Shilha people

Shilha (Chleuh)
Išlḥiyn
Total population
(approx. 4 million (2004 census))
Regions with significant populations
Morocco - Atlas Mountains, Souss Valley
Languages
Shilha-Berber
Religion
Predominantly Muslim, Jewish and Christian minority
Related ethnic groups
Berbers
Person

ašlḥiy (male speaker), tašlḥiyt (female speaker)

People

išlḥiyn

Language

tašlḥiyt

The Shilha people or Shluh are a Berber ethnic group in Morocco.[1] The self-name is Išlḥiyn, in French literature they usually are referred to as les Chleuhs. They live mainly in Morocco's Atlas Mountains and Souss Valley. The speak the Tashelhiyt language, which has around 4 million speakers (2004 census). [2]

The indigenous peoples of the central Moroccan coast, noted by the early Phoenician explorers, would have been the Chleuh. The first millennium voyages of Hanno described the Phoenicians' methods of peacefully trading with the native peoples of the Mogador area.[3]

The Shilha are associated with Berber music and dance.

Through a process of linguistic transference, from the period of French colonial rule in North Africa, the name "Chleuh" also came to be a French pejorative term for Germans.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Shluh", Encyclopædia Britannica online, 2008, webpage: EB-Shluh.
  2. ↑ Lewis, M. Paul et al., eds. (2015). Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Retrieved 29 July 2015..
  3. ↑ C. Michael Hogan, Mogador: promontory fort, The Megalithic Portal, ed. Andy Burnham, Nov. 2, 2007, webpage: Megalithic-17926.

References

External links

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