A thread on Tamazight words that are used in Tunisian dialect

To start with , Tatunsit is the Tunisian Tamazight language that’s spoken in Tunisia so if you want to refer to Tunisian Tamazight just use Tatunsit instead.

1. Aɛazri

The arabic spelling in Tunisian arabic is “3azri/عزري” this word ia derived from the Tamazight word “آعزري” and it means “Young man”.
Another possibility, it could be a loanword from the Arabic عذري meaning Virgin or Neo-punic/hebrew “Ezri/עזרי” which means “To help”.

Semantic shift probably occurred after the term “Ezri” has been used as a common male first name then being generalized to describe any man.

2. ičhili

Or as Tunisians say Ch’hili / شهيلي , this word in Tatunsit is اشهيلي and it’s simply a type of mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and can reach hurricane speeds in North Africa and Southern Europe, especially during the summer season.
(Sirocco wind in Eng.)

3. Akkourmis

It’s called “Karmous/كرموس" in Tunisia and it’s a variation of the Tamazight original word “Akkourmis/اكرموس" which means “Fig”.
The literal meaning of Karmous is “unripe fig”

4. Ɣunjaya

Ghonjaya/غمجاية ( Ɣunjaya in Tamazight latin) which means Spoon

Ɣunjaya is also called Taɣenjawt (Taghenjawt). However the most common form is that which is built on a triliteral root ɣnj that forms Taɣwenjayt/Ɣunjaya so these words are undoubtedly

Formed based on the triliteral “ɣnj” where the verb “ɣɣunju” means : make something hollow

5. Bouzoggar

In Tunisian Arabic dialect “Bouzoggar” means “Chickenpox”and it simply came from the word “Azugaɣ/Azougagh” in Tamazight which means “red” , many Tunisians don’t know the origin of Bouzoggar yet our ancestors used it to describe Chickpenpox because of the red rash.

6. Fakroun

Which means Turtle in Tunisian Tamazight (Tatunsit)

Other Amazighs may call it :
•ifker/ايفكر (masculine)=> Ifekran (plural)
•tifkert/ثيفكرث (feminine)=> tifekratin (plural)

These are the words that came to my mind now , feel free to write others Tunisian Tamazight in this thread if you know any

Since i used Tamazight latin letters here is some rules so you can read the words :
č=ch
ɛ= pronounced like the Arabic letter ع (ayn)
ɣ=gh

And none of these words have an arabic origin so this is a little thread for pro-arabists who deny the existence of Imazighen (plural of Amazigh)

Onomasiologically speaking before the Arab invasion in North Africa , Amazighs used to call arabs (Iserɣinen/Iserghinen/إيسرغينن)