no suffix

• ttumubin "car"
• More modern loanwords from Arabic or Spanish are often given a -a: ttiyara "aeroplane", řḇumba "bomb"

Plural follows the Arabic example

Sometimes simple with -aṯ:

Sometimes an Arabic vowel change in the stem ("broken plural"):

Class II has no Free/Annexed State distinction.

3.6 Class III in detail

📖 Book p. 48

A small group, mainly family terms. Special feature: they automatically have "my" in them.

Non-family words in Class III

• řaẓ "hunger"
• faḏ "thirst"
• ṯemẓi "youth"
• macca/makla "food"

These do not take pronoun suffixes. Class III has no Free/Annexed State distinction.

3.7 Pre-nominal elements

📖 Book p. 49–50

A few small elements come before a noun and give a specific meaning. The noun after it is in Annexed State.

u- (M:SG) and ayṯ- / aṯ- (M:PL) — "member of X stem"

For tribal affiliations or family ties:

• u Aliman "the German"
• u Seid "someone from the Ayt-Seid stem"
• ayṯ Nnaḍuṛ "Nadorians"
• ayṯ Seid or aṯ Seid "the Ayt-Seid stem"

Female forms: ṯ(u)-…-ṯ for one woman, ṯyayṯ- for several:

• ṯuseidṯ "woman of the Ayt-Seid"
• ṯyayṯ Seid "women of the Ayt-Seid"

bu (M) and m(u) (V) — "someone with X" / "owner of X"

• bu lqehwa "coffee owner/coffee drinker"
• m lqehwa "coffee lady"
• bu ṯyarrabuṯ "owner of a boat"
• mu ṯyarrabuṯ "owner of a boat"

Gets with body parts bu-/m(u)- an expressive value:

• bu yyemzan (M) / m iyemzan (V) "(wo)man with ugly big teeth"
• b uzeǧif / m uzeǧif "(wo)man with a big ugly head"
• bu ṯquqqucin / mu ṯquqqucin "kinǧe with beautiful eyes"

Summary

Chapter 4 — Verbs

📖 Book p. 51–64

How to conjugate verbs and — the most important difference with Dutch — what aspect means. Tarifit does not think in time (past, present, future) but in aspect (completed, ongoing, unrealized).

4.1 The basic conjugation

📖 Book p. 51–53

A Tarifit verb consists of a stem + fixed affixes. The stem describes the action, the affixes say who does the action. There are affixes at the front and at the back.

The imperative mood (imperative)

The simplest: just the trunk itself.

The normal conjugation

Complete table with example verb qqim "to sit":

Masculine plural is also used for mixed groups. Feminine plural only for groups that complete consist of women.

4.2 Derived verbs — three productive prefixes

📖 Book p. 54–58

Tarifit has three regular prefixes that modify the meaning of a verb. They are extremely productive.

4.2.1 ss- (causative — "let/do")

Adds "Have X done" or "Make X happen"

Where Dutch uses two separate verbs ("eat" / "feed", "enter" / "let in"), Tarifit makes do with one prefix.

4.2.2 mm- and allomorphs (reciprocal and means)

The prefix mm- that marks the action between parties reciprocal is, or that the verb is given a passive/means meaning. It is not the same as reflexive ("itself") — Tarifit uses a separate construction there (see box below).

The shape varies per stem. The book mentions five allomorphs:

A few clear examples in context:

• řaɣa "call out" → mřaɣa "call each other"
• neɣ "kill" → mneɣ "fight" (literally: kill each other)
• qřeb "turn around" → nneqřeb "to turn around"

4.2.3 twa- (passive)

Turns an active verb into a passive voice.

Of twa- you can not indicate by whom the action is performed ("by X"). If you want to say "X is eaten by Y", a different construction is needed.

4.3 Aspect — the difference with Dutch

📖 Book p. 58–64

For Dutch speakers, this is the most important concept of the entire book.

The five verb forms:

• Aorist (A) — neutral basic shape, almost always with a particle in front of it
• Perfective (P) — completed action or a state
• Imperfective (I) — habit, ongoing action, repetition
• Negative Perfective (NP) — denial of completed action
• Negative Imperfective (NI) — denial of habit/ongoing action

How one Dutch sentence can be multiple Tarifit forms

"I work" can be said in four ways in Tarifit, each with its own aspect:

English has a similar distinction (I work vs. I am working), but Tarifit pushes it further.

How do you make the Perfective?

📖 Book p. 59

For most verbs: Perfective = Aorist (same form). But some groups are experiencing a change.

a. Verbs ending with a start → a is becoming u:

b. Verbs without a vowel (CC or CCC) → get a or i:

c. Verbs with double consonant + a → a is becoming u:

How do you make the Imperfective?

📖 Book p. 60–63

The Imperfective is the most irregular — multiple patterns, without rules that always make sense. Learning per verb is the practical approach.

Pattern 1 — doubling second consonant:

Pattern 2 — t- or tt- before:

Pattern 3 — changing or adding vowel:

Pattern 4 — combinations of the above:

How do you make the Negative shapes?

Negative Perfective:

• Does the Perfective have a a in the stem? → becomes i
• Does the Perfective have a u? → remains u

Negative Imperfective:

• Change every a in the Imperfective to i
• No a? Then it is equal to the positive imperfective

The particle always stands for denial waa before it. See Chapter 13 for the complete treatment.

When which form?

📖 Book p. 113–115

Aorist — neutral, only with particles:

• ad + Aorist = future, wish, possibility: ad yegg "he will do/should he do"
• xad + Aorist = modal variant with stronger assumption, often in a warning
• Aorist after a Perfective in a story — expresses successive actions ("...and then X's, and then Y's"). Practically important when reading or telling stories.

Perfective — completed action or condition:

• Past: yenna-as "he said to him"
• Condition without time reference: Mřič ṯuḏes "Melilla is close"
• In conditional sentences after mařa "as"

Imperfective — habit, ongoing action, repetition:

• Habit: qa yetseddaɛ-aneɣ "he always disturbs us"
• Of qa: running now: qa baba iteddez "my father is pounding"
• After auxiliary verbs such as ḇḏa "begin", qqim "continue"

4.4 A special verb: "to go"

📖 Book p. 64

The verb "to go" has an irregular set of forms:

Related: a d-yạạggweḥ “to go home” — a verb of its own that often occurs with particle qa: qa yaggweḥ "he's going home."

Chapter 5 — Personal Pronouns

📖 Book p. 65–71

“I, you, he, she, we, you, they” — as individual words and as suffixes to verbs, prepositions and family words. Tarifit has different sets for different functions.

5.1 Free pronouns

📖 Book p. 65

As an independent word, usually in non-verbal sentences or for emphasis.

Examples:

• necc ḏ Mimun "I am Mimoun"
• ḏ necc "it's me"
• necc, yesseqsa-ayi Mimun "as for me, Mimoun asked me"

5.2 Bound pronouns

Bound pronouns are attached to a verb, preposition or family word. There are different sets depending on function.

5.2.1 Direct object — “him, her, us”

📖 Book p. 66–67

The shape depends on the location: after the verb (set I), after the verb with an extra i (set II), or before the verb (after clitic fronting).

Examples:

• yessufɣ-iṯ "he let him out"
• yecc-iṯ "he ate it"
• wi ḏayi-yessufɣen? "who let me out?"

5.2.2 Indirect object — "to him, to us"

📖 Book p. 67–68

Examples:

• wciɣ-as pabu "I gave him a turkey"
• wi ḏas-yewcin pabu? "who gave him a turkey?"

5.2.3 The direction marker ḏ "over here"

📖 Book p. 68–69

A unique particle that sticks to the verb and says "in the direction of where the speaker is."

Compare:

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

It works similar to Dutch "here" versus "there", but in Tarifit it is built into the verb with -ḏ.

Special combinations: after 3SG:M-DO and 2/3PL:F-DO the deictic clitic takes the form id (not d):

• yessiwd-iṯ-id "he brought him here"
• yessiwd-isenṯ-id "he brought them (V) here"

A complement that you often see in texts: after a Perfective of a verb that does not have a vowel ending in the imperative but does have a vowel ending in the Perfective i or a has, the final vowel is dropped and a schwa appears: yus-eḏ "he has come" (not yusa-ḏ).

5.2.4 Combinations — fixed order

With multiple clitics the order is always the same:

Indirect Object — Direct Object — ḏ (go here)

Example:

• yiwy-ac-ṯ-id "he brought it here for you"
  • ac = up to you (IO)
  • ṯ = it (DO)
  • iḏ = over here

5.2.5 Pronouns after prepositions

📖 Book p. 69–70

Each preposition is followed by a fixed set of suffixes.

Examples with akeḏ "of":

• kiḏi "with me"
• kiḏes ~ kis "with him/her"
• kiḏem ~ kim "with you (V)"

Examples with ɣaa "at/to":

• ɣari "with me" / "I have"
• ɣaas "with him/her"
• ɣaaneɣ "with us"

Examples with n "by":

• inu "of me"
• nnec "from you (M)"
• nnes "his/her"

5.2.6 With family words

📖 Book p. 70

Family nouns (Class III) use the same suffixes, but without inspiration in the plurals — a regular hard t, not a soft one ṯ.

Examples with mmi "my son":

• mmi "my son" (already built in)
• mmi-c "your son"
• mmi-s "his/her son"
• mmi-tneɣ "our son"
• mmi-tsen "their son"

5.3 Emphasizers — "self"

📖 Book p. 68 / 71

Tarifit has two separate elements to express "self" or "on one's own strength".

nniṯ — emphasis on the actor

Comes after a verb and emphasizes that the subject does it himself:

• a ṯ-awyeɣ nniṯ "I will marry her myself"

simanṯ n- — “self” + personal pronoun

Gets a pronoun suffix:

• usiɣ-d necc simanṯ-inu "I came myself"
• yegga-ṯ simanṯ-nnes "he did it himself"

Do not confuse this with the reflexive construction ixef-nnes "himself" from Chapter 4.2.2: simanṯ means "oneself, by one's own strength", while ixef-nnes means "the head/self of X" and is the direct object.

Chapter 6 — Demonstrative pronouns

📖 Book p. 73–75

“This one, that one, that-we-were-talking-about” — Tarifit distinguishes three distances, with a separate form for “the aforementioned”. Plus separate sets for independent use and for place and time adverbs.

6.1 Three types of distance

Three demonstrative elements that are suffixed to a noun:

Dutch has "this" and "die", but lacks the third category. -enni is similar to English "the aforementioned X" or Dutch "die X we talked about".

Four assimilation rules

How the suffix joins the word before it:

1. After a vowel: for -a and -in becomes one y inserted: stilu-ɣa, stilu-yin.
2. After a vowel is becoming -enni shortened to -nni: stilu-nni.
3. After schwa + single consonant that consonant is doubled: ifassenn-a out ifassen + a.
4. For words with vocalized r (ending in -aa) the r again in the derived form: awessaa becomes "old man". awessar-a “this old man” — at -enni however, it remains without r: awessaa-nni.

6.2 Demonstrative pronouns (nouns)

📖 Book p. 73–74

In addition to suffixes, Tarifit has separate independent demonstrative pronouns — "this", "die", "this (V)", "this (M:PL)" etc. You use these on itself, not in appositions.

Emphatic variants — "this one here, with emphasis"

For extra-near indication, Tarifit has emphatic sets:

• M:SG wa-niṯa, wa-niṯaṯ, wa-niṯati
• V:SG ṯa-niṯa, ṯa-niṯaṯ etc.

You use this if you really want to emphasize that someone is "this one", closer than usual wa.

Of man "which"

For questions about a choice ("which of those"):

• man wen "which (man)"
• man ṯen "which (woman)"
• man yin "which (men)"
• man ṯin "which (women)"

See also Chapter 12 on questions.

Examples with the regular forms:

• manaya "what is this?" (out man + aya)
• manayin "what is that?"

6.3 Adverbial Indicators — “here, there, so, now”

📖 Book p. 75

The suffix form on a noun (āryaz-a "this man") is only possible because the noun is in Free State — see Chapter 3.4.

Chapter 7 — The Verbal Complex (clitics)

📖 Book p. 77–82

How all the little elements — preverbal particles, pronouns, the directional element ḏ, prepositions — group around the verb. Three subgroups, each with its own place and rules.

7.1 Preverbal particles

📖 Book p. 77–78

ad — unrealized / future

Marks that the action has not yet happened.

• ad yaggweḥ "he'll go home / he might go home / he should go home"
• a ṯeggenfa (out ad ṯeggenfa) "she will heal"

Before one ṯ- or n- assimilates ad and becomes a:

• a ṯeffeɣ "she will go outside"
• a neffeɣ "we will go outside"

xad — modal variant of ad

Expresses a stronger assumption or expectation that the action will occur, often with the connotation of a warning or threat. Not “further into the future” — the difference is in the modality, not the time.

Example:

• xa yeyya "he will definitely come" (the speaker is sure of that, or warns someone)

xad cannot be used in subordinate clauses or after question words.

ɣa — variant of ad in subordinate clauses

In subordinate clauses, question word questions and cleft sentences ad automatically ɣa:

• min ɣa negg? "what shall we do?"
• umi ɣa yemmeṯ "when he died…"

waa - not

The universal denial marker; comes before the verb.

• waa ṯeqqim ca "she didn't stay"
• waa ṯ-ẓṛiɣ ca "I haven't seen her"

When denied ad + You use Aorist waa + Negative Imperfective, without ad:

• waa gguan ca "they will not walk" (not waa ad uyuan approx)

The particle qa

Also qa is preverbal, but behaves differently from ad / xad / waa: it can also be done with a non-verbal predicate ("he is there"). qa is a pseudo-verb — covered in detail in Chapter 8 and Chapter 13.

7.2 Movable clitics

📖 Book p. 78–79

The following elements are standard behind the verb, but to jump to forward in certain contexts:

• Indirect object pronouns
• Direct object pronouns
• The directional element ḏ "over here"
• Prepositions with pronoun suffix
• Demonstrative adverbs (ḏa, ḏin, etc.)

The order is the same everywhere — before or after the verb:

IO — DO — ḏ — preposition

Example:

• yiwy-am-ṯ-iḏ zzayes "he brought it here with you"
  • am = up to you (IO)
  • ṯ = it (DO)
  • iḏ = over here
  • zzayes = with it (preposition with suffix)

7.3 When do clitics emerge?

📖 Book p. 79–81

Clitic-fronting occurs in five clearly defined situations.

a. After ad, xad, waa

• a cem-awyeɣ "I will marry you" (cem = you, before the verb)
• waa cem-ṯiwyeɣ ca "I won't marry you"

b. In relative clauses

• āryaz ḏ-yusin "the man who came here"
• āryaz i ḏ-iwyeɣ "the man I brought here"

c. In cleft sentences ("it is X that…")

• ḏ baba i ḏ-yiwden "it is my father who has arrived"

d. For question word questions

• wi ḏ-yusin? "who came here?"

e. After certain conjunctions

Not all conjunctions trigger fronting — only a specific group:

• xemmi "when", umi "when", qbeř "before", aṛ "until" (temporal), meɛlik "as (counterfactual)", mři "if"

Examples:

• umi ḏ-yusa "when he came here"
• aṛ ḏ-ṯaseḏ "until you get here"

Conjunctions such as ḥuma, puřki, baš on the other hand, cause no fronting — stays there ad Ordinary ad. See Chapter 17 for the complete classification per conjunction.

Chapter 8 — Pseudo-verbs

📖 Book p. 83–86

Five elements that behave like verbs — they take pronoun clitics — but do not have their own aspect conjugation. They are practically indispensable for everyday expressions: qa, ṯuɣa, aqqa, tɣiř and aɣ.

8.1 qa — “current relevance”

📖 Book p. 83

The particle qa that marks an action or state relevant to the present moment. Combines with other aspects and carries no time meaning of its own.

Examples:

• qa-ṯ ḏiha "he's there" (right now, relevant to our conversation)
• baba qa yaggweḥ "my father is going home"
• Mřič qa ṯuḏes "Melilla is close" (typical taxi driver: "we are almost there")

qa can not occur in subordinate clauses or in interrogative questions. In locative expressions ("to be somewhere") qa usually the default choice; omission gives a distant tone.

8.2 ṯuɣa — "past"

📖 Book p. 84

Places the action or condition in the past. Just like qa it itself has no conjugation — clitics hang directly from it.

Examples:

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

Negative form: ṯuyi.

8.3 aqqa — “look here!”

📖 Book p. 84

A presentational particle: points to something and offers it to the listener.

Examples:

• aqqa ṯxaḏenṯ "here is the ring"
• aqq-eṯ "here he/it is"
• aqq-awem ṯxaḏenṯ "here's a ring for you"
• aqq-awem-ṯ "here you have it"

Often preceded by ha for extra attention: necc, ha aqq-ayi “as for me, look here I am!”

In the standard greeting: aqq-ec mliḥ? "are you good?" — literally “are you looking right?”

8.4 tɣiř — "it seems"

📖 Book p. 84–85

Expresses a (presumably incorrect) thought or perception. Comes in two constructions for.

As a pseudo-verb — always with indirect object

• tɣiř-asen ṯemmuṯ "they thought she had died"
• tɣiř-ayi ḏ ssehh "I thought it was true"
• waa ḏayi-tɣiř bu ḏ ssehh "I didn't think it was true"

As a regular conjugated verb

In addition to the pseudo-form, there is a conjugated variant with an aspect stem:

• tɣirey ḏ ssehh "I thought it was true" (1SG)
• tɣiren azenna yewda-d "they thought the sky had fallen" (3PL:M)

The conjugated form occurs regularly in spoken language — depending on who is the object of the thought.

8.5 aɣ — "please, here"

📖 Book p. 85

Used when you offer or hand something to someone. The structure is always: aɣ + indirect-object clitic (the recipient), possibly followed by direct-object clitic (what you offer).

The indirect object is always mandatory — the direct object is optional if the context already makes it clear what is being provided.

Chapter 9 — Prepositions

📖 Book p. 87–96

The little words that express relationships: in, on, Unpleasant, of, by, to, without, like. Almost all of them demand an Annexed State after them — three exceptions form the main rule.

9.1 The basic prepositions

📖 Book p. 87–88

9.1.1 ḏi "in"

• qa-ṯ ḏi ṯaḏḏarṯ "he's in the house"
• ḏi nnhar-nni "on that day"
• ḏayes ṯɣiyiṯ "he is smart" (literally: there is smartness in him)

For vowel blends ḏi: ḏi + w/u → ḏeggw, ḏi + y/i → ḏegg.

9.1.2 x "on"

• yedweř x uyis-nnes "he returned on his horse"
• yewḏa x weyyur "he fell off the donkey"
• yessiweř xafi "he talks about me"

9.1.3 zi "from"

• yessizz-eḏ zi ṯbuaẓeṯ "he peeked out the window"
• yus-eḏ zeggw Zayyu "he came from Zaio"

9.1.4 ɣaa "to/at"

Location or direction — and the basis for the ownership construction.

• xeddmen ɣaa ṯamza "they work for the evil witch"
• ɣaa wezyen n nnhaa "halfway through the day"
• ɣaa ṯmeddiṯ "in the afternoon"

Possession with ɣaa:

• nettaṯ ɣaas ijj uma-s "she has a brother" (literally: with her one brother-her)
• ɣari ijjen ttumubin "I have a car"

9.1.5 s "with" (instrument)

• iqess aysum-enni s ṯxeḏmesṯ "he cut the meat with a knife"
• s ṯmazixṯ "in Tarifit"
• s ǧiřeṯ, s nnhaa "by night, by day"

9.1.6 akeḏ "with" (together)

• yeggwa akides "he walks with him"
• yetmenya akeḏ uma-s "he always fights with his brother"

9.1.7 jaa "between"

• ǧar iduraa "between the mountains"
• tmenyanṯ jarasenṯ "they (V) fight among themselves"

9.1.8 i "to/for" (dative)

• yews-iṯ i weyyur-nnes "he gave it to his donkey"
• yews-as-ṯ i Mimun "he gave it to him (to Mimoun)"

9.1.9 umi “to whom” — dative alternative

Tarifit is used in relative clauses and with question words umi instead of a separate preposition: ḏyenni umi yenɣa ussen "those people for whom he had killed the jackal". Will be discussed in detail in Chapter 15.

9.1.10 n "of" (possession)

• ṯaḏḏarṯ n ṯamɣārṯ-enni "that woman's house"
• yeḏji-s n ṯamɣārṯ-enni "that woman's daughter"
• aaḇɛa n ṯfunasin "four cows" (literally: four of cows)

9.1.11 aṛ "until" (+ Free State)

• teqqim din aṛ ṯameddiṯ "she stayed there until evening"
• uyuan aṛ amcan-nni "they walked to that place"

9.1.12 ḇřa "without" (+ Free State)

• yus-d ḇřa ṯamɣārṯ-nnes "he came without his wife"
• yus-d ḇřa nihni "he came without them"

9.1.13 am and amecnaw "like"

Two variants for "like" with different state behavior:

• am weyyur "like a donkey" — am + AS
• amecnaw aɣyur "like a donkey" — amecnaw +FS
• wanita ḏ amesřem am necc "this one is a muslim like me"

9.1.14 ḏ "and"

Only to link nouns, not sentences.

• necc ḏ yayeṯma "me and my brothers"
• necc ḏ netta "me and him"

9.2 Compound prepositions

📖 Book p. 94–95

Some prepositions are composed of a spatial element + a basic preposition (i or n):

The last two are directional — they indicate which direction something is going relative to the speaker. They are therefore complementary qibaṛi "before" and awaṛn "behind" (indicating that position).

Examples in sentences:

• zzaṭ i ṯaḏḏarṯ "for the house"
• zzaṯes "before"
• awaṛn i ṯaḏḏarṯ "behind the house"
• ttaaf-nnes "next to him/her"

Chapter 10 — Counts and Quantities

📖 Book p. 97–102

Counting (one to a thousand), words for "many, few, each, all", and special adverbial counting forms for years, months, days and numbers of times.

10.1 Counting words

📖 Book p. 97–99

Except for "one", all Tarifit numbers are borrowed from Arabic. This explains why from the second to the tenth they follow their own pattern that differs from the Tarifit morphology elsewhere.

"A" - ijjen (M) / icṯen (V)

The only Tarifit numeral, and the only one with gender difference:

"One" is also special in that — unlike all higher numbers — it has no n "of" used:

• icṯ ṯamɣārṯ "one woman" (no n)
• ṯřaṯa n ṯemɣarin "three women" (well n)

Counting words 2–10

11–19

Tens and up

Composite numbers

• 21 — waḥd-u-ɛicrin ("twenty-one")
• 22 — ṯnayn-u-ɛicrin
• 101 — mya-u-waḥiṯ
• 300 — ṯeřṯ-mya

Ordinal numbers — “first, second…”

Of wiss (M) or tiss (V) + numeral:

• ṯamɣārṯ-nnes wiss aaḇɛa "his fourth wife"

10.2 Adverbial numbers

📖 Book p. 91–92

There are separate adverbial forms for units of time and number of times. These are practically indispensable once you try to build time expressions.

The -ayen ending for "two" is the Arabic dualis. From three onwards a normal plural appears again (whether or not borrowed from Arabic).

10.3 Other quantities

📖 Book p. 100–101

A lot / little / something

Universal quantifiers — "all, each"

Examples:

• jmeɛ marra arrud nnem "collect all your clothes!"
• kuř aɛecci "every evening"
• kuř ijjen yiwi ṯamɣārṯ-nnes "everyone took his wife"

“Whoever/wherever” — mma

• mani mma ṯexseḏ "wherever you want"
• mamec mma ṯegga "however she did it"
• kuř mma yus-d "whenever he came"

Chapter 11 — The Noun Phrase

📖 Book p. 103–105

In what order do words appear within one noun phrase — for example, "that big man of mine." And how do adjectives behave?

11.1 Order in a noun phrase

The complete structure, from left to right:

[indefinite] [quantity] (n) [noun]-[possession suffix]-[this/those] [adjective] [n + possession-NP] [marra]

Not every slot is always filled in — most sentences use only two or three at a time.

Simple examples

• wenni ameqqran "that big (man)"
• uma-s-enni ameqqran "that big brother of his"

With possession

• yis-a n Yusef "this horse of Yousef"
• tsara ccarie-enni marra "she walked all over that street"

Completely complex

• yessi-s-enni n ṯemza "these her daughters of the evil witch" (= the daughters of the evil witch)
• aṛṛzeq-nnes marra "all his wealth"

11.2 Adjectives

In Tarifit, adjectives are actually a subgroup of nouns. They are inflected just the same — for gender, number, and state.

Two constructions

A. Final / determined — easy juxtaposition:

• ṯammuaṯ ṯameqqranṯ "the big country"
• ṯammuaṯ-a ṯameqqranṯ "this great country"

B. Indefinite / indefinite — with predicative ḏ:

• ijjen weyyur ḏ ameqqran "a big donkey"
• aɣyur ḏ ameqqran "a big donkey"

Adjectives are listed always in Free State, even if the noun next to it is in Annexed State:

• n wāryaz ameqqran "of the big man"
  • wāryaz = AS (na n "by")
  • ameqqran = remains FS

Special: jjḏiḏ "new" and nneɣni "other"

Two adjectives do not change with gender or number:

• qama n jjḏiḏ "the new bed" (definitive — note the n)
• ijjen qama ḏ jjḏiḏ "a new bed"
• āryaz-a nneɣni "this other guy"
• w-enneɣni "the other (M)" / ṯ-enneɣni "the other (V)"

Chapter 12 — Asking Questions

📖 Book p. 107–109

How to ask yes/no questions, how to ask who/what/where/when, how to indicate a choice between alternatives (which X?), and how question words also work as conjunctions of indirect questions.

12.1 Yes/no questions

Two possibilities — with the particle ma at the beginning, or simply with rising intonation.

Of ma:

• ma ɣac ca n ṯxaḏenṯ am ṯa? "do you have a ring like this?"
• ma ḏ cekk? "is it you?"
• ma iwden-d? “did they get here?”

Without particle, only with intonation:

• ḏ wa? "is it this one?"
• mliḥ ca? "are you okay?"

12.2 Question words

Combinations with prepositions

• zi meřmi? "since when?"
• aṛ mani? "until where?"
• min zi ṯuḥřeḏ? “what are you tired of?”

12.3 "Which X?" — choice questions

📖 Book p. 109

For "which (of) X?" combines Tarifit man with a demonstrative element:

Examples:

• mana ttumubin ṯawyeḏ? "what car did you take?"
• man wen i ḏ-yusin? “which (man) came here?”

12.4 Question words as conjunctions — indirect questions

📖 Book p. 109

A question word can also be in a subordinate clause: then it works as a conjunction ("where / when / how"). The usage depends on the verb in the main clause.

With negative main clause (typical waa ssineɣ "I don't know"):

• waa ssineɣ mani ṯeqqim "I don't know where she went"
• waa ssineɣ meřmi ṯawḏ "I don't know when she'll arrive"

With a positive main clause (such as yessen On the other hand, you use "he knows") illa or belli "that" — see Chapter 16. The difference between "know + indirect question" and "know + that-sentence" is therefore structurally anchored in Tarifit.

Chapter 13 — Aspect, Mode, and Negation

📖 Book p. 113–127

The practice of verb tenses: when to choose which aspect, how to express "to be", and how to negate. Expands §4.3 and addresses denial systematically.

13.1 When which aspect?

📖 Book p. 113–115

Summary table:

13.2 qa + different aspects

📖 Book p. 115–117

Examples:

• baba qa yeggwa-ḏ "my father is coming"
• qa ɛemmaa ayaṛṛaf s waman "he has (just) filled the water jar with water"
• qa yenna-ac ajeǧiḏ "the king has said to you…"
• qa ṯaaḥeḏ ɣaa barra "be careful not to go outside!"

13.3 ṯuɣa — past

📖 Book p. 117–118

Examples:

• ṯuɣa-ṯ ḏ ameddukeř inu "he was my friend (but not anymore)" (de -ṯ here is 3SG:M-TH)
• mani c-ṯuɣa? "where have you been?"
• meɛlik c-ṯuɣa ḏ uma… "if you had been my brother…"

For the detailed treatment — including the conjugation rules and negative form — see Chapter 8.

13.4 "Be" constructions

📖 Book p. 119–122

Tarifit expresses "being" in different ways depending on the type of statement.

A. Non-verbal sentence (without verb)

For general states in the present, with predicative ḏ:

• netta ḏ amezzyan-nsen "he is the youngest of them"
• āryaz-nnes ḏ lmalik "her husband is the king"
• necc ammu "i'm like this (like this)"

The predicative ḏ comes before a noun or pronoun, not before a preposition or adverb.

B. With verb iři (P: ǧa, I: tiři)

When Aorist or Imperfective is needed — future, habit, in a dependent clause:

• ad yiři ḏ āryaz "he will be a man"
• tiřiy ḏi Tanja "I always live in Tangier"
• āryaz-enni yeǧan ḏ uma-s "the man who is his brother"
• Ḷḷah yeǧa "God exists"

C. Possession ("to have") with ɣaa

• ɣari ijjen ttumubin "I have a car"
• ɣaas ijj uma-s "he/she has a brother"

D. Possessive question with yifan

For “whose X is this?” Tarifit uses an irregular shape yifan (probably a fossil of a lost verb "to possess"):

• wi yifan ttumubin-a? "whose car is this?"
• wi ṯ-yifan? "Whose is it?"
• wi s-yifan? "whose child are you?" (= "who is your father?")

E. Similative with gg "resemble"

The verb gg means "to do, to make" but also "to resemble". With this third meaning you express similarity:

• yegga am wayrad "he is like a lion"

13.5 Disclaimer

📖 Book p. 122–127

13.5.1 Preverbal particles

• waa — universal denial, in all contexts
• wiř / wi — only in prohibitive sentences ("don't do that!")

Examples:

• wiř ssiweř or waa ssiweř "don't speak!" — in the negative imperative you use the Imperfective stem ssiweř
• waa issiwiř ca "he doesn't speak"

13.5.2 Negative verb forms

13.5.3 Postverbal particles

The most common: ca "something / not even" (written in the book as š with caron). Next to ca Tarifit knows another group of post-verbal deniers:

Three lines around bu

📖 Book p. 124

The denier bu has a few specific syntactic rules:

1. A noun after bu is in Annexed State. Example: waa das-teggen bu wexxam — wexxam is AS, not axxam.
2. bu cannot be combined with ca prevent — choose one of the two.
3. bu is mandatory in case of denial of ownership: waa ɣaas bu ṯamɣārṯ “he has no wife” — without bu This construction is incorrect.

Negation of "being" sentences

Of waaǧi (composed of waa + ǧi "is not"):

• cem waaǧi bu ḏ yemma "you're not my mother"
• waaǧi bu amenni "it's not so"

Chapter 14 — Sentence Structure

📖 Book p. 129–134

How a Tarifit sentence is put together, and why the word order is structurally different than in English. Plus topicalization and post-topic — two ways to place elements at the beginning or end of the sentence.

14.1 The basic structure — VSO

Tarifit is a VSO language: verb — subject — direct object — prepositional phrases.

Dutch follows SVO order ("The man eats bread"). Tarifit puts the verb first ("Eat the man's bread"). That is a different information structure, not a different meaning principle.

Example:

• qa yewca baba ttmenyaṯ i Mimun
  • literal: "(qa) has.given.my.father money to Mimoun"
  • translated: "My father gave money to Mimoun"

The subject after the verb is in Annexed State (see Chapter 3.4).

Verb without lexical subject

It's very normal to the subject only to be expressed in the verb conjugation — "he" or "she" is already in the prefix:

• yus-d "he has come"
• yexḏem "he works"

14.2 Topicalization — element before the sentence

📖 Book p. 130–131

You can put elements at the front for emphasis. The topicalized element is in Free State, and in the main sentence a pronoun refers back to it.

Possession with ɣaa + noun required this construction:

• ṯamɣārṯ-enni ɣaas ijjen mmi-s "that woman has a son" (literally "that woman, by her [is] a son of hers")

Tarifit also has topicalization focalization via cleft constructions — see Chapter 15.3.

14.3 Post-topic — element after the core

📖 Book p. 132

An element can also be placed after the main sentence, as an afterthought or clarification. A noun in this position is in Annexed State.

• ḏ asemmam, uɣi-ɣa "it's sour, this milk"
• qa ḏ aḥenjia, win "it's a boy over there"

Chapter 15 — Relative clauses

📖 Book p. 135–138

How to say “the man that came" or "the car that I bought". The distinction between indefinite and definite clauses has its own syntactic rules — certain clauses have five.

15.1 Indefinite relative clauses

When the main word is indefinite ("a man who…", "some people who…") — just stick sentences together, normal verb form.

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

15.2 Certain relative clauses

Five characteristics apply to certain main words:

1. No pronoun that refers to the main word
2. With subject clauses: the verb gets the participle-form
3. Clitic fronting: pronouns come before the verb
4. ad is becoming ɣa
5. Prepositional clauses contain the preposition (in its isolated form, without a pronoun suffix) immediately after the relative marker i

Subject clause (with participle)

• āryaz-enni [d ɣa yasen] ḏ Mimun "the man who is coming is Mimoun"
• wenni [ixeddmen řebda] ad yedweř ḏ aṛṛzeq "he who always works will become prosperous"
• wenni [waa ixeddmen ca] ad yeqqim ḏ řmeskin "those who don't work stay poor"

Direct object clause (with i)

• xeǧseɣ s ttmenyaṯ [i ḏayi-yewca baba] "I paid with the money my father gave me"

Indirect object clause (with umi)

• ṯenni [umi ɣa yegg ṯiggesṯ] "every woman he makes a tattoo to…"
• āryaz [umi ṯ-wciɣ] ḏ ameddukeř inu "the man I gave it to is my friend"

Prepositional clause — preposition immediately after i

The fifth feature in action: the preposition is unusual — immediately after the relative marker, without a pronominal suffix.

• missa [i x ssaaseɣ řkas-nni] ṯ ṯameqqranṯ "the table I put that glass on is big"
• ṯaḥenjiaṯ [i ɣaa ǧa umeddukeř] "a girl who has a friend" (literally: "a girl with whom there is a friend")

15.3 Cleft sentences — "it is X that…"

A cleft splits the sentence into a pre-clause with ḏ + element and a dependent clause with the relative i.

• (d) netta i ḏ-yusin nhar-a "it is he who came today"
• (d) Mimun i ẓṛiɣ "it's Mimoun I saw"

15.4 Question word questions like cleft

Interrogative questions are syntactically similar to cleft sentences, with two differences:

• No ḏ before the question word
• No i as a relative marker

Examples:

• wi ḏawem-ṯ-yennan? "who told you?"
• min ḏ-yesya zi ssuq? “what did he bring from the market?”
• meřmi ḏ ɣa ṯawḏenṯ? "when are you getting here?"

Chapter 16 — Auxiliary Verbs

📖 Book p. 139–140

"I want to go", "I'm starting to eat", "I can swim". Tarifit constructs auxiliary verbs differently than English: with two fully conjugated verbs next to each other.

16.1 Two complete verbs next to each other

Where Dutch "I want to go" uses — with "go" in the infinitive — Tarifit uses two conjugated verbs, both for 1SG. A verbal infinitive does not exist in Tarifit.

Examples:

• yebda yetxemmem "he began to think" (literally: "he began he thinks")
• xseɣ ad meřcey "I want to get married" (literally: "I want I will get married")

Which aspect for which auxiliary verb?

Examples:

• yebda usaaḏun-nnes itett-iṯ "his mule began to eat it"
• yeqqim yeccat-iṯ itazzeř xas "he kept hitting him and running after him"
• yufi-ṯ yetxemmem "he found him thoughtful (ongoing, not completed)"
• yuf-iṯ yeffeɣ "he found him (already) gone outside (completed)"

"Become" - dweř

For change of state:

• qa yedweř ḏ aḏbib "he became a doctor"
• yedweř qaɛ yeggenfa "he is completely healed"

16.2 illa / belli “that” — conjunction of content

For "[I know] that…" you use illa or belli:

• yessen illa ad ariɣ "he knows I will write"
• qa ṯessned illa ḏ mmi-m "you know it's your son"
• teɛqr-iṯ illa ḏ mmi-s "she recognized that he was her son"

In denial you use ma instead of illa:

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

Chapter 17 — Conjunctions

📖 Book p. 141–146

“And, or, but, if, when, because, so that” — coordination and subordination. A few conjunctions cause clitic-fronting (see Chapter 7.3), most do not.

17.1 Coordination — “and, or, but”

ḏ “and” — for nouns only

• netta ḏ umeddukeř nnes "he and his friend"
• imendi ḏ farina ḏ yārḏen "barley, soft grain and wheat"

ḏ connects never whole sentences. For "and after" between sentences, use intonation or an Aorist continuation.

niɣ "or"

• ma yettef mliḥ niɣ lla? "It's holding up well, isn't it?"
• ma ḏ azeggwaɣ niɣ ḏ acemřař? "is it red or white?"

"But" - macca, walakin, walayenni, seɛɛa

Four variants with subtly different tones. maca and walakin are neutral; walayenni sounds more formal; seɛɛa often introduces an unexpected twist ("...but in reality").

• qa ɣari mmi ḏ waɛabib-inu, macca waa ssineɣ mmi zeggw aɛabib-inu "I have a son and a stepson, but I can't tell them apart"
• … seɛɛa yiwi-ṯ-id yeddaa “…but he brought him back alive”

“Neither… nor” — řa … řa (in negation)

• waa ɣaawem řa yemma-twem řa ɛenti-twem "you have neither a mother nor an aunt"

17.2 Subordination

Hypothesis — mařa "as"

For real condition ("if/when X happens, then Y"):

• mařa ṯexseḏ a ḏam-ṯ-newc "if you want, we'll give it to you"
• mařa waa ffiyenṯ ad ffɣeɣ necc "if they don't go out, I'll go out myself"

Counterfactual — mři, meɛlik "if (but not)"

For unreal conditions — situations that have not happened or cannot happen:

• mři ḏ-usiɣ ifi cciɣ "If I had come, I would have eaten"
• meɛlik c-ṯuɣa ḏ uma… "if you had been my brother…"

The particle ifi (as in ifi cciɣ) marks the hypothetical outcome here.

“Even if” — waxxa

• waxxa ṯemmuṯ waa nzemmaa a ṯ-necc "even if she was dead, we couldn't eat her"

Time - umi, fami "then (past)"

• umi ṯ-yenɣa, ṯḥedd "When he had killed him, she rose"

Time - xmi, xemmi "when (present/future)"

• xemmi traggwaḥen ɣaa ṯaḏḏarṯ teqqar-asen attas "when they go home she tells them a lot"

Other conjunctions

Examples:

• ɛefseɣ x uma amen yettes "I stepped on my brother while he was sleeping"
• yeggwa itett "he walked and ate (at the same time)"
• qbeř ɣa xeřgeɣ usin-d lwalidin-inu ɣaa Hulanḏa "before I was born, my parents came to the Netherlands"
• teggen řfaxaa ḥuma ad ssenwen lmakla "they make charcoal to cook food"

Chapter 18 — Sample Texts and Dialogues

📖 Book p. 147+

The book provides complete texts in which everything previously discussed comes together. Below are a number of useful sentences, with references to where the construction is discussed in the course.

18.1 What's in the book

1. An autobiographical text about how fairy tales were told in the Rif
2. A traditional fairy tale "The pearl boy and his mother"
3. An excerpt from an Islamic sermon
4. Short traditional izřan (two-line lies)
5. Dialogues — including greetings

18.2 Useful phrases from the dialogues

Greeting

• aqq-ec mliḥ? "how are you? / are you good?" — pseudo-verb aqqa (Chapter 8.3)

From the story of Eali Amaziɣ

• ma ṯettsed niɣ ɛaḏ waa ṯettiseḏ? "Are you asleep yet or not yet?" — yes/no question (Chapter 12.1)
• necc ɛaḏ waa ttiseɣ ca "I'm not sleeping yet" — Negative Imperfective (Chapter 13.5)

From the fairy tale

• yekkaa ijj uzeǧid “there once was a king” — story opener with Perfective
• ɣaas ijjen yiyyaa n yārḏen yemyaa “he had a large wheat field” — property with ɣaa (Chapter 13.4)

Final summary — The most important lessons

A compact review of all the main concepts from Mourigh & Kossmann (2019), in the order in which they support each other.

The ten most important concepts

1. Vowels — three real (a, i, u) plus the schwa e. Dark consonants make vowels duller.
2. Three r's — r (regular), ř (from historical l), ṛ (dark). The r often disappears and becomes a long vowel (ɣaa from older yar).
3. Three noun classes — Class I (Tarifit style, met a-/ṯa-), Class II (Arabic, met ř-, l- or reduplication), Class III (family terms without a prefix, with "my" baked in).
4. Gender — ṯa-…-ṯ makes a Class I word feminine. Languages ​​are always feminine; sometimes M/F expresses a big-small distinction.
5. State (FS/AS) — Class I only. Free State by itself, before verb, as direct object, topicalized, and after aṛ / ḇřa / amecnaw. Annexed State after verb, after all other prepositions, post-topic, and after u-, ayṯ-, bu-, m(u)-.
6. Verb — five forms — Aorist, Perfective, Imperfective, Negative Perfective, Negative Imperfective.
7. Aspect, not time — Tarifit codes "how is the action progressing" (completed / ongoing / not realized), not when. Time is a combination of aspect + particles.
8. VSO word order — Verb first, then subject, then remainder. Subject after verb is in AS.
9. Pronouns stick — to verb, preposition or family word. Fixed order: Indirect Object — Direct Object — ḏ "over here". Jump forward in five situations (Chapter 7.3).
10. Five pseudo-verbs — qa (currently relevant), ṯuɣa (past), aqqa (presentational), tɣiř (perceptive), aɣ (offering). No aspect conjugation, but clitic suffixes.

What you have now

With this summary you have the academic basis that Mourigh & Kossmann (2019) offers. You know:

• Which words fall into which class, and how to recognize their state.
• How to form sentences in each of the aspect forms.
• How pronominalization works — three sets of clitics, with clitic-fronting in five situations.
• How yes/no questions, interrogative questions, and cleft sentences differ syntactically.
• Which conjunctions have which aspect and clitic consequences.

Next step

This is the complete basis grammatically. The next step is from grammar to course materials — build practice blocks from these structures for family and people in the diaspora who want to learn or strengthen Tarifit as a heritage language.