The secret morphology of Tashlhiyt Berber

Abstract

Two secret languages used in Tashlhiyt Berber are reported in work by Douchaïna (1996, 1998) and Lahrouchi & Ségéral (2009, 2010ab): Tagnawt and Taqjmit. I propose that they should both be analyzed as instances of prosodic morphology, employing the same prosodic morpheme [L.LL.L]. Prosodic morphemes are common in the regular morphology of Tashlhiyt: the prosodic foot [LL] for the imperfective and Tifrdi, the prosodic word [H.H] for Ukris, and [L.H.L] for Tirrugza, Abnakli and Azddayru (Jebbour 1999, Dell & Elmedlaoui 1992). The prosodic shape [L.LL.L] of the secret languages fills out the paradigm as a variant of [L.H.L], which appears marginally in the secret languages. The shapes [L.LL.L] and [L.H.L] are found also in Tashlhiyt verse metrics, where they form a natural class of verse feet, alternating with the anapest [LL.H] (Dell & Elmedlaoui 2008, Riad 2017). Based in part on the striking shape parallels in Tashlhiyt, I argue that there is an organic connection between prosodic morphemes and the prosodic categories employed in verse. Furthermore, the simultaneous prosodic structures that we find in verse metrics—regular prosody and meter—are applicable also to prosodic morphology, particularly clearly so in root-and-pattern formations.