Youcef Ghettas, a computer scientist from Blidet-Amor, Algeria has assisted in the publication of a Berber glossary for Tachelhit, a dialect spoken by the Berber Shilha people. Berbers are an ethnic group indigenous to North Africa. The Berbers range in their cultural heritage and ancestry however they are united by their language. The Shilha Berbers live in the High Atlas Mountains, up to the Draa River. From north to south, Shila or Tachelhit is spoken in areas from Marrakech to Zagora.
The First Edition of Berber Language Glossary Published by Ghettas contains the entire Amazigh alphabet.
Ghettas’s 58-page glossary contains the Amazigh alphabet and is titled “Lles’enna” (our Tachelhit language). It aims to assist Amazigh language learners, preserve Amazigh heritage, and assist readers in understanding the alphabet and how to pronounce it. “Lles’enna” is supported by 700 lexemes, introduces names of animals and domestic objects. The images and explanatory drawings are in Tifinagh and phonetic sounds are assisted with Latin and Arabic characters. Also included are the Amazigh general grammar, syntactic rules, pronouns, punctuation, and other components.
To write the book, Ghettas received help from the elders of the Goug, Blidet-Amor and Megarine regions.