Heath, Jeffrey
Hassaniya Arabic (Mali): Poetic and Ethnographic Texts

The texts, recorded in 1986-1989 and presented in transcription with English translations, document a Timbuktu/Gao vernacular which shows very little exposure to literary Arabic. This relatively pure beduin Arabic is closely related to varieties spoken in Mauritania and southern Algeria. The ethnographic texts cover such topics as the annual salt caravans from Timbuktu to Taoudenni, the perils of the pastoral life, and adjustments to city life. The "poetic" texts include recitations of locally familiar poems, typically integrated into narratives or otherwise contextualized. The poems, consisting of quatrains (gaf) and more extended poems (tal'a), are often satirical or even bawdy in nature. 207 Seiten, broschiert (Semitica Viva; Band 31/Harrassowitz 2003)