Tafraout, also Tafraoute[1] (Arabic: تافراوت, Tachelhit: ⵜⴰⴼⵔⴰⵡⵜ) is a town in Tiznit Province, Souss-Massa region, Morocco. Situated in the central part of the Anti-Atlas mountains, a mountain range in Morocco which is part of the Atlas Mountains in the northwest of Africa, the town has a population of 4,931 at the 2004 census.[2]
Tafraout
تافراوت ⵜⴰⴼⵔⴰⵡⵜ | |
|---|---|
Town | |
 | |
  Tafraout Location in Morocco | |
| Coordinates: 29°43′N 8°58′W / 29.717°N 8.967°W | |
| Country |  Morocco |
| Region | Souss-Massa |
| Province | Tiznit Province |
| Population (2004) | |
• Total | 4,931 |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (WET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (WEST) |
Name and etymology
editThe basic meaning of the Shilha feminine noun tafrawt is "basin or cistern in which water drawn from a well is poured", with a derived meaning "valley".[3] The centre of the town of Tafraout is actually situated in a small valley, at the foot of Djebel Lekest, a pink granite mountain formed by erosion.[4] A male inhabitant is called in Shilha "u Tfrawt", (plural "ayt Tfrawt"); a female inhabitant is "ult Tfrawt", (plural "ist Tfrawt").[5]
The area is surrounded by mountains and olive and almond groves, as well as argan and fig trees.
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ "Tafraoute travel". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
- ^ "World Gazetteer". Archived from the original on 2013-01-05.
- ^ See Laoust (1936:123) "bassin ; citerne où s'accumule l'eau tirée d'un puits ou amenée d'une source"; Destaing (1938:288) "vallée".
- ^ Scheffel, Richard L.; Wernet, Susan J., eds. (1980). Natural Wonders of the World. United States of America: Reader's Digest Association, Inc. p. 364. ISBN 0-89577-087-3.
- ^ Tfrawt is the annexed state of the noun Tafrawt; see the article Shilha language, section Prefixed nouns.
References
edit- Destaing, E. (1938). Etude sur la tachelḥît du Soûs. Vocabulaire français-berbère. Paris: Leroux.
- Laoust, E. (1936). Cours de berbère marocain. Dialectes du Sous du Haut et de l'Anti-Atlas. Deuxième édition revue et corrigée. Paris: Société d'éditions géographiques, maritimes et coloniales (first ed. Paris: Challamel, 1921).
External links
edit
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