Shilha language

Shilha or Sussian (Berber: ⵜⴰⵙⵓⵙⵙⵉⵜ) /ˈʃɪlhə/ is a Berber language native to Sussians. It is spoken by around 4 million people in western Morocco. The endonym is Tašussit or Tašlḥiyt /taʃlʜijt/, and in recent English publications the language is often rendered Tasussit or Tashelhit. In Moroccan Arabic the language is called Šussia or Šəlḥa, from which the alternative English name Shilha is derived. In French sources the language is called Soussi, Tasussit, tachelhit or chelha.

Sussian 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, Taroudannt, Oulad Teima, Tiznit and Ouarzazate.

In the north and to the south, Sussian 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 Sussian area, there are several Arabic-speaking enclaves, notably around the town of Taroudannt. Substantial Sussian-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.