ilf

Tashelhit

ايلف

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Afroasiatic

Proto-Berber *a-alăf

Proto-Berber *elăf

Tashelhit ilf

Inherited from Proto-Berber *elăf (“hog”), from earlier *a-alăf, from Proto-Afroasiatic. Cognate with Tarifit iřef (“wild boar”) and Guanche ilfe (“pig”). Possibly a doublet of lḥlluf.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ilf/

Noun

ilf m (plural alfiwn, feminine equivalent tilft, Tifinagh spelling ⵉⵍⴼ, Arabic spelling ايلف)

1. wild boar, pig

   Synonyms: bu tagant, murran

   ايطّاف وكاضن زوند وين ييلف

   iṭṭaf ukaḍn zund win yilf

   It has canines that resemble the tusks of wild boars.

Inflection

Inflection of ilf

	singular	plural
free state	ilf	alfan, alfiwn, ilfan
annexed state	yilf	walfan, walfiwn, yilfan

Derived terms

• aknuz n yilf (“young wild boar”)
• ilf n iṛumin (“domestic pig”)

See also

• akʷḍ (“tusk”)
• amuddr, lbhimt (“animal”)
• aydi (“dog”)
• tagant (“forest”)

References

• Stroomer, Harry (2025), Dictionnaire berbère tachelḥiyt-français — Tome 1 A–E (Handbook of Oriental Studies – Handbuch der Orientalistik; 188/1) (in French), Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, →DOI, →ISBN, pages 1088b-1089a