Berber languages

Berber
Tamazight
Amazigh
تَمَزِيغت‎
Tamaziɣt
ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ
Geographic
distribution		Scattered communities across parts of North Africa and Berber diaspora
EthnicityBerbers
Linguistic classificationAfro-Asiatic
  • Berber
Proto-languageProto-Berber
Subdivisions
  • Northern
  • Western
  • Tuareg
  • Eastern
  • ? Numidian †
  • ? Guanche †
  • ? Kehek †
Language codes
ISO 639-2 / 5ber
Glottologberb1260
Berber-speaking populations are dominant in the coloured areas of Africa. Other areas, especially in North Africa, contain minority Berber-speaking populations.

The Berber languages, also known as the Amazigh languages[a] or Tamazight,[b] are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family.[1][2] They comprise a group of closely related but mostly mutually unintelligible languages[3] spoken by Berber communities, who are indigenous to North Africa.[4][5] The languages are primarily spoken and not typically written.[6] Historically, they have been written with the ancient Libyco-Berber script, which now exists in the form of Tifinagh.[7][8] Today, they may also be written in the Berber Latin alphabet or the Arabic script, with Latin being the most pervasive.[9][10][11]

The Berber languages have a level of variety similar to the Romance languages, although they are sometimes referred to as a single collective language, often as "Berber", "Tamazight", or "Amazigh".[12][13][2][14] The languages, with a few exceptions, form a dialect continuum.[12] There is a debate as to how to best sub-categorize languages within the Berber branch.[12][15] Berber languages typically follow verb–subject–object word order.[16][17] Their phonological inventories are diverse.[15]

Millions of people in Morocco and Algeria natively speak a Berber language, as do smaller populations of Libya, Tunisia, northern Mali, western and northern Niger, northern Burkina Faso and Mauritania and the Siwa Oasis of Egypt.[18] There are also probably a few million speakers of Berber languages in Western Europe.[19] Tashlhiyt, Kabyle, Central Atlas Tamazight, Tarifit, and Shawiya are some of the most commonly spoken Berber languages.[18] Exact numbers are impossible to ascertain as there are few modern North African censuses that include questions on language use, and what censuses do exist have known flaws.[20]

Following independence in the 20th century, the Berber languages have been suppressed and suffered from low prestige in North Africa.[20] Recognition of the Berber languages has been growing in the 21st century, with Morocco and Algeria adding Tamazight as an official language to their constitutions in 2011 and 2016 respectively.[20][21][22]

Most Berber languages have a high percentage of borrowing and influence from the Arabic language, as well as from other languages.[23] For example, Arabic loanwords represent 35%[24] to 46%[25] of the total vocabulary of the Kabyle language and represent 44.9% of the total vocabulary of Tarifit.[26] Almost all Berber languages took from Arabic the pharyngeal fricatives /ʕ/ and /ħ/, the (nongeminated) uvular stop /q/, and the voiceless pharyngealized consonant /ṣ/.[27] Unlike the Chadic, Cushitic, and Omotic languages of the Afro-Asiatic phylum, Berber languages are not tonal languages.[28][29]


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ Lafkioui, Mena B. (24 May 2018). "Berber Languages and Linguistics". Oxford Bibliographies: 9780199772810–0219. doi:10.1093/obo/9780199772810-0219. Archived from the original on 23 November 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Ekkehard Wolff-2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Baldauf, Richard B.; Kaplan, Robert B. (1 January 2007). Language Planning and Policy in Africa. Multilingual Matters. p. 49. ISBN 978-1-84769-011-1. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023. Most languages of the Berber branch are mutually unintelligible.
  4. ^ Hayward, Richard J., chapter Afroasiatic in Heine, Bernd & Nurse, Derek, editors, African Languages: An Introduction Cambridge 2000. ISBN 0-521-66629-5.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Brett was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Campbell-2012b was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Briggs, L. Cabot (February 1957). "A Review of the Physical Anthropology of the Sahara and Its Prehistoric Implications". Man. 56: 20–23. doi:10.2307/2793877. JSTOR 2793877.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Punic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Soulaimani, Dris (2 January 2016). "Writing and rewriting Amazigh/Berber identity: Orthographies and language ideologies". Writing Systems Research. 8 (1): 2–5. doi:10.1080/17586801.2015.1023176. ISSN 1758-6801. S2CID 144700140. Archived from the original on 26 May 2024. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference choice was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Silverstein, Paul; Crawford, David (2004). "Amazigh Activism and the Moroccan State". Middle East Report (233): 46. doi:10.2307/1559451. ISSN 0899-2851. JSTOR 1559451. Archived from the original on 19 December 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  12. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Kossmann-2020b was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ridouane-2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference Peab was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Kossmann-2012a was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kossmann-2007d was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference Mettouchi-2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ a b Maddy-Weitzman, Bruce (2011). The Berber identity movement and the challenge to North African states (1st ed.). Austin: University of Texas Press. pp. 2–3. ISBN 978-0-292-72587-4. OCLC 679936739.
  19. ^ Kossmann, Maarten G. (2013). The Arabic influence on Northern Berber. Leiden. p. 24. ISBN 978-90-04-25309-4. OCLC 858861608.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  20. ^ a b c Kossmann, Maarten G. (2013). The Arabic influence on Northern Berber. Leiden. pp. 30–31. ISBN 978-90-04-25309-4. OCLC 858861608.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference Madanin-2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC News-2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ Mattar, Philip (2004). Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East & North Africa: Aaronsohn-Cyril VI. Macmillan Reference USA. p. 463. ISBN 978-0-02-865769-1. Archived from the original on 10 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023. Most Berber languages have a high percentage of borrowing from Arabic, as well as from other languages.
  24. ^ Baldauf, Richard B.; Kaplan, Robert B. (1 January 2007). Language Planning and Policy in Africa. Multilingual Matters. ISBN 978-1-84769-011-1. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  25. ^ Kossmann, Maarten (18 July 2013). The Arabic Influence on Northern Berber. Brill. p. 98. ISBN 978-90-04-25309-4. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  26. ^ Kossmann, Maarten (18 July 2013). The Arabic Influence on Northern Berber. Brill. p. 102. ISBN 978-90-04-25309-4.
  27. ^ Kossmann, Maarten (29 March 2017), "Berber-Arabic Language Contact", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.232, ISBN 978-0-19-938465-5, archived from the original on 26 May 2024, retrieved 30 May 2023
  28. ^ "Berber Language Family | History & Culture | Britannica". Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  29. ^ "Cushitic languages | Phonetics & Phonology | Britannica". Archived from the original on 4 March 2024. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
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