page_title: Shilha language
hierarchical_section_title: Shilha language
caption_attribution_description: English: Language areas in Morocco - Tachelhit
context_page_description: Shilha is a Berber language native to Shilha people. It is spoken by more than eight million people in southwestern Morocco. The endonym is Tašlḥiyt /taʃlʜijt/, and in recent English publications the language is often rendered Tashelhiyt or Tashelhit. In Moroccan Arabic the language is called Šəlḥa, from which the alternative English name Shilha is derived. In French sources the language is called tachelhit, chelha or chleuh.
  Shilha is spoken in an area covering c. 100,000 square kilometres, comprising the western part of the High Atlas mountains and the regions to the south up to the Draa River, including the Anti-Atlas and the alluvial basin of the Sous River. The largest urban centres in the area are the coastal city of Agadir and the towns of Guelmim, Taroudant, Oulad Teima, Tiznit and Ouarzazate.
  In the north and to the south, Shilha borders on Arabic-speaking areas. In the northeast, roughly along the line Marrakesh-Zagora, there is a dialect continuum with Central Atlas Tamazight. Within the Shilha area, there are several Arabic-speaking enclaves, notably the town of Taroudannt and its surroundings.
context_section_description: Shilha /ˈʃɪlhə/ is a Berber language native to Shilha people. It is spoken by more than eight million people in southwestern Morocco. The endonym is Tašlḥiyt /taʃlʜijt/, and in recent English publications the language is often rendered Tashelhiyt or Tashelhit. In Moroccan Arabic the language is called Šəlḥa, from which the alternative English name Shilha is derived. In French sources the language is called tachelhit, chelha or chleuh.
  Shilha is spoken in an area covering c. 100,000 square kilometres, comprising the western part of the High Atlas mountains and the regions to the south up to the Draa River, including the Anti-Atlas and the alluvial basin of the Sous River. The largest urban centres in the area are the coastal city of Agadir (population over 400,000) and the towns of Guelmim, Taroudant, Oulad Teima, Tiznit and Ouarzazate.
  In the north and to the south, Shilha borders on Arabic-speaking areas. In the northeast, roughly along the line Marrakesh-Zagora, there is a dialect continuum with Central Atlas Tamazight. Within the Shilha area, there are several Arabic-speaking enclaves, notably the town of Taroudannt and its surroundings. Substantial Shilha-speaking migrant communities are found in most of the larger towns and cities of northern Morocco and outside Morocco in Belgium, France, Germany, Canada, the United States and Israel.
  Shilha possesses a distinct and substantial literary tradition that can be traced back several centuries before the colonial era. Many texts, written in Arabic script and dating from the late 16th century to the present, are preserved in manuscripts. A modern printed literature in Shilha has developed since the 1970s.
caption:   Shilha language area
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