Vocabulary
Kabyle has absorbed quite some Arabic and Latin vocabulary. According to Salem Chaker, about a third of Kabyle vocabulary is of foreign origin; the amount of French loanwords has not been studied yet. These loanwords are sometimes Berberized and sometimes kept in their original form. The Berberized words follow the regular grammar of Kabyle (free and annexed state).
Examples of berberized Arabic or French words :
- Kitab => Taktabt (Book, Ar.)
- Machine => Tamacint (Machine, Fr.)
Many loanwords from Arabic have often a different meaning in Kabyle:
- El Mal (Money, Ar.) => Lmal (Domestic animals, Kab.)
All verbs of Arabic origin follow a Berber conjugation and verbal derivation:
- fhem (to understand) => ssefhem (to explain).
Only the first two numbers are Berber; for higher numbers, Arabic is used. They are yiwen (f. yiwet) "one", sin (f. snat) "two". The noun being counted follows it in the genitive: sin n yirgazen "two men".
Read more about this topic: Kabyle Language
Famous quotes containing the word vocabulary:
“I have a vocabulary all my own. I “pass the time” when it is wet and disagreeable. When it is fine I do not wish to pass it; I ruminate it and hold on to it. We should hasten over the bad, and settle upon the good.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)
“A new talker will often call her caregiver “mommy,” which makes parents worry that the child is confused about who is who. She isn’t. This is a case of limited vocabulary rather than mixed-up identities. When a child has only one word for the female person who takes care of her, calling both of them “mommy” is understandable.”
—Amy Laura Dombro (20th century)
“[T]here is no breaking out of the intentional vocabulary by explaining its members in other terms.”
—Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908)