Ghomaras
Appearance
Total population | |
---|---|
1 million | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Western Rif, Morocco | |
Languages | |
Ghomara, Jebli Arabic | |
Religion | |
Islam | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Other Berbers, Jebala people |
The Ghomara are an ethnic group of northern Morocco, living between the rivers Oued Laou and Ouringa, east of Chefchaouen and south of Tetouan, in the Western Rif. The river Tiguisas runs through their territory.[2]
Originally, Ghomaras are a Berber tribal group belonging to the Masmouda confederacy. While most have shifted to speaking Arabic, a minority continue to speak the Berber Ghomara language.[2]
Tribes
The Ghomaras are traditionally divided into eight tribes:
- Beni Ziat
- Beni Zejel
- Beni Selman
- Beni Bu Zra, partially Berber speaking tribe[2]
- Beni Mansur, partially Berber speaking tribe[2]
- Beni Grir
- Beni Smih
- Beni Rezin
- Beni Khaled
Bibliography
- G. Camps & J. Vignet-Zunz, « Ghomâra », Encyclopédie berbère, vol.20, 1998, pp. 3110–3119
- Jamal el Hannouche, "Arabic influence in Ghomara Berber", Leiden University, 2010.
- Jamal el Hannouche, "Ghomara Berber, a brief grammatical survey", Leiden University, 2008.
- Peter Behnstedt, "La frontera entre el bereber y el árabe en el Rif", Estudios de dialectología norteafricana y andalusí vol. 6, 2002.
- Georges Séraphin Colin, "Le parler berbère des Ghomara", Hesperis 9, 1929, pp. 43–58.