View source for Berber languages

{{Short description|Family of languages and dialects Indigenous to North Africa}}
{{Redirect-distinguish|Tamazight|Tarifit{{!}}Tmazight}}
{{Infobox language family
| name          = Berber
| altname       = Tamazight<br/>Amazigh<br/>{{lang|tmh|{{Script/Arabic|تَمَزِيغت}}}}<br/>Tamaziɣt<br/>ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ
| ethnicity     = [[Berbers]]
| region        = Scattered communities across parts of [[North Africa]] and [[Berbers#Diaspora|Berber diaspora]]
| familycolor   = Afroasiatic
| protoname     = [[Proto-Berber language|Proto-Berber]]
| child1        = [[Northern Berber languages|Northern]]
| child2        = [[Western Berber languages|Western]]
| child3        = [[Tuareg languages|Tuareg]]
| child4        = [[Eastern Berber languages|Eastern]]
| child5        = ? ''[[Numidian language|Numidian]]'' †
| child6        = ? ''[[Guanche language|Guanche]]'' †
| iso2          = ber
| iso5          = ber
| glotto        = berb1260
| glottorefname = Berber
| map           = Map of Berber Languages 2018.png
| mapcaption    = Berber-speaking populations are dominant in the coloured areas of Africa. Other areas, especially in North Africa, contain minority Berber-speaking populations.<br/>{{col-begin}}{{col-break}}
'''Northern Berber'''

''Kabyle''
{{legend|#5D0295| [[Kabyle language|Kabyle]] (Taqbaylit)}}

''Atlas''
{{legend|#BB2215|[[Central Atlas Tamazight]] (Tamaziɣt)}}
{{legend|#FF6A73|[[Shilha language|Shilha]] (Tacelḥit) }}
{{legend|#84003F|[[Sanhaja de Srair language|Senhaja de Srair]] & [[Ghomara language|Ghomara]]}}

''Zenati''
{{legend|#7FE4B3|[[Tarifit]]}}
{{legend|#AFF5B6|[[Ait Seghrouchen Berber|Ayt Seghrouchen]] & [[Eastern Middle Atlas Berber|Ayt Warayn]]}}
{{legend|#308D2E|[[Shenwa language|Shenwa]]}}
{{legend|#00571E|[[Shawiya language|Shawiya]]}}
{{legend|#C4F361|Other Zenati ([[Mzab–Wargla languages|Mzab-Wargla]], [[East Zenati languages|East Zenati]])}}
{{col-break}}
'''Western Berber'''
{{legend|#034665|[[Zenaga language|Zenaga]] (Tuẓẓungiyya)}}{{legend|#035965|[[Tetserret language|Tetserret]]}}

'''Eastern Berber'''
{{legend|#FFD873|[[Eastern Berber languages|Eastern Berber]] (Siwi, Nafusi, Sokna, Ghadamès, Awjila)}}

'''Tuareg'''
{{legend|#6495ED|[[Tuareg languages|Tuareg]] (Tamasheq)}}

{{col-end}}
| child7        = ? ''[[Kehek language|Kehek]]'' †
}}

{{Contains special characters|Tifinagh}}

The '''Berber languages''', also known as the '''Amazigh languages'''{{efn|Pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˌ|æ|m|ə|ˈ|z|iː|k|,_|-|iː|x}} {{respell|AM|ə|ZEEK(H)}}.}} or '''Tamazight''',{{efn|Pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˌ|t|æ|m|ə|ˈ|z|ɪ|k|t|,_|-|ɪ|x|t|,_|ˌ|t|ɑː|m|-}} {{respell|TA(H)M|ə|ZIK(H)T}}; Berber name: {{lang|ber-Latn|Tamaziɣt}} (nonstandard romanizations: {{lang|ber-Latn|Tamazight}}, {{lang|ber-Latn|Thamazight}}; {{langx|ber-Tfng|label=[[Neo-Tifinagh]]|ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ}}; {{langx|ber-Tfng|label=[[Tuareg]] [[Tifinagh]]|ⵜⵎⵣⵗⵜ}}; {{langx|ber-Arab|label=[[Berber Arabic alphabet|Arabic]]|تمازيغت}} or {{lang|ber-Arab|تمزيغت}}; {{IPA|ber|tæmæˈzɪɣt, θæmæˈzɪɣθ|pron|small=no}}). Variant forms of this name include {{lang|ber-Latn|Tmaziɣt}} (seen in many [[Zenati languages]]).}} are a branch of the [[Afroasiatic languages|Afroasiatic language family]].<ref>{{Cite journal |journal=Oxford Bibliographies |last=Lafkioui |first=Mena B. |date=2018-05-24 |title=Berber Languages and Linguistics |url=https://oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199772810/obo-9780199772810-0219.xml |language=en |pages=9780199772810–0219 |doi=10.1093/obo/9780199772810-0219 |access-date=14 December 2022 |archive-date=23 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123042953/https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199772810/obo-9780199772810-0219.xml |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Ekkehard Wolff-2013"/> They comprise a group of closely related but mostly [[mutual intelligibility|mutually unintelligible]] languages<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Baldauf |first1=Richard B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sabe8l9hox0C&pg=PA49 |title=Language Planning and Policy in Africa |last2=Kaplan |first2=Robert B. |date=2007-01-01 |publisher=Multilingual Matters |isbn=978-1-84769-011-1 |pages=49 |language=en |quote=Most languages of the Berber branch are mutually unintelligible. |access-date=25 June 2023 |archive-date=1 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601114539/https://books.google.com/books?id=Sabe8l9hox0C&pg=PA49 |url-status=live }}</ref> spoken by [[Berbers|Berber]] communities, who are indigenous to [[North Africa]].<ref name="Hayward-2000">Hayward, Richard J., chapter ''Afroasiatic'' in Heine, Bernd & Nurse, Derek, editors, ''African Languages: An Introduction'' Cambridge 2000. {{ISBN|0-521-66629-5}}.</ref><ref name="Brett" /> The languages are primarily spoken and not typically written.<ref name="Campbell-2012b"/> Historically, they have been written with the ancient [[Libyco-Berber]] script, which now exists in the form of [[Tifinagh]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Briggs|first1=L. Cabot|title=A Review of the Physical Anthropology of the Sahara and Its Prehistoric Implications|journal=Man|volume=56|pages=20–23|date=February 1957|doi=10.2307/2793877|jstor=2793877}}</ref><ref name="Punic" /> Today, they may also be written in the [[Berber Latin alphabet]] or the [[Arabic script]], with Latin being the most pervasive.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Soulaimani |first=Dris |date=2016-01-02 |title=Writing and rewriting Amazigh/Berber identity: Orthographies and language ideologies |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/17586801.2015.1023176 |journal=Writing Systems Research |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=2–5 |doi=10.1080/17586801.2015.1023176 |s2cid=144700140 |issn=1758-6801 |access-date=20 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526081210/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17586801.2015.1023176 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="choice" /><ref name="Silverstein-2004">{{Cite journal |last1=Silverstein |first1=Paul |last2=Crawford |first2=David |date=2004 |title=Amazigh Activism and the Moroccan State |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1559451 |journal=Middle East Report |issue=233 |pages=46 |doi=10.2307/1559451 |jstor=1559451 |issn=0899-2851 |access-date=20 December 2022 |archive-date=19 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221219145209/https://www.jstor.org/stable/1559451 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

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".<ref name="Kossmann-2020b" /><ref name="Ridouane-2014" /><ref name="Ekkehard Wolff-2013" /><ref name="Peab" /> The languages, with a few exceptions, form a [[dialect continuum]].<ref name="Kossmann-2020b" /> There is a debate as to how to best sub-categorize languages within the Berber branch.<ref name="Kossmann-2020b" /><ref name="Kossmann-2012a" /> Berber languages typically follow [[verb–subject–object word order]].<ref name="Kossmann-2007d" /><ref name="Mettouchi-2010" /> Their phonological inventories are diverse.<ref name="Kossmann-2012a" />

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]].<ref name="Maddy-Weitzman-2011b">{{Cite book |last=Maddy-Weitzman |first=Bruce |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/679936739 |title=The Berber identity movement and the challenge to North African states |date=2011 |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=978-0-292-72587-4 |edition=1st |location=Austin |pages=2–3 |oclc=679936739 |access-date=20 March 2023 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526081212/https://search.worldcat.org/title/679936739 |url-status=live }}</ref> There are also probably a few million speakers of Berber languages in [[Western Europe]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten G. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/858861608 |title=The Arabic influence on Northern Berber |date=2013 |isbn=978-90-04-25309-4 |location=Leiden |pages=24 |oclc=858861608 |access-date=17 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526081213/https://search.worldcat.org/title/858861608 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Shilha language|Tashlhiyt]], [[Kabyle language|Kabyle]], [[Central Atlas Tamazight]], [[Riffian language|Tarifit]], and [[Shawiya language|Shawiya]] are some of the most commonly spoken Berber languages.<ref name="Maddy-Weitzman-2011b" /> 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.<ref name="Kossmann-2013d">{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten G. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/858861608 |title=The Arabic influence on Northern Berber |date=2013 |isbn=978-90-04-25309-4 |location=Leiden |pages=30–31 |oclc=858861608 |access-date=17 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526081213/https://search.worldcat.org/title/858861608 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Following independence in the 20th century, the Berber languages have been suppressed and suffered from low [[Prestige (sociolinguistics)|prestige]] in [[North Africa]].<ref name="Kossmann-2013d" /> 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.<ref name="Kossmann-2013d" /><ref name="Madanin-2012" /><ref name="BBC News-2016" />

Most Berber languages have a high percentage of borrowing and influence from the [[Arabic|Arabic language]], as well as from other languages.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mattar |first=Philip |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NDEOAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA463 |title=Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East & North Africa: Aaronsohn-Cyril VI |date=2004 |publisher=Macmillan Reference USA |isbn=978-0-02-865769-1 |pages=463 |language=en |quote=Most Berber languages have a high percentage of borrowing from Arabic, as well as from other languages. |access-date=25 June 2023 |archive-date=10 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230610193418/https://books.google.com/books?id=NDEOAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA463 |url-status=live }}</ref> For example, Arabic loanwords represent 35%<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Baldauf |first1=Richard B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sabe8l9hox0C&pg=PA50 |title=Language Planning and Policy in Africa |last2=Kaplan |first2=Robert B. |date=2007-01-01 |publisher=Multilingual Matters |isbn=978-1-84769-011-1 |language=en |access-date=25 June 2023 |archive-date=31 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131153531/https://books.google.com/books?id=Sabe8l9hox0C&pg=PA50 |url-status=live }}</ref> to 46%<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten |author-link=Maarten Kossmann |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Se-BAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA98 |title=The Arabic Influence on Northern Berber |date=2013-07-18 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |isbn=978-90-04-25309-4 |pages=98 |language=en |access-date=25 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604182441/https://books.google.com/books?id=Se-BAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA98 |archive-date=4 June 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> of the total vocabulary of the [[Kabyle language]] and represent 44.9% of the total vocabulary of [[Tarifit]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten |author-link=Maarten Kossmann |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Arabic_Influence_on_Northern_Berber/Se-BAAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA102&printsec=frontcover |title=The Arabic Influence on Northern Berber |date=2013-07-18 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |isbn=978-90-04-25309-4 |pages=102 |language=en}}</ref> Almost all Berber languages took from Arabic the [[Voiced pharyngeal fricative|pharyngeal fricatives]] /ʕ/ and /ħ/, the (nongeminated) uvular stop /q/, and the voiceless [[Pharyngealization|pharyngealized consonant]] /ṣ/.<ref>{{Citation |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten |title=Berber-Arabic Language Contact |date=2017-03-29 |url=https://oxfordre.com/linguistics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.001.0001/acrefore-9780199384655-e-232 |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics |access-date=2023-05-30 |language=en |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.232 |isbn=978-0-19-938465-5 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526081215/https://oxfordre.com/linguistics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.001.0001/acrefore-9780199384655-e-232 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Unlike the [[Chadic languages|Chadic]],
[[Cushitic languages|Cushitic]], and  [[Omotic languages|Omotic]] languages of the [[Afroasiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]] phylum, Berber languages are not tonal languages.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Amazigh-languages|title=Berber Language Family &#124; History & Culture &#124; Britannica|access-date=14 April 2024|archive-date=21 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621194613/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Amazigh-languages|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Cushitic-languages|title=Cushitic languages &#124; Phonetics & Phonology &#124; Britannica|access-date=14 April 2024|archive-date=4 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304174857/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Cushitic-languages|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Terminology==
{{See also|Names of the Berber people}}"Tamazight" and "Berber languages" are often used interchangeably.<ref name="Ridouane-2014">{{Cite journal |last=Ridouane |first=Rachid |date=25 July 2014 |title=Tashlhiyt Berber |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |language=en |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=207–221 |doi=10.1017/S0025100313000388 |issn=0025-1003|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Ekkehard Wolff-2013">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Berber languages |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/61496/Amazigh-languages |access-date=2015-07-14 |date=2013-08-26 |author=H. Ekkehard Wolff |archive-date=28 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150428095201/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/61496/Amazigh-languages |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/399624 |title=The encyclopaedia of Islam. |date=1960–2009 |publisher=Brill |others=H. A. R. Gibb, P. J. Bearman |isbn=90-04-16121-X |edition=New |location=Leiden |oclc=399624 |access-date=14 December 2022 |archive-date=25 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190925063229/https://www.worldcat.org/title/encyclopaedia-of-islam/oclc/399624 |url-status=live }}</ref> However, "Tamazight" is sometimes used to refer to a specific subset of Berber languages, such as Central Tashlhiyt.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dalby |first=Andrew |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/320322204 |title=Dictionary of languages : the definitive reference to more than 400 languages |date=1998 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=1-4081-0214-5 |location=New York |oclc=320322204 |access-date=14 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526081215/https://search.worldcat.org/title/320322204 |url-status=live }}</ref> "Tamazight" can also be used to refer to [[Standard Moroccan Amazigh|Standard Moroccan Tamazight]] or [[Standard Algerian Berber|Standard Algerian Tamazight]], as in the Moroccan and Algerian constitutions respectively.<ref name="Constitution bill-2016" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Tamazight, Standard Moroccan |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/zgh |access-date=2022-12-15 |website=Ethnologue |language=en |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526081216/https://www.ethnologue.com/language/zgh/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In Morocco, besides referring to all Berber languages or to Standard Moroccan Tamazight, "Tamazight" is often used in contrast to [[Shilha language|Tashelhit]] and [[Tarifit]] to refer to [[Central Atlas Tamazight]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tamazight, Central Atlas |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/tzm |access-date=2022-12-15 |website=Ethnologue |language=en |archive-date=6 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190606183216/https://www.ethnologue.com/language/tzm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sanga |first1=Oumar |last2=Mackie |first2=Chris |date=October 31, 2022 |title=Education in Morocco |journal=World Education News & Reviews}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gross |first=Joan E. |date=1993 |title=The Politics of Unofficial Language Use: Walloon in Belgium, Tamazight in Morocco |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0308275X9301300204 |journal=Critique of Anthropology |language=en |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=181 |doi=10.1177/0308275X9301300204 |s2cid=145058398 |issn=0308-275X |quote="Tamazight in Morocco is divided by linguists into three major dialect areas usually referred to as: Taselhit in the south, Tamazight in the Middle Atlas mountains, and Tarifit in the north." |access-date=15 December 2022 |archive-date=15 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221215065022/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0308275X9301300204 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Alalou |first=Ali |date=2018-04-03 |title=The question of languages and the medium of instruction in Morocco |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14664208.2017.1353329 |journal=Current Issues in Language Planning |language=en |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=136–160 |doi=10.1080/14664208.2017.1353329 |s2cid=149159548 |issn=1466-4208 |access-date=19 December 2022 |archive-date=19 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221219043821/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14664208.2017.1353329 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The use of ''Berber'' has been the subject of debate due to its historical background as an [[Endonym and exonym|exonym]] and present equivalence with the [[Arabic]] word for "barbarian."<ref name="Maddy-Weitzman-2011a2">{{Cite book |last=Maddy-Weitzman |first=Bruce |title=The Berber Identity Movement and the Challenge to North African States |publisher=University of Texas Press |year=2011 |isbn=9780292745056 |pages=14–17}}</ref><ref name="Vourlias-2010a2">{{Cite news |last=Vourlias |first=Christopher |date=January 25, 2010 |title=Moroccan minority's net gain |volume=417 |work=Variety |publisher=Penske Business Media, LLC |issue=10}}</ref><ref name="Block-20192">{{Cite web |date=2019-09-23 |title="Respecting Identity: Amazigh Versus Berber" |url=https://www.linguisticanthropology.org/blog/2019/09/23/respecting-identity-amazigh-versus-berber/ |access-date=2022-10-25 |website=Society for Linguistic Anthropology |language=en-US |archive-date=25 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221025143159/https://www.linguisticanthropology.org/blog/2019/09/23/respecting-identity-amazigh-versus-berber/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Cheref-20212">{{Cite web |last=Cheref |first=Abdelkader |date=2021-01-24 |title=Don't call us Berber, we are Amazigh |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/opinion/comment/don-t-call-us-berber-we-are-amazigh-1.965334 |access-date=2022-10-25 |website=The National |language=en |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526081722/https://www.thenationalnews.com/opinion/comment/don-t-call-us-berber-we-are-amazigh-1.965334 |url-status=live }}</ref> One group, the [[Linguasphere Observatory]], has attempted to introduce the [[neologism]] "Tamazic languages" to refer to the Berber languages.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1= Afro-Asian ''phylosector'' |url=http://www.linguasphere.info/lcontao/tl_files/pdf/master/OL-SITE%201999-2000%20MASTER%20ONE%20Sectors%201-Intro.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220822050217/http://www.linguasphere.info/lcontao/tl_files/pdf/master/OL-SITE%201999-2000%20MASTER%20ONE%20Sectors%201-Intro.pdf |archive-date=Aug 22, 2022 |website=The Linguasphere Register}}</ref> Amazigh people typically use "Tamazight" when speaking English.<ref name="Brenzinger-20152">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i3xdDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA124 |title=Language Diversity Endangered |date=2015 |editor-first1=Matthias |editor-last1=Brenzinger |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |isbn=978-3-11-090569-4 |location=Berlin |pages=124 |oclc=979749010 |access-date=8 May 2024 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526081803/https://books.google.com/books?id=i3xdDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA124#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> Historically, some Berber groups have used this endonym since Antiquity (such as the [[Mazices]])<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chaker |first=S. |date=1986-09-01 |title=Amaziɣ (le/un Berbère) |url=https://doi.org/10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.2465 |journal=Encyclopédie berbère |issue=4 |pages=562–568 |doi=10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.2465 |issn=1015-7344}}</ref> or continue to do so<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mourigh |first=Khalid |url=https://www.google.nl/books/edition/An_Introduction_to_Tarifiyt_Berber_Nador/ZDxrzQEACAAJ?hl=en |title=An Introduction to Tarifiyt Berber (Nador, Morocco) |last2=Kossmann |first2=Maarten |date=2019 |publisher=Ugarit-Verlag |isbn=978-3-86835-307-5 |page=11 |language=en}}</ref>, although others had their own terms to refer to themselves. For example, the [[Kabyle people|Kabyles]] use the term "Leqbayel" to refer to their own people, while the [[Chaoui people|Chaouis]] identified themselves as "Ishawiyen".<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Goodman |first=Jane E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=By1aJGHz8rwC&pg=PA7 |title=Berber Culture on the World Stage: From Village to Video |date=2005-11-03 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-21784-4 |pages=7 |language=en |access-date=8 July 2023 |archive-date=7 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607121333/https://books.google.com/books?id=By1aJGHz8rwC&pg=PA7 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Origin==
{{main|Proto-Berber language}}
Since modern Berber languages are relatively homogeneous, the date of the [[Proto-Berber language]] from which the modern group is derived was probably comparatively recent, comparable to the age of the [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] or [[Romance languages|Romance]] subfamilies of the Indo-European family. In contrast, the split of the group from the other Afroasiatic sub-phyla is much earlier, and is therefore sometimes associated with the local [[Mesolithic]] [[Capsian culture]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ddl.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/equipes/index.asp?Action=Edit&Langue=EN&Equipe=3%20%20&Page=Action&ActionNum=26 |title=DDL : Evolution – Themes and actions |publisher=Ddl.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr |access-date=2015-07-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004213726/http://www.ddl.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/equipes/index.asp?Action=Edit&Langue=EN&Equipe=3%20%20&Page=Action&ActionNum=26 |archive-date=2013-10-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref> A number of extinct populations are believed to have spoken Afroasiatic languages of the Berber branch. The earliest example of a text possibly written in Berber or Proto-Berber is a single Egyptian papyrus written in the extinct [[Kehek language]] originating in the [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]] era of Egypt.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Silvestri |first=Jason P. |date=2023 |title=The Oldest Berber Text(s)? Egyptian Evidence for the Ancient Libyan Language(s) |url=https://shs.cairn.info/revue-etudes-et-documents-berberes-2023-1-page-319 |journal=Études et Documents Berbères |language=en |volume=4950 |issue=1 |pages=319–348 |doi=10.3917/edb.049.0319 |issn=0295-5245}}</ref> According to Peter Behrens and Marianne Bechaus-Gerst, linguistic evidence suggests that the peoples of the [[C-Group culture]] in present-day southern [[Egypt]] and northern [[Sudan]] spoke Berber languages.<ref name="Bechaus-Gerst">{{cite book|last=Bechaus-Gerst|first=Marianne|editor-last1=Blench|editor-first1=Roger|editor-last2=MacDonald|editor-first2=Kevin|title=The Origins and Development of African Livestock: Archaeology, Genetics, Linguistics and Ethnography – "Linguistic evidence for the prehistory of livestock in Sudan" (2000)|date=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1135434168|pages=453–457|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-t5QAwAAQBAJ|access-date=16 April 2015|archive-date=26 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526081804/https://books.google.com/books?id=-t5QAwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Lbant">{{cite book|last1=Behrens|first1=Peter|title=Libya Antiqua: Report and Papers of the Symposium Organized by Unesco in Paris, 16 to 18 January 1984 – "Language and migrations of the early Saharan cattle herders: the formation of the Berber branch"|date=1986|publisher=Unesco|isbn=9231023764|page=30|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p_hwAAAAMAAJ|access-date=16 April 2015|archive-date=26 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526081805/https://books.google.com/books?id=p_hwAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Nilo-Saharan languages|Nilo-Saharan]] [[Nobiin language]] today contains a number of key [[loanword]]s related to [[pastoralism]] that are of Berber origin, including the terms for sheep and water/[[Nile]]. This in turn suggests that the C-Group population—which, along with the [[Kerma Culture|Kerma culture]], inhabited the Nile valley immediately before the arrival of the first [[Nubian languages|Nubian]] speakers—spoke Afroasiatic languages.<ref name="Bechaus-Gerst"/>

==Orthography==
{{Main|Berber orthography}}[[File:Prehistory-draa16.jpg|thumb|Ancient [[Tifinagh|Libyco-Berber]] inscriptions in [[Zagora, Morocco|Zagora]], Morocco|left]]Berber languages are primarily oral languages without a major written component.<ref name="Campbell-2012b">{{Cite book |last=Campbell |first=George L. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/810078009 |title=The Routledge handbook of scripts and alphabets |date=2012 |publisher=Routledge |others=Christopher Moseley |isbn=978-0-203-86548-4 |edition=2nd |location=Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon |pages=58–59 |oclc=810078009 |access-date=20 March 2023 |archive-date=6 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306014329/https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/810078009 |url-status=live }}</ref> The first example of writing in a language that was possibly related to Berber was a papyrus written by the Egyptians in [[Hieratic]], [[Transliteration|transliterating]] a snake chant in Kehek. Historically, Berber languages were written with the [[Libyco-Berber alphabet|Libyco-Berber script]]. Early uses of the script have been found on [[Mount Adad Madani|rock art]] and in various sepulchres; the oldest known variations of the script originating from around 600 BC.<ref name="Campbell-2012b"/><ref name="Mitchell-2013">{{Cite book |last1=Mitchell |first1=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fY0eAAAAQBAJ&dq=libyco-berber+cyrenaica&pg=PA766 |title=The Oxford Handbook of African Archaeology |last2=Lane |first2=Paul |date=2013-07-04 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-956988-5 |pages=766 |language=en |access-date=20 March 2023 |archive-date=20 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230320014901/https://books.google.com/books?id=fY0eAAAAQBAJ&dq=libyco-berber+cyrenaica&pg=PA766 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Briggs |first1=L. Cabot |date=February 1957 |title=A Review of the Physical Anthropology of the Sahara and Its Prehistoric Implications |journal=Man |volume=56 |pages=20–23 |doi=10.2307/2793877 |jstor=2793877}}</ref> Usage of this script, in the form of [[Tifinagh]], has continued into the present day among the [[Tuareg people]].<ref name="Elmedlaoui-2012a">{{Cite book |last=Elmedlaoui |first=Mohamed |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/793573735 |title=Semitic and Afroasiatic : challenges and opportunities |date=2012 |publisher=Harrassowitz |others=Lutz Edzard |isbn=978-3-447-06695-2 |location=Wiesbaden |pages=139–141 |chapter=Berber |oclc=793573735 |access-date=7 January 2023 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115194522/https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/793573735 |url-status=live }}</ref> Following the spread of [[Islam]], some Berber scholars also utilized the [[Arabic script]].<ref name="sec14">{{Cite journal |last=Ben-Layashi |first=Samir |title=Secularism in the Moroccan Amazigh Discourse |year=2007 |journal=The Journal of North African Studies |volume=12 |issue=2 |publisher=Routledge |url=http://www.dayan.org/articles/Sl_Amazigh.pdf|accessdate=December 19, 2009 |issn=1362-9387 |doi=10.1080/13629380701201741 |pages=153–171 |s2cid=143728476 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100923045709/http://www.dayan.org/articles/Sl_Amazigh.pdf |archive-date=September 23, 2010}}{{rp|166}}</ref> The [[Berber Latin alphabet]] was developed following the introduction of the Latin script in the nineteenth century by the West.<ref name="Elmedlaoui-2012a" /> The nineteenth century also saw the development of Neo-Tifinagh, an adaptation of Tuareg Tifinagh for use with other Berber languages.<ref name="Campbell-2012b"/><ref name="Aïtel-2014">{{Cite book |last=Aïtel |first=Fazia |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/895334326 |title=We are Imazigen : the development of Algerian Berber identity in twentieth-century literature and culture |date=2014 |isbn=978-0-8130-4895-6 |location=Gainesville, FL |pages=115–116 |oclc=895334326 |access-date=20 March 2023 |archive-date=6 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306014407/https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/895334326 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Maddy-Weitzman-2011c">{{Cite book |last=Maddy-Weitzman |first=Bruce |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/741751261 |title=The Berber identity movement and the challenge to North African states |date=2011 |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=978-0-292-73478-4 |edition=1st |location=Austin |pages=75 |oclc=741751261 |access-date=20 March 2023 |archive-date=6 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306014339/https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/741751261 |url-status=live }}</ref>

There are now three writing systems in use for Berber languages: Tifinagh, the Arabic script, and the [[Berber Latin alphabet]], with the Latin alphabet being the most widely used today.<ref name="choice">{{cite journal| last = Larbi| first = Hsen| title = Which Script for Tamazight, Whose Choice is it ?| journal = Amazigh Voice (Taghect Tamazight)| volume = 12| issue = 2| year = 2003| publisher = Amazigh Cultural Association in America (ACAA)| location = New Jersey| url = http://www.tamazgha.fr/Which-Script-for-Tamazight-Whose-Choice-is-it,359.html| access-date = December 17, 2009| archive-date = 7 September 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170907212936/http://www.tamazgha.fr/Which-Script-for-Tamazight-Whose-Choice-is-it,359.html| url-status = live}}</ref><ref name="Silverstein-2004" />

== Subclassification ==
With the exception of Zenaga, Tetserret, and Tuareg, the Berber languages form a [[dialect continuum]]. Different linguists take different approaches towards drawing boundaries between languages in this continuum.<ref name="Kossmann-2020b">{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1164662912 |title=The Oxford handbook of African languages |date=2020 |others=Rainer Vossen, Gerrit Jan Dimmendaal, Rainer Vossen, Gerrit Jan Dimmendaal |isbn=978-0-19-960989-5 |edition=First |location=Oxford |pages=281–282 |chapter=Berber |oclc=1164662912 |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526081721/https://search.worldcat.org/title/1164662912 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Maarten Kossmann]] notes that it is difficult to apply the classic [[tree model]] of historical linguistics towards the Berber languages:<blockquote>[The Berber language family]'s continuous history of convergence and differentiation along new lines makes any definition of branches arbitrary. Moreover, mutual intelligibility and mutual influence render notions such as "split" or "branching" rather difficult to apply except, maybe, in the case of Zenaga and Tuareg.<ref name="Kossmann-2020a">{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1164662912 |title=The Oxford handbook of African languages |date=2020 |others=Rainer Vossen, Gerrit Jan Dimmendaal, Rainer Vossen, Gerrit Jan Dimmendaal |isbn=978-0-19-960989-5 |edition=First |location=Oxford |pages=283–285 |chapter=Berber |oclc=1164662912 |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526081721/https://search.worldcat.org/title/1164662912 |url-status=live }}</ref></blockquote>Kossmann roughly groups the Berber languages into seven blocks:<ref name="Kossmann-2020a" />

{{tree list}}
* '''Berber'''
** [[Western Berber languages|Western]] (Zenaga, Tetserret)
** [[Tuareg languages|Tuareg]]
** Western Moroccan
*** southwestern and central Moroccan languages (Tashelhiyt, most of Central Atlas Tamazight)
*** northwestern Moroccan languages (Ghomara, Senhadja de Sraïr)
** Zenatic (a dialect continuum stretching from eastern Morocco to the [[Siwa Oasis]])
** Kabyle
** Ghadames
** Awjila
{{tree list/end}}

The Zenatic block is typically divided into the [[Zenati languages|Zenati]] and [[Eastern Berber languages|Eastern Berber]] branches, due to the marked difference in features at each end of the continuum.<ref name="König-2008" /><ref name="Kossmann-2020a" /><ref name="Blažek-2010">{{Cite journal |last=Blažek |first=Václav |date=2010 |title=On the Classification of Berber |journal=Folia Orientalia |volume=Neuveden |issue=47 |issn=0015-5675}}</ref> Otherwise, subclassifications by different linguists typically combine various blocks into different branches. Western Moroccan languages, Zenati languages, Kabyle, and Ghadames may be grouped under [[Northern Berber languages|Northern Berber]]; Awjila is often included as an Eastern Berber language alongside Siwa, Sokna, and El Foqaha. These approaches divide the Berber languages into Northern, Southern (Tuareg), Eastern, and Western varieties.<ref name="König-2008" /><ref name="Blažek-2010" />

== Population ==<!-- NOTE: this section is intended only for estimates backed up by a referenced academic or academic organization. Many sites (e.g.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.libyamazigh.org/|title=Libya Mazigh|website=Libya Mazigh}}</ref> for Libya) make claims about population backed up neither by data nor by academic reputation. -->

The vast majority of speakers of Berber languages are concentrated in Morocco and Algeria.<ref name="Brenzinger-2007">{{Cite book |last=Brenzinger |first=Matthias |title=Language Diversity Endangered |publisher=Walter de Gruyter. |year=2007 |isbn=978-3-11-017049-8 |location=Berlin, Germany |pages=133–134}}</ref><ref name="Penchoen-1973">{{Cite book |last=Penchoen |first=Thomas |url=https://archive.org/details/tamazightofaytnd0000penc |title=Tamazight of the Ayt Ndhir |year=1973 |isbn=9780890030004 |pages=3|publisher=Undena Publications }}</ref> The exact population of speakers has been historically difficult to ascertain due to lack of official recognition.<ref name="Dalby-1998">{{Cite book |last=Dalby |first=Andrew |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/320322204 |title=Dictionary of languages : the definitive reference to more than 400 languages |date=1998 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=1-4081-0214-5 |location=New York |pages=89 |oclc=320322204 |access-date=14 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526081215/https://search.worldcat.org/title/320322204 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Morocco ===
{{Main|Languages of Morocco}}
[[File:Berber dialects in Morocco.PNG|thumb|right|Map of Berber-speaking areas in Morocco]]
Morocco is the country with the greatest number of speakers of Berber languages.<ref name="Brenzinger-2007" /><ref name="Penchoen-1973" /><ref name="Ennaji-2005">{{Cite book |last=Ennaji |first=Moha |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/62708280 |title=Multilingualism, cultural identity, and education in Morocco |date=2005 |publisher=Springer |isbn=0-387-23979-0 |location=New York |pages=72 |oclc=62708280 |access-date=26 December 2022 |archive-date=12 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212133945/https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/62708280 |url-status=live }}</ref> As of 2022, Ethnologue estimates there to be 13.8 million speakers of Berber languages in Morocco, based on figures from 2016 and 2017.<ref name="Morocco-2022">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1315489099 |publisher=SIL International Publications |title=Ethnologue. Languages of Africa and Europe |date=2022 |editor-first1=David |editor-last1=Eberhard |editor-first2=Gary F. |editor-last2=Simons |editor-first3=Charles D. |editor-last3=Fennig |isbn=978-1-55671-502-0 |edition=Twenty-fifth |location=Dallas, Texas |pages=223–224 |chapter=Morocco |oclc=1315489099 |access-date=6 February 2023 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526083238/https://search.worldcat.org/title/1315489099 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1960, the first census after Moroccan independence was held. It claimed that 32 percent of Moroccans spoke a Berber language, including bi-, tri- and quadrilingual people.<ref name="Bladi.net-2013">{{cite web |title=Bladi.net |url=http://www.bladi.net/marocain-berbere.html |access-date=2013-04-30 |publisher=Bladi.net |archive-date=12 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112133252/http://www.bladi.net/marocain-berbere.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[2004 Moroccan census|2004 census]] found that 3,894,805 Moroccans over five years of age spoke Tashelhit, 2,343,937 spoke Central Atlas Tamazight, and 1,270,986 spoke Tarifit, representing 14.6%, 8.8%, and 4.8% respectively of the surveyed population, or roughly 28.2% of the surveyed population combined.<ref name="RGPH-2004">{{Cite web |title=RGPH 2004 |url=https://applications-web.hcp.ma/hpmc/frmmarocenchiffres.aspx |access-date=December 25, 2022 |website=Haut-Commissariat au Plan |archive-date=26 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221226015544/https://applications-web.hcp.ma/hpmc/frmmarocenchiffres.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[2014 Moroccan census|2014 census]] found that 14.1% of the population spoke Tashelhit, 7.9% spoke Central Atlas Tamazight, and 4% spoke Tarifit, or about 26% of the population combined.<ref>{{Cite web |title=RGPH 2014 |url=http://rgphentableaux.hcp.ma/Default1/ |access-date=2022-12-25 |website=rgphentableaux.hcp.ma |archive-date=2 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202155426/http://rgphentableaux.hcp.ma/Default1/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
The [[2024 Moroccan census|2024 census]] found that 14.2% of the population spoke Tashelhit, 7.4% spoke Central Atlas Tamazight, and 3.2% spoke Tarifit, which represents 24.8% of the population.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.recensement.ma/ar | title=الإحصاء 2024 في المغرب }}</ref>

These estimates, as well as the estimates from various academic sources, are summarized as follows:
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Estimated number of speakers of Berber languages in Morocco
! Source
! Date
! Total
! Tashelhit
! Central Atlas Tamazight
! Tarifit
! Notes
|-
|Moroccan census<ref name="Bladi.net-2013" />
|1960
|3.5 million
|–
|–
|–
|Calculated via reported percentages.
|-
|''Tamazight of the Ayt Ndhir''<ref name="Penchoen-1973" />
|1973
|6 million
| –
| –
| –
|Extrapolating from Basset's 1952 ''La langue berbère'' based on overall population changes.
|-
|Ethnologue''<ref name="Brenzinger-20152"/>''<ref name="Brenzinger-2007" />
|2001
|7.5 million
|3 million
|3 million
|1.5 million
| --
|-
|[[2004 Moroccan census|Moroccan census]]<ref name="RGPH-2004" />
|2004
|7.5 million
| 3.9 million
| 2.3 million
| 1.3 million
|Also used by [[Ethnologue]] in 2015.<ref name="Ethnologue-2015">{{Cite web |date=2015-04-05 |title=Morocco {{!}} Ethnologue |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/country/MA/languages |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405003832/http://www.ethnologue.com/country/MA/languages |archive-date=2015-04-05 |access-date=2021-06-27}}</ref> Only individuals over age 5 were included.
|-
|''Multilingualism, Cultural Identity, and Education in Morocco''<ref name="Ennaji-2005" />
|2005
|15 million
|6.8 million
|5.2 million
|3 million
|Also used in ''Semitic and Afroasiatic: Challenges and Opportunities'' in 2012.<ref name="Elmedlaoui-2012-2" />
|-
|[[2014 Moroccan census|Moroccan census]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=RGPH 2014 |url=http://rgphentableaux.hcp.ma/Default1/ |access-date=2022-12-25 |website=rgphentableaux.hcp.ma |archive-date=2 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202155426/http://rgphentableaux.hcp.ma/Default1/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
|2014
|8.8 million
|4.8 million
|2.7 million
|1.4 million
|Calculated via reported percentages. As in the 2004 census, only individuals over age 5 were surveyed for language.
|-
|Ethnologue<ref name="Morocco-2022" />
|2022
|13.8 million
|5 million
|4.6 million
|4.2 million
|Additional Berber languages include Senhaja Berber (86,000 speakers) and Ghomara (10,000 speakers).
|-
|[[2024 Moroccan census|Moroccan census]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.recensement.ma/ar | title=الإحصاء 2024 في المغرب }}</ref>
|2024
|9.1 million
|5.2 million
|2.7 million
|1.2 million
|Calculated via reported percentages. As in the 2004 and 2014 census, only individuals over age 5 were surveyed for language.
|}

=== Algeria ===
{{Main|Languages of Algeria}}
[[File:Aires linguistiques du nord-est algérien.svg|thumb| [[Kabyle language|Kabyle]] and [[Shawiya language|Shawiya]] languages in the central-eastern part of Algeria|left]]Algeria is the country with the second greatest number of speakers of Berber languages.<ref name="Brenzinger-2007" /><ref name="Penchoen-1973" /> In 1906, the total population speaking Berber languages in Algeria, excluding the thinly populated Sahara region, was estimated at 1,305,730 out of 4,447,149, or 29%.<ref name="Gautier-1913">{{Cite journal |last=Gautier |first=É.-F. |date=1913 |title=Répartition de la Langue Berbère en Algérie |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23437471 |journal=Annales de Géographie |volume=22 |issue=123 |pages=256 |doi=10.3406/geo.1913.8304 |issn=0003-4010 |jstor=23437471 |quote=Les chiffres se rapportent, non pas au dernier recensement, celui de 1911, mais au précédenl, celui de 1906. C'est le seul sur lequel on avait, et même on a encore maintenant, des données suffisantes. Voici ces chiffres. Sur une population indigène totale de 4 447 149 hab., nous trouvons 1 305 730 berbérophones; c'est un peu moins du tiers. |access-date=25 December 2022 |archive-date=25 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225215846/https://www.jstor.org/stable/23437471 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Secondary sources disagree on the percentage of self-declared native Berber speakers in the 1966 census, the last Algerian census containing a question about the mother tongue. Some give 17.9%<ref name="Richard F. Nyrop, American University (Washington, D.C.). Foreign Area Studies">{{cite book |last=Nyrop |first=Richard F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h7_OflKe6EUC&pg=PA105 |title=Area Handbook for Algeria |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1972 |isbn= |pages=105 |access-date=8 February 2023 |archive-date=9 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230309132900/https://books.google.com/books?id=h7_OflKe6EUC&pg=PA105 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Souriau">{{cite book |last=Souriau |first=Christiane |title=XVI. L'arabisation en Algérie |url=https://books.openedition.org/iremam/141 |access-date=9 Mar 2023 |website=OpenEdition Books |series=Connaissance du monde arabe |date=10 April 2013 |pages=375–397 |publisher=Institut de recherches et d’études sur les mondes arabes et musulmans |isbn=9782271081247 |archive-date=9 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230309154651/https://books.openedition.org/iremam/141 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Lesch">{{cite book |author=David W. Lesch |title=History in Dispute |publisher=St. James Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-1-55862-472-6 |pages=203}}</ref><ref name="Wolfgang Weissleder">{{cite book |author=Wolfgang Weissleder |title=The Nomadic Alternative Modes and Models of Interaction in the African-Asian Deserts and Steppes |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |year=2011 |isbn=978-3-11-081023-3 |pages=13}}</ref> while other report 19%.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nesson |first=Claude |date=1994 |title=Répartition des berbérophones algériens (au recensement de 1966) |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/tigr_0048-7163_1994_num_85_1_1308 |journal=Travaux de l'Institut de Géographie de Reims |language=fr |volume=85 |issue=1 |pages=93–107 |doi=10.3406/tigr.1994.1308 |access-date=7 March 2023 |archive-date=7 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307121129/https://www.persee.fr/doc/tigr_0048-7163_1994_num_85_1_1308 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Filhon |first=Alexandra |title=Unités et diversités : la place des berbèrophones |date=2021-05-20 |url=http://books.openedition.org/ined/3282 |work=Langues d'ici et d'ailleurs : Transmettre l'arabe et le berbère en France |pages=61–81 |access-date=2023-03-09 |series=Les Cahiers de l'Ined |place=Paris |publisher=Ined Éditions |language=fr |isbn=978-2-7332-9022-4 |archive-date=9 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230309153056/https://books.openedition.org/ined/3282 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Berbères en Algérie occidentale.svg|thumb| [[Shenwa language]] in the central-western part of Algeria|left]][[Kabyle language|Kabyle]] speakers account for the vast majority of speakers of Berber languages in Algeria. [[Shawiya language|Shawiya]] is the second most commonly spoken Berber language in Algeria. Other Berber languages spoken in Algeria include: [[Shenwa language|Shenwa]], with 76,300 speakers; Tashelhit, with 6,000 speakers; [[Ouargli language|Ouargli]], with 20,000 speakers; [[Tamahaq language|Tamahaq]], with 71,400 speakers; [[Tugurt language|Tugurt]], with 8,100 speakers; [[Tidikelt language|Tidikelt]], with 1,000 speakers; [[Gurara language|Gurara]], with 11,000 speakers; and [[Mozabite language|Mozabite]], with 150,000 speakers.<ref name="Ethnologue-2022b">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1315489099 |publisher=SIL International Publications |title=Ethnologue. Languages of Africa and Europe |date=2022 |editor-first1=David |editor-last1=Eberhard |editor-first2=Gary F. |editor-last2=Simons |editor-first3=Charles D. |editor-last3=Fennig |isbn=978-1-55671-502-0 |edition=Twenty-fifth |location=Dallas, Texas |pages=55–57 |chapter=Algeria |oclc=1315489099 |access-date=6 February 2023 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526083238/https://search.worldcat.org/title/1315489099 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1315489099 |publisher=SIL International Publications |title=Ethnologue. Languages of Africa and Europe |date=2022 |editor-first1=David |editor-last1=Eberhard |editor-first2=Gary F. |editor-last2=Simons |editor-first3=Charles D. |editor-last3=Fennig |isbn=978-1-55671-502-0 |edition=Twenty-fifth |location=Dallas, Texas |pages=77,160,208–210,220–221,233,322,363 |oclc=1315489099 |access-date=6 February 2023 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526083238/https://search.worldcat.org/title/1315489099 |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{Clear}}
Population estimates are summarized as follows:
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Estimated number of speakers of Berber languages in Algeria
!width=33%| Source
!width=7%| Date
!width=15%| Total
!width=15%| Kabyle
!width=15%| Shawiya
!width=15%| Other
|-
|''Annales de Géographie''<ref name="Gautier-1913" />
|align=center|1906
|1.3&nbsp;million
| –
| –
| –
|-
|Textes en linguistique berbère<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chaker |first=Salem |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/12751275 |title=Textes en linguistique berbère : introduction au domaine berbère |date=1984 |publisher=Editions du Centre national de la recherche scientifique |isbn=2-222-03578-3 |location=Paris |pages=8–9 |oclc=12751275 |access-date=6 February 2023 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526083239/https://search.worldcat.org/title/12751275 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|align=center|1980
|3.6&nbsp;million
| –
| –
| –
|-
|International Encyclopedia<br/>of Linguistics<ref name="William Frawley">{{cite book |author=William Frawley |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sl_dDVctycgC&pg=PA221 |title=International Encyclopedia of Linguistics 4-Volume Set |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-19-513977-8 |pages=221 |access-date=8 February 2023 |archive-date=21 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230221163540/https://books.google.com/books?id=sl_dDVctycgC&pg=PA221 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|align=center|2003
| –
| 2.5&nbsp;million
| –
| –
|-
|Language Diversity Endangered<ref name="Matthias Brenzinger">{{cite book |author=Matthias Brenzinger |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i3xdDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA133 |title=Language Diversity Endangered |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |year=2015 |isbn=978-3-11-090569-4 |pages=133 |access-date=8 February 2023 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526083239/https://books.google.com/books?id=i3xdDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA133#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>
|align=center|2015
| 4.5&nbsp;million
| 2.5–3&nbsp;million
| 1.4&nbsp;million
| {{nowrap|0.13–0.19 million}}
|-
|Journal of African Languages<br/>and Literatures<ref name="Mettouchi p=N. 2 (2021): Journal of African Languages and Literatures">{{cite journal |last=Mettouchi |first=Amina |year=2021 |title=Negation in Kabyle (Berber) |url=http://www.tema.unina.it/index.php/jalalit/article/view/8059 |journal=Journal of African Languages and Literatures |issue=2 |page=N. 2 (2021): Journal of African Languages and Literatures |doi=10.6092/JALALIT.V2I2.8059 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |access-date=7 Feb 2023 |archive-date=11 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211111092157/http://www.tema.unina.it/index.php/jalalit/article/view/8059 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|align=center|2021
| –
|3&nbsp;million
| –
| –
|}

=== Other countries ===
As of 1998, there were an estimated 450,000 [[Tawellemmet language|Tawellemmet]] speakers, 250,000 [[Air Tamajeq language|Air Tamajeq]] speakers, and 20,000 Tamahaq speakers in [[Niger]].<ref name="Ethnologue-2022c">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1315489099 |publisher=SIL International Publications |title=Ethnologue. Languages of Africa and Europe |date=2022 |editor-first1=David |editor-last1=Eberhard |editor-first2=Gary F. |editor-last2=Simons |editor-first3=Charles D. |editor-last3=Fennig |isbn=978-1-55671-502-0 |edition=Twenty-fifth |location=Dallas, Texas |pages=233 |chapter=Niger |oclc=1315489099 |access-date=6 February 2023 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526083238/https://search.worldcat.org/title/1315489099 |url-status=live }}</ref>

As of 2018 and 2014 respectively, there were an estimated 420,000 speakers of Tawellemmet and 378,000 of Tamasheq in [[Mali]].<ref name="Ethnologue-2022c" /><ref name="Ethnologue-2022e">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1315489099 |publisher=SIL International Publications |title=Ethnologue. Languages of Africa and Europe |date=2022 |editor-first1=David |editor-last1=Eberhard |editor-first2=Gary F. |editor-last2=Simons |editor-first3=Charles D. |editor-last3=Fennig |isbn=978-1-55671-502-0 |edition=Twenty-fifth |location=Dallas, Texas |pages=220 |chapter=Mali |oclc=1315489099 |access-date=6 February 2023 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526083238/https://search.worldcat.org/title/1315489099 |url-status=live }}</ref>

As of 2022, based on figures from 2020, [[Ethnologue]] estimates there to be 285,890 speakers of Berber languages in [[Libya]]: 247,000 speakers of [[Nafusi language|Nafusi]], 22,800 speakers of Tamahaq, 13,400 speakers of [[Ghadamès language|Ghadamés]], and 2,690 speakers of [[Awjila language|Awjila]]. The number of [[Siwi language|Siwi]] speakers in Libya is listed as negligible, and the last [[Sokna language|Sokna]] speaker is thought to have died in the 1950s.<ref name="Ethnologue-2022f">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1315489099 |publisher=SIL International Publications |title=Ethnologue. Languages of Africa and Europe |date=2022 |editor-first1=David |editor-last1=Eberhard |editor-first2=Gary F. |editor-last2=Simons |editor-first3=Charles D. |editor-last3=Fennig |isbn=978-1-55671-502-0 |edition=Twenty-fifth |location=Dallas, Texas |pages=208–210 |chapter=Libya |oclc=1315489099 |access-date=6 February 2023 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526083238/https://search.worldcat.org/title/1315489099 |url-status=live }}</ref>

There are an estimated 50,000 [[Jerba Berber|Djerbi]] speakers in [[Tunisia]], based on figures from 2004. [[Sened language|Sened]] is likely extinct, with the last speaker having died in the 1970s. Ghadamés, though not indigenous to Tunisia, is estimated to have 3,100 speakers throughout the country.<ref name="Ethnologue-2022g">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1315489099 |publisher=SIL International Publications |title=Ethnologue. Languages of Africa and Europe |date=2022 |editor-first1=David |editor-last1=Eberhard |editor-first2=Gary F. |editor-last2=Simons |editor-first3=Charles D. |editor-last3=Fennig |isbn=978-1-55671-502-0 |edition=Twenty-fifth |location=Dallas, Texas |pages=322 |chapter=Tunisia |oclc=1315489099 |access-date=6 February 2023 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526083238/https://search.worldcat.org/title/1315489099 |url-status=live }}</ref> Chenini is one of the rare remaining Berber-speaking villages in Tunisia.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Stone |first1=Russell A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QDq4YV0VT00C&q=Berber-speaking+migrant+communities&pg=PA109 |title=Change in Tunisia: Studies in the Social Sciences |last2=Simmons |first2=John |date=1976 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=9780873953115 |language=en |access-date=15 October 2020 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526084305/https://books.google.com/books?id=QDq4YV0VT00C&q=Berber-speaking+migrant+communities&pg=PA109#v=snippet&q=Berber-speaking%20migrant%20communities&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

There are an estimated 20,000 Siwi speakers in [[Egypt]], based on figures from 2013.<ref name="Ethnologue-2022h">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1315489099 |publisher=SIL International Publications |title=Ethnologue. Languages of Africa and Europe |date=2022 |editor-first1=David |editor-last1=Eberhard |editor-first2=Gary F. |editor-last2=Simons |editor-first3=Charles D. |editor-last3=Fennig |isbn=978-1-55671-502-0 |edition=Twenty-fifth |location=Dallas, Texas |pages=160 |chapter=Egypt |oclc=1315489099 |access-date=6 February 2023 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526083238/https://search.worldcat.org/title/1315489099 |url-status=live }}</ref>

As of 2018 and 2017 respectively, there were an estimated 200 speakers of [[Zenaga language|Zenaga]] and 117,000 of [[Tamasheq language|Tamasheq]] in [[Mauritania]].<ref name="Ethnologue-2022i">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1315489099 |publisher=SIL International Publications |title=Ethnologue. Languages of Africa and Europe |date=2022 |editor-first1=David |editor-last1=Eberhard |editor-first2=Gary F. |editor-last2=Simons |editor-first3=Charles D. |editor-last3=Fennig |isbn=978-1-55671-502-0 |edition=Twenty-fifth |location=Dallas, Texas |pages=221 |chapter=Mauritania |oclc=1315489099 |access-date=6 February 2023 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526083238/https://search.worldcat.org/title/1315489099 |url-status=live }}</ref>

As of 2009, there were an estimated 122,000 Tamasheq speakers in Burkina Faso.<ref name="Ethnologue-2022j">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1315489099 |publisher=SIL International Publications |title=Ethnologue. Languages of Africa and Europe |date=2022 |editor-first1=David |editor-last1=Eberhard |editor-first2=Gary F. |editor-last2=Simons |editor-first3=Charles D. |editor-last3=Fennig |isbn=978-1-55671-502-0 |edition=Twenty-fifth |location=Dallas, Texas |pages=77 |chapter=Burkina Faso |oclc=1315489099 |access-date=6 February 2023 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526083238/https://search.worldcat.org/title/1315489099 |url-status=live }}</ref>

There are an estimated 1.5 million speakers of various Berber languages in France.<ref name="Ethnologue-2022k">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1315489099 |publisher=SIL International Publications |title=Ethnologue. Languages of Africa and Europe |date=2022 |editor-first1=David |editor-last1=Eberhard |editor-first2=Gary F. |editor-last2=Simons |editor-first3=Charles D. |editor-last3=Fennig |isbn=978-1-55671-502-0 |edition=Twenty-fifth |location=Dallas, Texas |pages=363 |chapter=France |oclc=1315489099}}</ref> A small number of Tawellemmet speakers live in Nigeria.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1315489099 |publisher=SIL International Publications |title=Ethnologue. Languages of Africa and Europe |date=2022 |editor-first1=David |editor-last1=Eberhard |editor-first2=Gary F. |editor-last2=Simons |editor-first3=Charles D. |editor-last3=Fennig |isbn=978-1-55671-502-0 |edition=Twenty-fifth |location=Dallas, Texas |pages=267 |chapter=Nigeria |oclc=1315489099}}</ref>

In total, there are an estimated 3.6 million speakers of Berber languages in countries outside of Morocco and Algeria, summarized as follows:
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Estimated number of speakers of Berber languages in various countries
! Total
! Niger
! Mali
! Libya
! Tunisia
! Egypt
! Mauritania
! Burkina Faso
! France
|-
|3,577,300
|720,000<ref name="Ethnologue-2022c" />
|798,000<ref name="Ethnologue-2022e" />
|247,000<ref name="Ethnologue-2022f" />
|53,100<ref name="Ethnologue-2022g" />
|20,000<ref name="Ethnologue-2022h" />
|117,200<ref name="Ethnologue-2022i" />
|122,000<ref name="Ethnologue-2022j" />
|1,500,000<ref name="Ethnologue-2022k" />
|}

==Status==
After independence, all the [[Maghreb]] countries to varying degrees pursued a policy of [[Arabization|Arabisation]], aimed partly at displacing French from its colonial position as the dominant language of education and literacy. Under this policy the use of the Berber languages was suppressed or even banned. This state of affairs has been contested by Berbers in Morocco and Algeria—especially [[Kabylie]]—and was addressed in both countries by affording the language official status and introducing it in some schools.

=== Morocco ===
{{See also|Standard Moroccan Amazigh}}
After gaining independence from France in 1956, Morocco began a period of Arabisation through 1981, with primary and secondary school education gradually being changed to Arabic instruction, and with the aim of having administration done in Arabic, rather than French. During this time, there were riots amongst the Amazigh population, which called for the inclusion of Tamazight as an official language.<ref>{{Citation |last=Bassiouney |first=Reem |title=Language policy and politics |date=2009-08-27 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9780748623730.003.0006 |work=Arabic Sociolinguistics |pages=219–220 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |doi=10.3366/edinburgh/9780748623730.003.0006 |isbn=9780748623730 |access-date=2022-12-14 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526084756/https://academic.oup.com/edinburgh-scholarship-online/book/28885/chapter-abstract/240549937?redirectedFrom=fulltext |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The 2000 Charter for Education Reform marked a change in policy, with its statement of "openness to Tamazight."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Marley |first=Dawn |date=2004 |title=Language attitudes in Morocco following recent changes in language policy |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1023/B:LPOL.0000017724.16833.66 |journal=Language Policy |language=en |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=25–46 |doi=10.1023/B:LPOL.0000017724.16833.66 |s2cid=145182777 |issn=1568-4555 |access-date=15 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526084759/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/B:LPOL.0000017724.16833.66 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Planning for a public Tamazight-language TV network began in 2006; in 2010, the Moroccan government launched [[Tamazight TV]].<ref name="Vourlias-2010a2"/>

On July 29, 2011, Tamazight was added as an official language to the Moroccan constitution.<ref name="Madanin-2012">{{Cite book |url=https://constitutionnet.org/sites/default/files/the_2011_moroccan_constitution_english.pdf |title=The 2011 Moroccan constitution : a critical analysis |date=2012 |others=Mohamed Madani, Driss Maghraoui, Saloua Zerhouni |isbn=978-91-86565-66-4 |location=Stockholm, Sweden |pages=16 |oclc=858866180 |access-date=15 December 2022 |archive-date=22 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221222223846/https://constitutionnet.org/sites/default/files/the_2011_moroccan_constitution_english.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Algeria ===
{{See also|Standard Algerian Berber}}
After gaining independence from France in 1962, Algeria committed to a policy of Arabisation, which, after the imposition of the Circular of July 1976, encompassed the spheres of education, public administration, public signage, print publication, and the judiciary. While primarily directed towards the erasure of French in Algerian society, these policies also targeted Berber languages, leading to dissatisfaction and unrest amongst speakers of Berber languages, who made up about one quarter of the population.<ref name="Bassiouney-2009" />

After the 1994-1995 general school boycott in Kabylia, Tamazight was recognized for the first time as a national language.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Maddy-Weitzman |first=Bruce |title=Routledge Handbook of Minorities in the Middle East |date=2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781315626031 |pages=318 |language=English}}</ref> In 2002, following the riots of the [[Black Spring (Algeria)|Black Spring]], Tamazight was recognized for the second time as a [[national language]], though not as an [[official language|official]] one.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2003 |title=Population, Health, and Human Well-Being: Algeria |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/e610792011-001 |access-date=2022-12-14 |website=PsycEXTRA Dataset |doi=10.1037/e610792011-001 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526084818/https://www.crossref.org/_defunct-doi/ |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{in lang|fr}} – [http://www.apn-dz.org/apn/french/constitution96/loi02_03.htm « Loi n° 02-03 portent révision constitutionnelle »] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101221011712/http://www.apn-dz.org/apn/french/constitution96/loi02_03.htm |date=21 December 2010 }}, adopted on April 10, 2002, allotting in particular to "Tamazight" the status of national language.</ref> This was done on April 8, 2003.<ref name="Bassiouney-2009">{{Citation |last=Bassiouney |first=Reem |title=Language policy and politics |date=2009-08-27 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9780748623730.003.0006 |work=Arabic Sociolinguistics |pages=213–220 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |doi=10.3366/edinburgh/9780748623730.003.0006 |isbn=9780748623730 |access-date=2022-12-14 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526084756/https://academic.oup.com/edinburgh-scholarship-online/book/28885/chapter-abstract/240549937?redirectedFrom=fulltext |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Tamazight has been taught for three hours a week through the first three years of Algerian middle schools since 2005.<ref name="Bassiouney-2009" />

On January 5, 2016, it was announced that Tamazight had been added as a national and official language in a draft amendment to the Algerian constitution; it was added to the constitution as a national and official language on February 7, 2016.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2016 |title=ALGERIA: Tamazight Recognised |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-825x.2016.06822.x |journal=Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=20850B–20850C |doi=10.1111/j.1467-825x.2016.06822.x |issn=0001-9844 |access-date=14 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526084755/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-825X.2016.06822.x |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=January 5, 2016 |title=Algeria's new constitution recognizes Tamazight as national, official language |work=BBC Monitoring Middle East}}</ref><ref name="Constitution bill-2016">{{cite web |url=http://www.aps.dz/images/doc/PROJET-DE%20REVISION-DE-LA-CONSTITUTION-28-DECEMBRE-2015.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2016-01-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160522160159/http://www.aps.dz/images/doc/PROJET-DE%20REVISION-DE-LA-CONSTITUTION-28-DECEMBRE-2015.pdf |archive-date=2016-05-22 }}</ref><ref name="BBC News-2016">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-35515769|title=Algeria reinstates term limit and recognises Berber language|work=BBC News|date=7 February 2016|access-date=20 June 2018|archive-date=15 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220615194003/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-35515769|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Libya ===
Although regional councils in Libya's [[Nafusa Mountains]] affiliated with the [[National Transitional Council]] reportedly use the Berber language of [[Nafusi language|Nafusi]] and have called for it to be granted co-official status with Arabic in a prospective new constitution,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/libya-berber-idUKLDE74O19G20110526|work=Reuters|date=26 May 2011|title=Libya's mountain Berber see opportunity in war|access-date=5 July 2011|first=Matt|last=Robinson|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305033844/http://uk.reuters.com/article/libya-berber-idUKLDE74O19G20110526|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/09/world/africa/09berbers.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/09/world/africa/09berbers.html |archive-date=2022-01-01 |url-access=limited|date=8 August 2011|title=Amid a Berber Reawakening in Libya, Fears of Revenge|access-date=10 August 2011|first=C.J.|last=Chivers|work=The New York Times}}{{cbignore}}</ref> it does not have official status in Libya as in Morocco and Algeria. As areas of Libya south and west of [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]] such as the [[Nafusa Mountains]] were taken from the control of [[Muammar Gaddafi|Gaddafi]] government forces in early summer 2011, Berber workshops and exhibitions sprang up to share and spread the Berber culture and language.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14026216 Waiting game for rebels in western Libya] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407205408/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14026216 |date=7 April 2022 }}, BBC News, John Simpson, 5 July 2011</ref>

===Other countries===
In Mali and Niger, some [[Tuareg languages]] have been recognized as national languages and have been part of school curriculums since the 1960s.<ref name="Elmedlaoui-2012-2">{{Cite book |last=Elmedlaoui |first=Mohamed |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/793573735 |title=Semitic and Afroasiatic : challenges and opportunities |date=2012 |publisher=Harrassowitz |others=Lutz Edzard |isbn=978-3-447-06695-2 |location=Wiesbaden |pages=138 |chapter=Berber |oclc=793573735 |access-date=7 January 2023 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115194522/https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/793573735 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Phonology ==
{{See also|Proto-Berber language#Phonology|Afroasiatic languages#Similarities in grammar and syntax}}

=== Notation ===
In linguistics, the phonology of Berber languages is written with the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]], with the following exceptions:<ref name="Elmedlaoui-2012-3">{{Cite book |last=Elmedlaoui |first=Mohamed |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/793573735 |title=Semitic and Afroasiatic : challenges and opportunities |date=2012 |publisher=Harrassowitz |others=Lutz Edzard |isbn=978-3-447-06695-2 |location=Wiesbaden |pages=132 |chapter=Berber |oclc=793573735 |access-date=7 January 2023 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115194522/https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/793573735 |url-status=live }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+
! Notation
! Meaning
|-
|/š/
|unvoiced anterior [[Postalveolar consonant|post-alveolar]], as in [[Slavic languages]] and [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]]
|-
|/ž/
|voiced anterior post-alveolar, also in [[Slavic languages]] and [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]]
|-
|/ɣ/
|voiced uvular fricative (in IPA, this represents the [[voiced velar fricative]])
|-
|/◌͑/
|voiced pharyngeal fricative
|-
|/h/
|laryngeal voiced consonant
|-
|/◌͗/
|glottal stop
|-
|/ř/
|[[Strident consonant|strident]] flap or /r̝/, as in [[Czech language|Czech]]
|-
|!
|indicates the following segment is emphatic
|}

=== Consonants ===
The influence of Arabic, the process of [[spirantization]], and the absence of labialization have caused the consonant systems of Berber languages to differ significantly by region.<ref name="Kossmann-2012a">{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/795895594 |title=The Afroasiatic languages |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |editor-first1=Zygmunt |editor-last1=Frajzyngier |editor-first2=Erin |editor-last2=Shay |isbn=978-1-139-42364-9 |location=Cambridge |pages=22–23 |chapter=Berber |oclc=795895594 |access-date=16 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526084811/https://search.worldcat.org/title/795895594 |url-status=live }}</ref> Berber languages found north of, and in the northern half of, the Sahara have greater influence from Arabic, including that of loaned phonemes, than those in more southern regions, like Tuareg.<ref name="Kossmann-2012a" /><ref name="Kossmann-2013">{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten G. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/858861608 |title=The Arabic influence on Northern Berber |date=2013 |isbn=978-90-04-25309-4 |location=Leiden |pages=1 |oclc=858861608 |access-date=17 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526081213/https://search.worldcat.org/title/858861608 |url-status=live }}</ref> Most Berber languages in northern regions have additionally undergone spirantization, in which historical short stops have changed into fricatives.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/795895594 |title=The Afroasiatic languages |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |editor-first1=Zygmunt |editor-last1=Frajzyngier |editor-first2=Erin |editor-last2=Shay |isbn=978-1-139-42364-9 |location=Cambridge |pages=27 |chapter=Berber |oclc=795895594 |access-date=16 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526084811/https://search.worldcat.org/title/795895594 |url-status=live }}</ref> Northern Berber languages (which is a subset of but not identical to Berber languages in geographically northern regions) commonly have labialized velars and uvulars, unlike other Berber languages.<ref name="Kossmann-2013" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/795895594 |title=The Afroasiatic languages |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |editor-first1=Zygmunt |editor-last1=Frajzyngier |editor-first2=Erin |editor-last2=Shay |isbn=978-1-139-42364-9 |location=Cambridge |pages=26 |chapter=Berber |oclc=795895594 |access-date=16 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526084811/https://search.worldcat.org/title/795895594 |url-status=live }}</ref>[[File:WIKITONGUES- Abderrahman speaking Tachelhit (vertical original).webm|thumb|A video of [[Shilha language|Tashlhiyt language]], one of the Berber languages, spoken by a man from [[Ait Melloul]].]]Two languages that illustrate the resulting range in consonant inventory across Berber languages are Ahaggar [[Tuareg languages|Tuareg]] and [[Kabyle language|Kabyle]]; Kabyle has two more places of articulation and three more manners of articulation than Ahaggar Tuareg.<ref name="Kossmann-2012a" />

There is still, however, common consonant features observed across Berber languages. Almost all Berber languages have bilabial, dental, palatal, velar, uvular, pharyngeal, and laryngeal consonants, and almost all consonants have a long counterpart.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/795895594 |title=The Afroasiatic languages |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |editor-first1=Zygmunt |editor-last1=Frajzyngier |editor-first2=Erin |editor-last2=Shay |isbn=978-1-139-42364-9 |location=Cambridge |pages=25 |oclc=795895594 |access-date=16 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526084811/https://search.worldcat.org/title/795895594 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Kossmann-1997">{{Cite journal |last1=Kossmann |first1=Marteen |last2=Stroomer |first2=H.J. |date=1997 |title=Berber Phonology |journal=Phonologies of Asia and Africa |pages=464–466}}</ref> All Berber languages, as is common in Afroasiatic languages, have [[pharyngealization|pharyngealized]] consonants and phonemic [[gemination]].<ref name="Kossmann-2012a" /><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/795895594 |title=The Afroasiatic languages |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |editor-first1=Zygmunt |editor-last1=Frajzyngier |editor-first2=Erin |editor-last2=Shay |isbn=978-1-139-42364-9 |location=Cambridge |pages=508–509 |oclc=795895594 |access-date=16 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526084811/https://search.worldcat.org/title/795895594 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/795895594 |title=The Afroasiatic languages |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |editor-first1=Zygmunt |editor-last1=Frajzyngier |editor-first2=Erin |editor-last2=Shay |isbn=978-1-139-42364-9 |location=Cambridge |pages=530 |oclc=795895594 |access-date=16 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526084811/https://search.worldcat.org/title/795895594 |url-status=live }}</ref> The consonants which may undergo gemination, and the positions in a word where gemination may occur, differ by language.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Elmedlaoui |first=Mohamed |title=Semitic and Afroasiatic: challenges and opportunities |date=2012 |publisher=Harrassowitz |isbn=978-3-447-06695-2 |editor-last=Edzard |editor-first=Lutz |series=Porta linguarum orientalium |location=Wiesbaden |pages=143 |chapter=Berber}}</ref> They have also been observed to have [[Tenseness|tense]] and lax consonants, although the status of tense consonants has been the subject of "considerable discussion" by linguists.<ref name="Kossmann-1997" /> Three (Kabyle, Tarifit and Shawiya) of the most spoken five Tamazight languages have the interdental consonants {{IPAblink|θ}} and {{IPAblink|ð}} which are considered rare cross-linguistically.

=== Vowels ===
The vowel systems of Berber languages also vary widely, with inventories ranging from three phonemic vowels in most [[Northern Berber languages]], to seven in some [[Eastern Berber languages|Eastern Berber]] and [[Tuareg languages|Tuareg]] languages.<ref name="Kossman-2012">{{Cite book |last=Kossman |first=Maarten |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/795895594 |title=The Afroasiatic languages |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |editor-first1=Zygmunt |editor-last1=Frajzyngier |editor-first2=Erin |editor-last2=Shay |isbn=978-1-139-42364-9 |location=Cambridge |pages=28 |chapter=Berber |oclc=795895594 |access-date=16 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526084811/https://search.worldcat.org/title/795895594 |url-status=live }}</ref> For example, [[Shilha language|Taselhiyt]] has the vowels /i/, /a/, and /u/, while Ayer Tuareg has the vowels /i/, /[[Mid central vowel|ə]]/, /u/, /e/, /[[Near-open central vowel|ɐ]]/, /o/, and /a/.<ref name="Kossman-2012" /><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/795895594 |title=The Afroasiatic languages |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |editor-first1=Zygmunt |editor-last1=Frajzyngier |editor-first2=Erin |editor-last2=Shay |isbn=978-1-139-42364-9 |location=Cambridge |pages=625 |oclc=795895594}}</ref> Contrastive [[vowel length]] is rare in Berber languages. Tuareg languages had previously been reported to have contrastive vowel length, but this is no longer the leading analysis.<ref name="Kossman-2012" /> A complex feature of Berber vowel systems is the role of [[central vowel]]s, which vary in occurrence and function across languages; there is a debate as to whether [[schwa]] is a proper phoneme of Northern Berber languages.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kossman |first=Maarten |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/795895594 |title=The Afroasiatic languages |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |editor-first1=Zygmunt |editor-last1=Frajzyngier |editor-first2=Erin |editor-last2=Shay |isbn=978-1-139-42364-9 |location=Cambridge |pages=28–33 |chapter=Berber |oclc=795895594}}</ref>

=== Suprasegmentals ===
Most Berber languages:
* allow for any combination of CC consonant clusters.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lahrouchi |first=Mohamed |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1028731846 |publisher=Routledge |title=The Routledge handbook of African linguistics |date=2018 |editor-first1=Augustine |editor-last1=Agwuele |editor-link2=Adams Bodomo |editor-first2=Adams |editor-last2=Bodomo |isbn=978-1-315-39298-1 |location=New York, NY |pages=171 |chapter=Syllable structure and vowel/zero alternations in Moroccan Arabic and Berber |oclc=1028731846 |quote="The Berber languages do not diverge from this trend, as no sonority restriction is imposed on their consonant clusters. Word-initial CC may consist of a sequence of stops or obstruent-sonorant, each with their mirror-image." |access-date=18 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526085812/https://search.worldcat.org/title/1028731846 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Heath |first=Jeffrey |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/60839346 |title=A grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali) |date=2005 |publisher=Mouton de Gruyter |isbn=3-11-018484-2 |location=Berlin |pages=42 |oclc=60839346 |access-date=18 December 2022 |archive-date=10 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210020620/https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/60839346 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* have no lexical tones.<ref name="Maarten-2012">{{Cite book |last=Maarten |first=Kossmann |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/795895594 |title=The Afroasiatic languages |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |editor-first1=Zygmunt |editor-last1=Frajzyngier |editor-first2=Erin |editor-last2=Shay |isbn=978-1-139-42364-9 |location=Cambridge |pages=33–34 |chapter=Berber |oclc=795895594}}</ref>
* either have no lexical stress (Northern Berber languages) or have grammatically significant lexical stress.<ref name="Maarten-2012" />

=== Phonetic correspondences ===
[[File:French professor speaking fluent Amazigh.webm|thumb|An interview in [[Central Atlas Tamazight]] language as spoken by a professor from France.]]
Phonetic correspondences between Berber languages are fairly regular.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Elmedlaoui |first=Mohamed |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/793573735 |title=Semitic and Afroasiatic : challenges and opportunities |date=2012 |publisher=Harrassowitz |others=Lutz Edzard |isbn=978-3-447-06695-2 |location=Wiesbaden |pages=137 |chapter=Berber |oclc=793573735 |access-date=7 January 2023 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115194522/https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/793573735 |url-status=live }}</ref> Some examples, of varying importance and regularity, include [''g/ž/y'']; [''k/š'']; [''l/ř/r'']; [''l/ž, ll/dd<sup>ž</sup>'']; [trill/ vocalized r]; [''šš/tt<sup>š</sup>'']; [''ss/tt<sup>š</sup>'']; [''w/g/b'']; [''q''/''ɣ'']; [''h''/Ø]; and [''s-š-ž/h''].<ref name="Elmedlaoui-2012-3" /> Words in various Berber languages are shown to demonstrate these phonetic correspondences as follows:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Elmedlaoui |first=Mohamed |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/793573735 |title=Semitic and Afroasiatic : challenges and opportunities |date=2012 |publisher=Harrassowitz |others=Lutz Edzard |isbn=978-3-447-06695-2 |location=Wiesbaden |pages=139 |chapter=Berber |oclc=793573735 |access-date=7 January 2023 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115194522/https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/793573735 |url-status=live }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Major Berber phonetic correspondences
! Tahaggart<br>{{small|(Touareg)}}
! Tashlhiyt<br>{{small|(Morocco)}}
! Kabyle<br>{{small|(Algeria)}}
! Figuig<br>{{small|(Morocco)}}
! Central Atlas Tamazight<br>{{small|(Morocco)}}
! Tarifit<br>{{small|(Morocco)}}
! Gloss
|-
|''!oska''
|''!uskay''
|''!uššay''
|(Arabic loan)
|''!usça''
|''!uššay''
|"greyhound"
|-
|''t-a-!gzəl-t''
|''t-i-!gzzl-t''
|''t-i-!gzzəl-t''
|''t-i-!yžəl-t''
|''t-i-!ḡzəl-t''
|''θ-i-!yzzət<sup>š</sup>''
|"kidney"
|-
|''a-gelhim''
|''a-glzim''
|''a-gəlzim''
|''a-yəlzim''
|''a-ḡzzim''
|''a-řizim''
|"axe"
|-
|''éhéder''
|''i-gidr''
|''i-gider''
|(Arabic loan)
|''yidər''
|''žiða:''
|"eagle"
|-
|''t-adhan-t''
|''t-adgal-t''
|''t-add<sup>ž</sup>al-t''
|''t-ahžžal-t''
|''t-ad<sup>ž</sup>al-t''
|''θ-ažžat''
|"window"
|-
|''élem''
|''ilm''
|''a-g<sup>w</sup>lim''
|''ilem''
|''iləm''
|''iřem''
|"skin"
|-
|''a-!hiyod''
|''a-!žddid''
|''a-!žədd<sup>ž</sup>id''
| –
|''a-!ḡdd<sup>ž</sup>id''
|''a-!žžið''
|"scabies"
|-
|''a-gûhil''
|''i-gigil''
|''a-gužil''
|''a-yužil''
|''a-wižil''
|''a-yužiř''
|"orphan"
|-
|''t-immé''
|''i-gnzi''
|''t-a-g<sup>w</sup>ənza''
|''t-a-nyər-t''
|''t-i-nir-t''
|''θ-a-nya:-θ''
|"forehead"
|-
|''t-ahor-t''
|''t-aggur-t''
|''t-abbur-t''
|(Arabic loan)
|''t-aggur-t''
|''θ-!awwa:-θ''
| rowspan="2" |"door"
|-
|''t-a-flu-t''
|''t-i-flu-t''
|''t-i-flu-t''
| –
|''t-iflu-t''
|''--''
|-
|''a-fus''
|''a-fus''
|''a-fus''
|''a-fus''
|''(a-)fus''
|''fus''
|"hand"
|}

== Grammar ==
Berber languages characteristically make frequent use of [[apophony]] in the form of [[Indo-European ablaut|ablaut]].<ref name="Kossmann-2007" /> Berber apophony has been historically analyzed as functioning similarly to the [[Semitic root]], but this analysis has fallen out of favor due to the lexical significance of vowels in Berber languages, as opposed to their primarily grammatical significance in Semitic languages.<ref name="Kossmann-2007" />

The [[Part of speech|lexical categories]] of all Berber languages are [[noun]]s, [[verb]]s, [[pronoun]]s, [[adverb]]s, and [[Preposition and postposition|prepositions]]. With the exception of a handful of Arabic loanwords in most languages, Berber languages do not have proper adjectives. In Northern and Eastern Berber languages, adjectives are a subcategory of nouns; in Tuareg, relative clauses and stative verb forms are used to modify nouns instead.<ref name="Kossmann-2012f">{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/795895594 |title=The Afroasiatic languages |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |editor-first1=Zygmunt |editor-last1=Frajzyngier |editor-first2=Erin |editor-last2=Shay |isbn=978-1-139-42364-9 |location=Cambridge |pages=34 |chapter=Berber |oclc=795895594}}</ref>

The gender, number, and case of nouns, as well as the gender, number, and person of verbs, are typically distinguished through affixes.<ref name="Kossmann-2007-2" /><ref name="Kossmann-2012c" /> Arguments are described with word order and [[clitic]]s.<ref name="Kossmann-2012d">{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/795895594 |title=The Afroasiatic languages |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |editor-first1=Zygmunt |editor-last1=Frajzyngier |editor-first2=Erin |editor-last2=Shay |isbn=978-1-139-42364-9 |location=Cambridge |pages=58–61 |chapter=Berber |oclc=795895594}}</ref><ref name="Kossmann-2007d">{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/646569109 |title=Morphologies of Asia and Africa |date=2007 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |others=Alan S. Kaye |isbn=978-1-57506-566-3 |location=Winona Lake, Ind. |pages=83–86 |chapter=Berber |oclc=646569109 |access-date=24 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526085809/https://search.worldcat.org/title/646569109 |url-status=live }}</ref> When sentences have a verb, they essentially follow [[verb–subject–object word order]], although some linguists believe alternate descriptors would better categorize certain languages, such as Taqbaylit.<ref name="Kossmann-2007d" /><ref name="Mettouchi-2010">{{Cite book |last1=Mettouchi |first1=Amina |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/642205456 |title=The expression of information structure : a documentation of its diversity across Africa |last2=Fleisch |first2=Axel |date=2010 |publisher=J. Benjamins Pub. Co |others=Ines Fiedler, Anne Schwarz |isbn=978-90-272-8842-4 |location=Amsterdam |pages=194–199 |chapter=Topic-focus articulation in Taqbaylit and Tashelhit Berber |oclc=642205456 |access-date=25 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526085919/https://search.worldcat.org/title/642205456 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Pronouns ===
Berber languages have both independent and dependent pronouns, both of which distinguish between person and number. Gender is also typically distinguished in the second and third person, and sometimes in first person plural.<ref name="Kossmann-2012d" />

Linguist [[Maarten Kossmann]] divides pronouns in Berber languages into three morphological groups:<ref name="Kossmann-2012d" />

# Independent pronouns
# Direct object clitics
# Indirect object clitics; prepositional suffixes; adnominal suffixes

When clitics precede or follow a verb, they are almost always ordered with the indirect object first, direct object second, and [[Andative and venitive|andative-venitive]] [[Deixis|deictic]] clitic last. An example in Tarifit is shown as follows:<ref name="Kossmann-2012d" />

{{Interlinear|indent=2
|y-əwš {{=}}as {{=}}θ {{=}}ið
|3SG:M-give:PAST {{=}}3SG:IO {{=}}3SG:M:DO {{=}}VEN
|"He gave it to him (in this direction)." (Tarifit)}}

The allowed positioning of different kinds of clitics varies by language.<ref name="Kossmann-2012d" />

=== Nouns ===
Nouns are distinguished by [[Grammatical gender|gender]], [[Grammatical number|number]], and case in most Berber languages, with gender being feminine or masculine, number being singular or plural, and case being in the construct or free state.<ref name="Kossmann-2007" /><ref name="König-2008">{{Cite book |last=König |first=Christa |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/304173611 |title=Case in Africa |date=2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-155266-3 |location=Oxford, UK |pages=181–182 |oclc=304173611 |access-date=24 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526085917/https://search.worldcat.org/title/304173611 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Kossmann-2007-2">{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/646569109 |title=Morphologies of Asia and Africa |date=2007 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |others=Alan S. Kaye |isbn=978-1-57506-566-3 |location=Winona Lake, Ind. |pages=433–434 |chapter=Berber Morphology |oclc=646569109 |access-date=24 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526085809/https://search.worldcat.org/title/646569109 |url-status=live }}</ref> Some Arabic borrowings in Northern and Eastern Berber languages do not accept these affixes; they instead retain the Arabic article regardless of case, and follow Arabic patterns to express number and gender.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Kossmann-2012-54-55">{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/795895594 |title=The Afroasiatic languages |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-42364-9 |editor-last1=Frajzyngier |editor-first1=Zygmunt |location=Cambridge |pages=54–55 |chapter=Berber |oclc=795895594 |editor-last2=Shay |editor-first2=Erin}}</ref>

Gender can be feminine or masculine, and can be lexically determined, or can be used to distinguish qualities of the noun.<ref name="Kossmann-2007" /> For humans and "higher" animals (such as mammals and large birds), gender distinguishes sex, whereas for objects and "lesser" animals (such as insects and lizards), it distinguishes size. For some nouns, often fruits and vegetables, gender can also distinguish the specificity of the noun.<ref name="Kossmann-2007" /><ref name="Kossmann-2012e">{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/795895594 |title=The Afroasiatic languages |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |editor-first1=Zygmunt |editor-last1=Frajzyngier |editor-first2=Erin |editor-last2=Shay |isbn=978-1-139-42364-9 |location=Cambridge |pages=66–67 |chapter=Berber |oclc=795895594}}</ref> The ways in which gender is used to distinguish nouns is shown in as follows, with examples from [[Figuig language|Figuig]]:<ref name="Kossmann-2007">{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/646569109 |title=Morphologies of Asia and Africa |date=2007 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |others=Alan S. Kaye |isbn=978-1-57506-566-3 |location=Winona Lake, Ind. |pages=429–431 |chapter=Berber Morphology |oclc=646569109 |access-date=24 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526085809/https://search.worldcat.org/title/646569109 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Kossmann-2012e" />
{| class="wikitable"
|+
! rowspan="2" | Noun type
! colspan="3" | Feminine
! colspan="3" | Masculine
|-
! Feature
! Figuig example
! Example gloss
! Feature
! Figuig example
! Example gloss
|-
|humans; higher animals
|female
|''ta-sli-t''
|"bride"
|male
|''a-sli''
|"groom"
|-
|objects; lesser animals
|small
|''ta-ɣənžay-t''
|"spoon"
|large
|''a-ɣənža''
|"large spoon"
|-
| rowspan="2" |varies, but typically fruits and vegetables
| rowspan="2" |unit noun
|''ta-mlul-t''
|"(one) melon"
| rowspan="2" |[[collective noun]]
| rowspan="2" |''a-mlul''
| rowspan="2" |"melons (in general)"
|-
|''ti-mlal'' (plural)
|"(specific) melons"
|}
An example of nouns with lexically determined gender are the feminine ''t-lussi'' ("butter") and masculine ''a-ɣi'' ("buttermilk") in Figuig.<ref name="Kossmann-2007" /> Mass nouns have lexically determined gender across Berber languages.<ref name="Kossmann-2012e" />

Most Berber languages have two cases, which distinguish the [[construct state]] from the free state.<ref name="König-2008" /><ref name="Kossmann-2007c">{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/646569109 |title=Morphologies of Asia and Africa |date=2007 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |others=Alan S. Kaye |isbn=978-1-57506-566-3 |location=Winona Lake, Ind. |pages=431–433 |chapter=Berber Morphology |oclc=646569109 |access-date=24 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526085809/https://search.worldcat.org/title/646569109 |url-status=live }}</ref> The construct state is also called the "construct case, "relative case," "annexed state" (''état d'annexion'')'','' or the "nominative case"; the free state (''état libre'') is also called the "direct case" or "accusative case."<ref name="König-2008" /> When present, case is always expressed through nominal prefixes and initial-vowel reduction.<ref name="König-2008" /><ref name="Kossmann-2007c" /> The use of the [[marked nominative]] system and constructions similar to [[active-stative alignment|Split-S alignment]] varies by language.<ref name="Mettouchi-2010" /><ref name="König-2008" /> Eastern Berber languages do not have case.<ref name="König-2008" /><ref name="Kossmann-2007c" />

Number can be singular or plural, which is marked with prefixation, suffixation, and sometimes apophony. Nouns usually are made plural by one of either suffixation or apophony, with prefixation applied independently. Specifics vary by language, but prefixation typically changes singular ''a-'' and ''ta-'' to plural ''i-'' and ''ti-'' respectively.<ref name="Kossmann-2007-2" /> The number of mass nouns are lexically determined. For example, in multiple Berber languages, such as Figuig, ''a-ɣi'' ("buttermilk") is singular while ''am-an'' ("water") is plural.<ref name="Kossmann-2012e" />

Nouns or pronouns—optionally extended with genitival pronominal affixes, demonstrative clitics, or pre-nominal elements, and then further modified by numerals, adjectives, possessive phrases, or relative clauses—can be built into noun phrases.<ref name="Kossmann-2007f">{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/646569109 |title=Morphologies of Asia and Africa |date=2007 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |others=Alan S. Kaye |isbn=978-1-57506-566-3 |location=Winona Lake, Ind. |pages=72–76 |chapter=Berber |oclc=646569109 |access-date=24 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526085809/https://search.worldcat.org/title/646569109 |url-status=live }}</ref> Possessive phrases in noun phrases must have a genitive proposition.<ref name="Kossmann-2012f" /><ref name="Kossmann-2007f" />

There are a limited number of pre-nominal elements, which function similarly to pronoun syntactic heads of the noun phrase, and which can be categorized into three types as follows:<ref name="Kossmann-2007f" />

* The pluralizer ''id-''
* The four pre-nominal elements roughly meaning "son(s) of" and "daughter(s) of", which commonly denote group identity and origin
* Pre-nominal elements which expand on the meaning of the noun

=== Verbs ===
Verb bases are formed by stems that are optionally extended by prefixes, with mood, aspect, and negation applied with a vocalic scheme. This form can then be conjugated with affixes to agree with person, number, and gender, which produces a word.<ref name="Kossmann-2012c">{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/795895594 |title=The Afroasiatic languages |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |editor-first1=Zygmunt |editor-last1=Frajzyngier |editor-first2=Erin |editor-last2=Shay |isbn=978-1-139-42364-9 |location=Cambridge |pages=36 |chapter=Berber |oclc=795895594}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/646569109 |title=Morphologies of Asia and Africa |date=2007 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |others=Alan S. Kaye |isbn=978-1-57506-566-3 |location=Winona Lake, Ind. |pages=435 |chapter=Berber Morphology |oclc=646569109 |access-date=24 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526085809/https://search.worldcat.org/title/646569109 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Different linguists analyze and label [[aspect (linguistics)|aspect]]s in the Berber languages vary differently. Kossman roughly summarizes the basic stems which denote aspect as follows:<ref name="Kossmann-2007e">{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/646569109 |title=Morphologies of Asia and Africa |date=2007 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |others=Alan S. Kaye |isbn=978-1-57506-566-3 |location=Winona Lake, Ind. |pages=436–438 |chapter=Berber Morphology |oclc=646569109 |access-date=24 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526085809/https://search.worldcat.org/title/646569109 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Aorist]], also called aoriste, without a preceding particle:
** [[Imperative mood|imperative]]
** unmarked (taking aspect from preceding verb)
* Aorist, with the preceding article ''ad:''
** [[Irrealis mood|irrealis]]  (adhortative, future)
* Preterite, or accompli:
** past tense, in dynamic use
** states (such as "to want, to know"), in stative use
* Intensive Aorist, also called habitative or inaccompli:
** dynamic present
** habitative and iterative
** habitative imperative
** negation of any imperative
Different languages may have more stems and aspects, or may distinguish within the above categories. Stem formation can be very complex, with Tuareg by some measures having over two hundred identified conjugation subtypes.<ref name="Kossmann-2007e" />

The aspectual stems of some classes of verbs in various Berber languages are shown as follows:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/795895594 |title=The Afroasiatic languages |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |editor-first1=Zygmunt |editor-last1=Frajzyngier |editor-first2=Erin |editor-last2=Shay |isbn=978-1-139-42364-9 |location=Cambridge |pages=39 |chapter=Berber |oclc=795895594}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!
! Figuig
! Ghadames
! Ayer Tuareg
! Mali Tuareg
|-
|Aorist
|''əlmədatəf''
|''ălmədatəf''
|''əlmədatəf''
|''əlmədaləm''
|-
|Imperfective
|''ləmmədttatəf''
|''lămmădttatăf''
|''--''
|''lămmădtiləm''
|-
|Secondary imperfective
|''--''
|''--''
|''lámmădtátăf''
|''lámmădtiləm''
|-
|Negative imperfective
|''ləmmədttitəf''
|''ləmmədttitəf''
|''ləmmədtitəf''
|''ləmmədtiləm''
|-
|Perfective
|''əlmədutəf''
|''əlmădutăf''
|''əlmădotăf''
|''əlmădolăm''
|-
|Secondary perfective
|''--''
|''--''
|''əlmádotáf''
|''əlmádolám''
|-
|Negative perfective
|''əlmidutif''
|''əlmedutef''
|''əlmedotef''
|''əlmedolem''
|-
|Future
|''--''
|''əlmădutăf''
|''--''
|''--''
|}
Verb phrases are built with verb morphology, pronominal and deictic clitics, pre-verbal particles, and auxiliary elements. The pre-verbal particles are ''ad'', ''wər,'' and their variants, which correspond to the meanings of "non-realized" and "negative" respectively.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/646569109 |title=Morphologies of Asia and Africa |date=2007 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |others=Alan S. Kaye |isbn=978-1-57506-566-3 |location=Winona Lake, Ind. |pages=77 |chapter=Berber |oclc=646569109 |access-date=24 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526085809/https://search.worldcat.org/title/646569109 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Numerals ===
Many Berber languages have lost use of their original numerals from three onwards due to the influence of Arabic; Tarifit has lost all except one. Languages that may retain all their original numerals include Tashelhiyt, Tuareg, [[Ghadamès language|Ghadames]], [[Ouargli language|Ouargla]], and [[Zenaga language|Zenaga]].<ref name="Corpus-2015">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/897946694 |title=Corpus-based studies of lesser-described languages : the CorpAfroAs corpus of spoken AfroAsiatic languages |date=2015 |others=Amina Mettouchi, Martine Vanhove, Dominique Caubet |isbn=978-90-272-6889-1 |location=Amsterdam, the Netherlands |pages=237–238 |oclc=897946694 |access-date=24 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526090604/https://search.worldcat.org/title/897946694 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Kossmann-2012b">{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/795895594 |title=The Afroasiatic languages |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |editor-first1=Zygmunt |editor-last1=Frajzyngier |editor-first2=Erin |editor-last2=Shay |isbn=978-1-139-42364-9 |location=Cambridge |pages=64 |chapter=Berber |oclc=795895594}}</ref>

Original Berber numerals agree in gender with the noun they describe, whereas the borrowed Arabic forms do not.<ref name="Corpus-2015" /><ref name="Kossmann-2012b" />

The numerals 1–10 in Tashelhiyt and Mali Tuareg are as follows:<ref>Hans Stumme: ''Handbuch des Schilhischen von Tazerwalt.'' Hinrichs, Leipzig 1899, §&nbsp;169; Transcription modified.</ref><ref>Galand (1988, 4.11).</ref><ref name="Kossmann-2012b" />

{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" | Tashelhiyt
! colspan="2" | Mali Tuareg
|-
! {{small|masculine}} || {{small|feminine}}
! {{small|masculine}} || {{small|feminine}}
|-
! 1
| ''yan'' || ''yat''
| ''iyăn'' || ''iyăt''
|-
! 2
| ''sin'' || ''snat''
| ''əssin'' || ''sănatăt''
|-
! 3
| ''kraḍ'' || ''kraṭṭ''
| ''kăraḍ'' || ''kăraḍăt''
|-
! 4
| ''kkuẓ'' || ''kkuẓt''
| ''akkoẓ'' || ''ăkkoẓăt''
|-
! 5
| ''smmus'' || ''smmust''
| ''sămmos'' || ''sămmosăt''
|-
! 6
| ''sḍis'' || ''sḍist''
| ''səḍis'' || ''səḍisăt''
|-
! 7
| ''sa'' || ''sat''
| ''ăssa'' || ''ăssayăt''
|-
! 8
| ''tam'' || ''tamt''
| ''ăttam'' || ''ăttamăt''
|-
! 9
| ''tẓa'' || ''tẓat''
| ''tăẓẓa'' || ''tăẓẓayăt''
|-
! 10
| ''mraw'' || ''mrawt''
| ''măraw'' || ''mărawăt''
|}

=== Sentence structure ===
Sentences in Berber languages can be divided into verbal and non-verbal sentences. The [[Topic and comment|topic]], which has a unique intonation in the sentence, precedes all other arguments in both types.<ref name="Kossmann-2007d" />

Verbal sentences have a finite verb, and are commonly understood to follow [[verb–subject–object word order]] (VSO).<ref name="Kossmann-2007d" /><ref name="Mettouchi-2010" /> Some linguists have proposed opposing analyses of the word order patterns in Berber languages, and there has been some support for characterizing Taqbaylit as [[Non-configurational language|discourse-configurational]].<ref name="Mettouchi-2010" />

Existential, attributive, and locational sentences in most Berber languages are expressed with non-verbal sentences, which have no finite verb. In these sentences, the predicate follows the noun, with the predicative particle ''d'' sometimes in between. Two examples, one without and one with a subject, are given from Kabyle as follows:<ref name="Kossmann-2007d" /> {{Interlinear|indent=2|ð a-qšiš|PRED {{gcl|EL|free state, also called the accusative case}}:M-boy|"It is a boy." (Kabyle)}}

{{Interlinear|indent=2|nətta ð a-qšiš|he PRED {{gcl|EL|free state, also called the accusative case}}:M-boy|"He is a boy." (Kabyle)}}Non-verbal sentences may use the verb meaning "to be," which exists in all Berber languages. An example from Tarifit is given as follows:<ref name="Kossmann-2007d" />{{Interlinear|indent=2|i-tiři ða|3SG:M-be:{{gcl|I|imperfective}} here|"He is always here." (habitual) (Tarifit)}}

== Lexicon ==
Above all in the area of basic lexicon, the Berber languages are very similar.{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}} However, the household-related vocabulary in sedentary tribes is especially different from the one found in nomadic ones: whereas Tahaggart has only two or three designations for species of palm tree, other languages may have as many as 200 similar words.<ref>Basset 1952, S. 45</ref> In contrast, Tahaggart has a rich vocabulary for the description of camels.<ref>J.-M. Cortade, M. Mammeri: ''Lexique français-touareg, dialecte de l’Ahaggar.'' Paris 1967, 91–93</ref>

Some loanwords in the Berber languages can be traced to pre-Roman times. The Berber words ''te-ḇăyne'' "date" and ''a-sḇan'' "loose woody tissue around the palm tree stem" originate from [[Egyptian language|Ancient Egyptian]], likely due to the introduction of [[date palm]] cultivation into North Africa from Egypt.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten G. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/858861608 |title=The Arabic influence on Northern Berber |date=2013 |isbn=978-90-04-25309-4 |location=Leiden |pages=57 |oclc=858861608 |access-date=17 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526081213/https://search.worldcat.org/title/858861608 |url-status=live }}</ref> Around a dozen Berber words are probable [[Phoenician language|Phoenician-Punic]] loanwords, although the overall influence of Phoenician-Punic on Berber languages is negligible.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten G. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/858861608 |title=The Arabic influence on Northern Berber |date=2013 |isbn=978-90-04-25309-4 |location=Leiden |pages=58–59 |oclc=858861608 |access-date=17 December 2022 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526081213/https://search.worldcat.org/title/858861608 |url-status=live }}</ref> A number of loanwords could be attributed to Phoenician-Punic, [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], or [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]]. The similar vocabulary between these Semitic languages, as well as Arabic, is a complicating factor in tracing the etymology of certain words.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten G. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/858861608 |title=The Arabic influence on Northern Berber |date=2013 |isbn=978-90-04-25309-4 |location=Leiden |pages=60 |oclc=858861608}}</ref>

Words of [[Latin]] origin have been introduced into Berber languages over time. Maarten Kossman separates Latin loanwords in Berber languages into those from during the [[Roman Empire|Roman empire]] ("Latin loans"), from after the fall of the Roman empire ("[[African Romance]] loans"), precolonial non-African Romance loans, and colonial and post-colonial Romance loans. It can be difficult to distinguish Latin from African Romance loans.<ref name="Kossmann-2013b">{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten G. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/858861608 |title=The Arabic influence on Northern Berber |date=2013 |isbn=978-90-04-25309-4 |location=Leiden |pages=63–64 |oclc=858861608}}</ref> There are about 40 likely Latin or African Romance loanwords in Berber languages, which tend to be agricultural terms, religious terms, terms related to learning, or words for plants or useful objects.<ref name="Kossmann-2013b" /><ref name="Kossmann-2013c">{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten G. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/858861608 |title=The Arabic influence on Northern Berber |date=2013 |isbn=978-90-04-25309-4 |location=Leiden |pages=68–72 |oclc=858861608}}</ref> Use of these terms varies by language. For example, Tuareg does not retain the Latin agricultural terms, which relate to a form of agriculture not practiced by the Tuareg people. There are some Latin loans that are only known to be used in Shawiya.<ref name="Kossmann-2013c" />

The [[Berber calendar]] uses month names derived from the [[Julian calendar]]. Not every language uses every month. For example, Figuig appears to use only eight of the months.<ref name="Kossmann-2013c" /> These names may be precolonial non-African Romance loans, adopted into Berber languages through Arabic, rather than from Latin directly.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten G. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/858861608 |title=The Arabic influence on Northern Berber |date=2013 |isbn=978-90-04-25309-4 |location=Leiden |pages=74–76 |oclc=858861608}}</ref>

The most influential external language on the lexicon of Berber languages is Arabic. Maarten Kossmann calculates that 0-5% of Ghadames and Awdjila's core vocabularies, and over 15% of Ghomara, Siwa, and Senhadja de Sraïr's core vocabularies, are loans from Arabic. Most other Berber languages loan from 6–15% of their core vocabulary from Arabic.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten G. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/858861608 |title=The Arabic influence on Northern Berber |date=2013 |isbn=978-90-04-25309-4 |location=Leiden |pages=110–111 |oclc=858861608}}</ref> [[Salem Chaker]] estimates that Arabic loanwords represent 38% of [[Kabyle language|Kabyle]] vocabulary, 25% of Tashelhiyt vocabulary, and 5% of Tuareg vocabulary, including non-core words.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chaker |first=S. |date=1989-01-01 |title=Arabisation |url=https://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/2570 |journal=Encyclopédie berbère |language=fr |issue=6 |pages=834–843 |doi=10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.2570 |issn=1015-7344 |doi-access=free |access-date=21 February 2023 |archive-date=21 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230221122856/https://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/2570 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten G. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/858861608 |title=The Arabic influence on Northern Berber |date=2013 |isbn=978-90-04-25309-4 |location=Leiden |pages=107 |oclc=858861608}}</ref>

On the one hand, the words and expressions connected to Islam were borrowed, e.g. Tashlhiyt ''bismillah'' "in the name of [[Allah]]" < Classical Arabic ''bi-smi-llāhi'', Tuareg ''ta-mejjīda'' "mosque" (Arabic ''masjid''); on the other, Berber adopted cultural concepts such as Kabyle ''ssuq'' "market" from Arabic ''as-sūq'', ''tamdint'' "town" < Arabic ''madīna''. Even expressions such as the Arabic greeting ''as-salāmu ʿalaikum'' "Peace be upon you!" were adopted (Tuareg ''salāmu ɣlīkum'').<ref>''Textes touaregs en prose de Charles de Foucauld et Adolphe de Calassanti-Motylinski. Édition critique avec traduction par Salem Chaker, Hélène Claudot, Marceau Gast.'' Edisud, Aix-en-Provence 1984, {{Falsche ISBN|2-85744-176-3}}, S. 302</ref>

==Influence on other languages==
The Berber languages have influenced local [[Arabic]] dialects in the Maghreb. Although [[Maghrebi Arabic]] has a predominantly [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] and [[Arabic]] vocabulary,<ref name="Abdou Elimam2">{{cite book |last1=Elimam |first1=Abdou |url=http://gerflint.fr/Base/Tunisie1/elimam.pdf |title=Du Punique au Maghribi :Trajectoires d'une langue sémito-méditerranéenne |publisher=Synergies Tunisie |year=2009 |access-date=30 May 2023 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303171009/http://gerflint.fr/Base/Tunisie1/elimam.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> it contains a few Berber loanwords which represent 2–3% of the vocabulary of [[Libyan Arabic]], 8–9% of [[Algerian Arabic]] and [[Tunisian Arabic]], and 10–15% of [[Moroccan Arabic]].<ref name=":022">{{Cite book |last=Wexler |first=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YJpdiPiG2g4C&pg=PA174 |title=The Non-Jewish Origins of the Sephardic Jews |date=2012-02-01 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-1-4384-2393-7 |pages=174 |language=en |quote=Zavadovskij gives statistics for the percentage of Berber words in North African Muslim Arabic dialects: 10–15 percent Berber components in the Moroccan Arabic lexicon, 8–9 percent in Algerian and Tunisian Arabic, and only 2–3 percent in Libyan Arabic. |access-date=25 June 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164800/https://books.google.com/books?id=YJpdiPiG2g4C&pg=PA174 |url-status=live }}</ref> Their influence is also seen in some languages in West Africa. F. W. H. Migeod pointed to strong resemblances between Berber and [[Hausa language|Hausa]] in such words and phrases as these:

{| {{table}}
! Berber
! Hausa
! gloss
|-
| {{lang|ber|obanis}} || {{lang|ha|obansa}} || his father
|-
| {{lang|ber|a bat}} || {{lang|ha|ya bata}} || he was lost
|-
| {{lang|ber|eghare}} || {{lang|ha|ya kirra}} || he called
|}

In addition he notes that the [[Genitive case|genitive]] in both languages is formed with '''n''' = "of" (though likely a common inheritance from Proto-Afro-Asiatic; cf. A.Eg genitive ''n'').<ref>Migeod, F. W. H., ''The Languages of West Africa''. Kegan, Paul, Trench & Trübner, London 1913. pages 232, 233.</ref>

==Extinct languages==
A number of extinct populations are believed to have spoken Afro-Asiatic languages of the Berber branch. According to Peter Behrens (1981) and Marianne Bechaus-Gerst (2000), linguistic evidence suggests that the peoples of the [[C-Group culture]] in present-day southern [[Egypt]] and northern [[Sudan]] spoke Berber languages.<ref name="Bechaus-Gerst"/><ref name="Lbant"/> The [[Nilo-Saharan languages|Nilo-Saharan]] [[Nobiin language]] today contains a number of key pastoralism related [[loanword]]s that are of Berber origin, including the terms for sheep and water/[[Nile]]. This in turn suggests that the C-Group population—which, along with the [[Kerma Culture|Kerma culture]], inhabited the Nile valley immediately before the arrival of the first [[Nubian languages|Nubian]] speakers—spoke Afro-Asiatic languages.<ref name="Bechaus-Gerst"/>

Additionally, historical linguistics indicate that the [[Guanche language]], which was spoken on the [[Canary Islands]] by the ancient [[Guanches]], likely belonged to the Berber branch of the Afro-Asiatic family.<ref name="Hawyard">Richard Hayward, 2000, "Afroasiatic", in Heine & Nurse eds, ''African Languages,'' Cambridge University Press</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of Berber-language television channels]]
* [[Amazigh Cultural Association in America]]
* [[Shilha literature]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="Brett">{{cite encyclopedia |first=Michael |last=Brett |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Berber |encyclopedia=[[Britannica]].com |title=Berber |date=23 May 2023 |quote=By ''[the 14th century]'', however, the Berbers were in retreat, subjected to Arabization of two very different kinds. The predominance of written Arabic had ended the writing of Amazigh (Berber) languages in both the old Libyan and the new Arabic script, reducing its languages to folk languages. |trans-quote=In other words, Tamazight had earlier been the dominant spoken ''and'' written language of the Imazighen. |access-date=15 June 2023 |archive-date=1 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801182132/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Berber |url-status=live }}</ref>

<!--<ref name="Nalrc">{{cite web |url=https://nalrc.indiana.edu/doc/brochures/tamazight.pdf |website=National African Language Resource Center (NALRC), Indiana University |title=Tamazight (Berber) |quote=Berber is viewed by many as a derogatory term and Berbers therefore refer to themselves as Imazighen, or Amazigh in singular form, which means free men.}}</ref>  -->

<ref name="Peab">{{cite web |url=https://peabody.harvard.edu/galleries/imazighen-amazigh-aesthetics-symbology |publisher=Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, at Harvard |title=Imazighen – Amazigh Aesthetics & Symbology |quote=Amazigh arts, ''like the Tamazight language'', have coexisted with other North African forms of expression since pre-Islamic times. |access-date=15 June 2023 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526090955/https://peabody.harvard.edu/galleries/imazighen-amazigh-aesthetics-symbology |url-status=live }} ''{{ea}}''</ref>
<ref name="Punic">See [[Libyco-Berber alphabet]], and [[Tifinagh]]: "The word tifinagh (singular tafinəq < *ta-finəɣ-t) is thought by some scholars to be a Berberized feminine plural cognate or adaptation of the Latin word 'Punicus', (meaning 'Punic' or 'Phoenician') through the Berber feminine prefix ti- and the root '''√'''FNƔ < *'''√'''PNQ < Latin Punicus; thus tifinagh could possibly mean 'the Phoenician (letters)' or 'the Punic letters'."<br>The adjective "Punic" commonly refers to [[Carthage]], destroyed by Rome at the end of the [[Punic Wars]], 146 BCE. In the usual theory, Carthaginians were western Phoenicians. But maybe not so much:<br>•&nbsp;{{cite journal |url=https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.03.13.483276v1.full.pdf |doi=10.1101/2022.03.13.483276 |first1=Hannah M. |last1=Moots |display-authors=etal |location=Stanford, California |website=Biorxiv.org |date=2022-03-13 |title=A Genetic History of Continuity and Mobility in the Iron Age Central Mediterranean |s2cid=247549249 |quote=The contribution of autochthonous North African populations in Carthaginian history is obscured by the use of terms like 'Western Phoenicians', and even to an extent, 'Punic', in the literature to refer to Carthaginians, as it implies a primarily colonial population and diminishes indigenous involvement in the Carthaginian Empire. As a result, the role of autochthonous populations has been largely overlooked in studies of Carthage and its empire. Genetic approaches are well suited to examine such assumptions, and here we show that North African populations contributed substantially to the genetic makeup of Carthaginian cities. |access-date=15 June 2023 |archive-date=13 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230613064838/https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.03.13.483276v1.full.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}

==External links==
{{wiktionary|Berber}}{{InterWiki|code=zgh|Standard Moroccan Tamazight language}}
{{InterWiki|code=shi|Shilha language}}
{{InterWiki|code=kab|Kabyle language}}
{{Incubator|tzm|lang=Central Atlas Tamazight}}
{{Incubator|rif|lang=Riffian language}}
{{commons category|Berber languages}}
* [https://asegzawal.miraheze.org/wiki/Tamazight-English_Dictionary Tamazight-English Dictionary]
* [http://lotexx.de/Berberisch/index_en.htm "What does Berber sound like?" (Thamazight poems as text & MP3)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110624061513/http://www.llmap.org/languages/tzm.html Map of Berber language from the LL-Map Project] (archived 24 June 2011)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101102041258/http://sites.google.com/site/tamazight/the-tamazight-berber-language-profile The Berber Language Profile] (archived 2 October 2010)
* [https://www.scribd.com/doc/13240446/The-Etymology-of-Berber Etymology of "Berber"]
* [https://www.scribd.com/doc/15056143/The-Etymology-of-the-Word-Amazigh Etymology of "Amazigh"]
* [http://www.tachelhit.info/ Early Christian history of Berbers]
* [http://www.tifinagh.freeservers.com/custom.html Tifinagh]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170826045645/http://www.ancientscripts.com/berber.html Ancient Scripts] (archived 26 August 2017)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130812220445/http://www.imyura.net/ Imyura Kabyle site about literature] (archived 12 August 2013)
* [http://www.amawal.net/ Amawal: The online open source Berber dictionary]

{{Languages of the Maghreb}}
{{Afro-Asiatic languages}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berber Languages}}
[[Category:Berber languages| ]]
[[Category:Afroasiatic languages]]
[[Category:Maghreb]]
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