8 1 Introduction
where Tuareg-Bella groups are found, they are often in contact with Arab
groups, and both Arab and Tuareg-Bella minorities are found in the larger
towns and cities (Goundam proper, Timbuktu and its ports, Gourma Rharous).
The local Arabic vernacular is a variety of Hassaniya Arabic, the beduin
Arabic of Mali, Mauritania, and the Western Sahara. The local variety differs
somewhat from the better described Mauritanian norm, for example in
preserving short *u as a distinct phoneme. Comparison of Timbuktu-area
Hassaniya with Timbuktu-area Tamashek indicates that although Hassaniya
has many Berber loanwords, the latter are usually not from the (current) local
Tamashek varieties. It appears that most of the Berber lexical stratum in
Timbuktu Hassaniya derives either from non-local Berber languages
(including Zenaga in Mauritania), or from former Berber languages of the
Timbuktu area that are no longer extant locally. Tamashek likewise is deeply
impregnated with Arabic vocabulary, but much of it seems to reflect more
ancient Arab-Tuareg contacts, probably much farther north.
Along the Niger River itself, thoughout the zone relevant to Tamashek, the
dominant languages are Koyra Chiini (e.g. Goundam, Timbuktu) and
Koyraboro Senni (from Gourma Rharous and Bamba through Gao to the
border with the Republic of Niger). These are the two major Songhay
languages of Mali. Koyra Chiini is of S-infl-V-0 type with traces marking
object extraction sites, while Koyraboro Senni is an S-infl-O-V-X language
with resumptive pronouns in extraction contexts. Current government
nomenclature lumps them together (along with other Songhay languages) as
"soqay," only the Koyraboro Senni dialect of Gao being taught in literacy
programs. In any event, the local Songhay variety is used in interethnic
communication (e.g. in the markets) and is generally learned by Tuaregs and
Bellas as a second language. As the Tuareg and Bella resettle into towns and
cities where a Songhay language predominates, and partially adjust in lifestyle
(e.g. shifting from milk and cheese to millet grain as a staple food), some
relevant Songhay vocabulary is creeping into Tamashek speech.
In the major Tuareg concentration in the north around Kidal and the hills
of the Adrar des Ifoghas, there are no major competing languages, though
there are a few Arab villages and some Arab traders in the towns.
In the Gourma (the area south of the Niger River), there are broad
expanses of flat, arid land away from the river that the Tuaregs and Bellas have
largely to themselves. However, as they approach the river they encounter
speakers of the Songhay languages mentioned above, and there are some
Songhay in Gosi (the only real town). At the southern fringe of the Gourma,
where the flat land is suddenly punctuated by the cliff faces of inselbergs, the
few local Tuareg encounter speakers of another Songhay language, Humburi
Senni of the Hombori area, along with ethnic Fula who speak either Fulfulde
or a variety of Koyraboro Senni called Foulan Kirya. Since many of the
Tuareg of the Gourma have migrated recently from the Timbuktu-Goundam
area, the local Tamashek variety seems to have been little affected by these
peripheral contacts.