أمازيغ
Arabic
Etymology
From Central Atlas Tamazight ⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖ (amaziɣ). From the active participle ⴰⵎ (am) and ⴰⵣⵉⵖ (aziɣ) a currently unattested word in Tamazight. Historically Amazigh was identified as meaning “free-man” with suggested connections to "aze" ("to be strong" in Taznatit), or "jeɣeɣ" ("to be brave" in Tamasheq).
With the regular sound change of Tamazight ɣ → Semitic k, q; the corresponding root in Semitic, a fellow Afro-Asiatic language, is ز ك و (z-k-w), which does have the meaning of “free”, “to be purified from excess”, “to dispense of filth or materials”, to improve”, “to free something of inefficiencies”, “to shed its burdens”, “not to be bogged down”, “to allow to thrive or move freely”.[1]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʔa.maː.ziːɣ/
Noun
أَمَازِيغ • (ʾamāzīḡ) m pl or f (collective, singulative أَمَازِيغِيّ (ʾamāzīḡiyy))
- Berbers, the Berber peoples
Declension
Singular | basic singular triptote | ||
---|---|---|---|
Indefinite | Definite | Construct | |
Informal | أَمَازِيغ ʾamāzīḡ |
الْأَمَازِيغ al-ʾamāzīḡ |
أَمَازِيغ ʾamāzīḡ |
Nominative | أَمَازِيغٌ ʾamāzīḡun |
الْأَمَازِيغُ al-ʾamāzīḡu |
أَمَازِيغُ ʾamāzīḡu |
Accusative | أَمَازِيغًا ʾamāzīḡan |
الْأَمَازِيغَ al-ʾamāzīḡa |
أَمَازِيغَ ʾamāzīḡa |
Genitive | أَمَازِيغٍ ʾamāzīḡin |
الْأَمَازِيغِ al-ʾamāzīḡi |
أَمَازِيغِ ʾamāzīḡi |
Derived terms
- أَمَازِيغِيّ (ʾamāzīḡiyy)
References
- “زكو” in Edward William Lane (1863), Arabic-English Lexicon, London: Williams & Norgate, pages 1240-1241