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Concept information

Preferred term

meyHassaniyya  

Type

  • Language

Definition

  • Hassānīya ( Hassānīya; also known as Hassaniyya, Klem El Bithan, Hasanya, Hassani, Hassaniya) is the variety of Arabic originally spoken by the Beni Hassān Bedouin tribes, who extended their authority over most of Mauritania and the Western Sahara between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. It has almost completely replaced the Berber languages spoken in this region. Though clearly a western dialect, Hassānīya is relatively distant from other North African variants of Arabic. Its geographical location exposed it to influence from Zenaga and Wolof. There are several dialects of Hassaniya. The primary differences among them are phonetic. Today Hassaniya is spoken by inhabitants of Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Senegal and the Western Sahara.

Entry terms

  • Hassānīya language

ISO 639-3 code

  • mey

Notation

  • mey

In other languages

  • Hassanya

    French

  • Hassania

    German

  • Hassanía

    Spanish

URI

http://lexvo.org/id/iso639-3/mey

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