| Also Known As: Southern Shilha,Tasoussit,Shilha,Tashelhait,Tachilhit,Susiua,Tashelhit,Tashilheet,Tashelhayt,Tachelhit,Tashelheyt
Description:
Tashelhiyt (also Tashelhit or Tachelhit or Tachelhiyt or Shilha, native name: tašlḥiyt, French: tachelhit, Arabic: تشلحيت) is the largest Berber language by number of speakers (between 8 and 10 million). Tashelhiyt is spoken in Southern Morocco an area ranging from the northern slopes of the High-Atlas to the southern slopes of the Anti-Atlas, bounded to the west by the Atlantic Ocean. The eastern limit of the Tashelhiyt area is difficult to pinpoint because of a smooth transition into Southern Middle Atlas Berber or Tamazight. The Sous region is central to the Tashelhiyt area, therefore the language is often called Sous-Berber or tasusiyt (tasousit), even though it stretches to surrounding regions well outside of Sous. Tashelhiyt is known for its rich oral literature. Literature written in the Arabic script has been produced from the second half of sixteenth century on; Muhammad Awzal (ca. 1680-1749) was the most prolific poet of the Tashelhiyt literary tradition.
The Sous (Arabic: bilād as-Sūs; Berber: tamazirt n Sus), one of Morocco's most fertile regions, irrigated by the Wadi Sous and separated from the Sahara by the Anti-Atlas Mountains, is the central area of the Chleuhs..... full article at Wikipedia |
