Editing Zenaga language (section)

==Demographics==
Zenaga is a language descended from the [[Sanhaja]] confederation who ruled over much of North Africa during the early Middle Ages. Zenaga was once spoken throughout Mauritania and beyond but fell into decline when its speakers were defeated by the invading [[Maqil]] [[Arabs]] in the [[Char Bouba war]] of the 17th century. After this war, they were forbidden to [[bear arms]] and variously became either specialists in Islamic religious scholarship or servants to more powerful tribes. It was among the former, more prestigious group that Zenaga survived longest.

In 1940 (Dubié 1940), Zenaga was spoken by about 13,000 people belonging to four nomadic tribes distributed in an area roughly bounded by [[Saint-Louis, Senegal|Saint-Louis]], [[Podor]], [[Boutilimit]] and [[Nouakchott]] (but including none of these cities):<ref>(Zenaga names from Nicolas (1953:102).)</ref>
*{{lang|zen|Tashumsha}} ('the five'): 4,653 speakers out of 12,000 members
*{{lang|zen|D-abu-djhes}} ('i-D-ab-lahs-en'): 5,000 out of 5,000
*{{lang|zen|Gumdjedjen}} ('i-Kumleil-en'), subtribe of the Ida u el Hadj: 700 (out of Ida u el Hadj population of 4,600)
*{{lang|zen|Tendgha}}: 2,889 out of 8,500

These tribes, according to Dubié, traditionally specialised in Islamic religious scholarship and led a [[nomadic]] lifestyle, specialising in sheep and cows (camel-herding branches of the same tribes had already switched to [[Arabic]]).{{sfn|Dubié|1940|page=319-320}} Even then, many speakers were shifting to [[Hassaniya Arabic]], the main [[varieties of Arabic|Arabic variety]] spoken in Mauritania, and all were bilingual. Zenaga was used only within the tribe, and it was considered impolite to speak it when non-speakers were present; some speakers deliberately avoided using Zenaga with their children, hoping to give them a head start in Hassaniya. However, many speakers regarded Zenaga as a symbol of their independence and their religious fervour; Dubie cites a Hassaniya proverb: "A Moor who speaks Zenaga is certainly not a Zenagui (that is, a {{lang|zen|laḥma}} or a member of a Berber tribe subjugated by the Arab [[Beni Hassan]]{{sfn|Dubié|1940|page=320}}), nor a warrior".{{sfn|Dubié|1940|page=320}}

Half a century later, the number of speakers is reportedly around 2,000. While Zenaga appears to be nearing extinction, Hassaniya Arabic contains a substantial number of Zenaga [[loanword]]s (more than 10% of the vocabulary).<ref>[[University of Nice Sophia Antipolis|UNICE]] foundation: [http://www.unice.fr/ILF-CNRS/ofcaf/15/queffelec.html La "longue marche" de l'arabisation en mauritanie] {{in lang|fr}}</ref>