Berber-speaking populations are dominant in the coloured areas of Africa. Other areas, especially in North Africa, contain minority Berber-speaking populations.
The Berber languages have a level of variety similar to theRomance languages, although they are sometimes referred to as a single collective language, often as "Berber", "Tamazight", or "Amazigh".[12][13][2][14] The languages, with a few exceptions, form adialect continuum.[12] There is a debate as to how to best sub-categorize languages within the Berber branch.[12][15] Berber languages typically followverb–subject–object word order.[16][17] Their phonological inventories are diverse.[15]
Following independence in the 20th century, the Berber languages have been suppressed and suffered from lowprestige inNorth Africa.[20] Recognition of the Berber languages has been growing in the 21st century, with Morocco and Algeria adding Tamazight as an official language to their constitutions in 2011 and 2016 respectively.[20][21][22]
Most Berber languages have a high percentage of borrowing and influence from theArabic language, as well as from other languages.[23] For example, Arabic loanwords represent 35%[24] to 46%[25] of the total vocabulary of theKabyle language and represent 44.9% of the total vocabulary ofTarifit.[26] Almost all Berber languages took from Arabic thepharyngeal fricatives /ʕ/ and /ħ/, the (nongeminated) uvular stop /q/, and the voicelesspharyngealized consonant /ṣ/.[27] Unlike theChadic,Cushitic, andOmotic languages of theAfro-Asiatic phylum, Berber languages are not tonal languages.[28][29]
"Tamazight" and "Berber languages" are often used interchangeably.[13][2][30] However, "Tamazight" is sometimes used to refer to a specific subset of Berber languages, such as Central Tashlhiyt.[31] "Tamazight" can also be used to refer toStandard Moroccan Tamazight orStandard Algerian Tamazight, as in the Moroccan and Algerian constitutions respectively.[32][33] In Morocco, besides referring to all Berber languages or to Standard Moroccan Tamazight, "Tamazight" is often used in contrast toTashelhit andTarifit to refer toCentral Atlas Tamazight.[34][35][36][37]
The use ofBerber has been the subject of debate due to its historical background as anexonym and present equivalence with theArabic word for "barbarian."[38][39][40][41] One group, theLinguasphere Observatory, has attempted to introduce theneologism "Tamazic languages" to refer to the Berber languages.[42] Amazigh people typically use "Tamazight" when speaking English.[43] Historically, some Berber groups have used this endonym since Antiquity (such as theMazices)[44] or continue to do so,[45] although others had their own terms to refer to themselves. For example, theKabyles use the term "Leqbayel" to refer to their own people, while theChaouis identified themselves as "Ishawiyen".[46]
Since modern Berber languages are relatively homogeneous, the date of theProto-Berber language from which the modern group is derived was probably comparatively recent, comparable to the age of theGermanic orRomance 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 localMesolithicCapsian culture.[47] 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 extinctKehek language originating in theNew Kingdom era of Egypt.[48] According to Peter Behrens and Marianne Bechaus-Gerst, linguistic evidence suggests that the peoples of theC-Group culture in present-day southernEgypt and northernSudan spoke Berber languages.[49][50] TheNilo-SaharanNobiin language today contains a number of keyloanwords related topastoralism 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 theKerma culture, inhabited the Nile valley immediately before the arrival of the firstNubian speakers—spoke Afroasiatic languages.[49]
Berber languages are primarily oral languages without a major written component.[6] The first example of writing in a language that was possibly related to Berber was a papyrus written by the Egyptians inHieratic,transliterating a snake chant in Kehek. Historically, Berber languages were written with theLibyco-Berber script. Early uses of the script have been found onrock art and in various sepulchres; the oldest known variations of the script originating from around 600 BC.[6][51][52] Usage of this script, in the form ofTifinagh, has continued into the present day among theTuareg people.[53] Following the spread ofIslam, some Berber scholars also utilized theArabic script.[54] TheBerber Latin alphabet was developed following the introduction of the Latin script in the nineteenth century by the West.[53] The nineteenth century also saw the development of Neo-Tifinagh, an adaptation of Tuareg Tifinagh for use with other Berber languages.[6][55][56]
There are now three writing systems in use for Berber languages: Tifinagh, the Arabic script, and theBerber Latin alphabet, with the Latin alphabet being the most widely used today.[10][11]
With the exception of Zenaga, Tetserret, and Tuareg, the Berber languages form adialect continuum. Different linguists take different approaches towards drawing boundaries between languages in this continuum.[12]Maarten Kossmann notes that it is difficult to apply the classictree model of historical linguistics towards the Berber languages, citing various areal features that cut through his classifications:
[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.[57]
Kossmann roughly groups the Berber languages into seven blocks:[57]
The Zenatic block is typically divided into theZenati andEastern Berber branches, due to the marked difference in features at each end of the continuum.[58][57][59] Otherwise, subclassifications by different linguists typically combine various blocks into different branches. Western Moroccan languages, Zenati languages, Kabyle, and sometimes Ghadamès may be grouped underNorthern Berber; Awjila is often included as an Eastern Berber language alongside Siwa, Sokna, and El Foqaha, and sometimes Ghadamès. These approaches divide the Berber languages into Northern, Southern (Tuareg), Eastern, and Western varieties.[58][59]
The vast majority of speakers of Berber languages are concentrated in Morocco and Algeria.[60][61] The exact population of speakers has been historically difficult to ascertain due to lack of official recognition.[62]
Morocco is the country with the greatest number of speakers of Berber languages.[60][61][63] As of 2022, Ethnologue estimates there to be 13.8 million speakers of Berber languages in Morocco, based on figures from 2016 and 2017.[64]
At the beginning of colonialism in Morocco, Berber speakers were estimated at 40-45% of the Moroccan population.[65] 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.[66] The2004 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.[67] The2014 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.[68]The2024 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.[69]
These estimates, as well as the estimates from various academic sources, are summarized as follows:
Estimated number of speakers of Berber languages in Morocco
Kabyle andShawiya languages in the central-eastern part of Algeria
Algeria is the country with the second greatest number of speakers of Berber languages.[60][61] 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%.[74] 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%[75][76][77][78] while other report 19%.[79][80]
Kabyle speakers account for the vast majority of speakers of Berber languages in Algeria.Shawiya is the second most commonly spoken Berber language in Algeria. Other Berber languages spoken in Algeria include:Shenwa, with 76,300 speakers; Tashelhit, with 6,000 speakers;Ouargli, with 20,000 speakers;Tamahaq, with 71,400 speakers;Tugurt, with 8,100 speakers;Tidikelt, with 1,000 speakers;Gurara, with 11,000 speakers; andMozabite, with 150,000 speakers.[81][82]
Population estimates are summarized as follows:
Estimated number of speakers of Berber languages in Algeria
As of 1998, there were an estimated 450,000Tawellemmet speakers, 250,000Air Tamajeq speakers, and 20,000 Tamahaq speakers inNiger.[87]
As of 2018 and 2014 respectively, there were an estimated 420,000 speakers of Tawellemmet and 378,000 of Tamasheq inMali.[87][88]
As of 2022, based on figures from 2020,Ethnologue estimates there to be 285,890 speakers of Berber languages inLibya: 247,000 speakers ofNafusi, 22,800 speakers of Tamahaq, 13,400 speakers ofGhadamés, and 2,690 speakers ofAwjila. The number ofSiwi speakers in Libya is listed as negligible, and the lastSokna speaker is thought to have died in the 1950s.[89]
There are an estimated 50,000Djerbi speakers inTunisia, based on figures from 2004.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.[90] Chenini is one of the rare remaining Berber-speaking villages in Tunisia.[91]
There are an estimated 20,000 Siwi speakers inEgypt, based on figures from 2013.[92]
As of 2018 and 2017 respectively, there were an estimated 200 speakers ofZenaga and 117,000 ofTamasheq inMauritania.[93]
As of 2009, there were an estimated 122,000 Tamasheq speakers in Burkina Faso.[94]
There are an estimated 1.5 million speakers of various Berber languages in France.[95] A small number of Tawellemmet speakers live in Nigeria.[96]
In total, there are an estimated 3.6 million speakers of Berber languages in countries outside of Morocco and Algeria, summarized as follows:
Estimated number of speakers of Berber languages in various countries
After independence, all theMaghreb countries to varying degrees pursued a policy ofArabisation, 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—especiallyKabylie—and was addressed in both countries by affording the language official status and introducing it in some schools.
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.[97]
The 2000 Charter for Education Reform marked a change in policy, with its statement of "openness to Tamazight."[98] Planning for a public Tamazight-language TV network began in 2006; in 2010, the Moroccan government launchedTamazight TV.[39] On July 29, 2011, Tamazight was added as an official language to the Moroccan constitution.[21]
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.[99]
After the 1994-1995 general school boycott in Kabylia, Tamazight was recognized for the first time as a national language.[100] In 2002, following the riots of theBlack Spring, Tamazight was recognized for the second time as anational language, though not as anofficial one.[101][102] This was done on April 8, 2003.[99]
Tamazight has been taught for three hours a week through the first three years of Algerian middle schools since 2005.[99]
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.[103][104][32][22]
Although regional councils in Libya'sNafusa Mountains affiliated with theNational Transitional Council reportedly use the Berber language ofNafusi and have called for it to be granted co-official status with Arabic in a prospective new constitution,[105][106] it does not have official status in Libya as in Morocco and Algeria. As areas of Libya south and west ofTripoli such as theNafusa Mountains were taken from the control ofGaddafi government forces in early summer 2011, Berber workshops and exhibitions sprang up to share and spread the Berber culture and language.[107]
The influence of Arabic, the process ofspirantization, and the absence of labialization have caused the consonant systems of Berber languages to differ significantly by region.[15] 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.[15][109] Most Berber languages in northern regions have additionally undergone spirantization, in which historical short stops have changed into fricatives.[110] 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.[109][111]
Two languages that illustrate the resulting range in consonant inventory across Berber languages are AhaggarTuareg andKabyle; Kabyle has two more places of articulation and three more manners of articulation than Ahaggar Tuareg.[15]
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.[112][113] All Berber languages, as is common in Afroasiatic languages, havepharyngealized consonants and phonemicgemination.[15][114][115] The consonants which may undergo gemination, and the positions in a word where gemination may occur, differ by language.[116] They have also been observed to havetense and lax consonants, although the status of tense consonants has been the subject of "considerable discussion" by linguists.[113] Three (Kabyle, Tarifit and Shawiya) of the most spoken five Tamazight languages have the interdental consonants[θ] and[ð] which are considered rare cross-linguistically.
The vowel systems of Berber languages also vary widely, with inventories ranging from three phonemic vowels in mostNorthern Berber languages, to seven in someEastern Berber andTuareg languages.[117] For example,Taselhiyt has the vowels /i/, /a/, and /u/, while Ayer Tuareg has the vowels /i/, /ə/, /u/, /e/, /ɐ/, /o/, and /a/.[117][118] Contrastivevowel 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.[117] A complex feature of Berber vowel systems is the role ofcentral vowels, which vary in occurrence and function across languages; there is a debate as to whetherschwa is a proper phoneme of Northern Berber languages.[119]
Phonetic correspondences between Berber languages are fairly regular.[123] Some examples, of varying importance and regularity, include [g/ž/y]; [k/š]; [l/ř/r]; [l/ž, ll/ddž]; [trill/ vocalized r]; [šš/ttš]; [ss/ttš]; [w/g/b]; [q/ɣ]; [h/Ø]; and [s-š-ž/h].[108] Words in various Berber languages are shown to demonstrate these phonetic correspondences as follows:[124]
Berber languages characteristically make frequent use ofapophony in the form ofablaut.[125] Berber apophony has been historically analyzed as functioning similarly to theSemitic 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.[125]
Thelexical categories of all Berber languages arenouns,verbs,pronouns,adverbs, andprepositions. 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.[126]
The gender, number, and case of nouns, as well as the gender, number, and person of verbs, are typically distinguished through affixes.[127][128] Arguments are described with word order andclitics.[129][16] When sentences have a verb, they essentially followverb–subject–object word order, although some linguists believe alternate descriptors would better categorize certain languages, such as Taqbaylit.[16][17]
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.[129]
LinguistMaarten Kossmann divides pronouns in Berber languages into three morphological groups:[129]
When clitics precede or follow a verb, they are almost always ordered with the indirect object first, direct object second, andandative-venitivedeictic clitic last. An example in Tarifit is shown as follows:[129]
Nouns are distinguished bygender,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.[125][58][127] 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.[130][131]
Gender can be feminine or masculine, and can be lexically determined, or can be used to distinguish qualities of the noun.[125] 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.[125][132] The ways in which gender is used to distinguish nouns is shown in as follows, with examples fromFiguig:[125][132]
An example of nouns with lexically determined gender are the femininet-lussi ("butter") and masculinea-ɣi ("buttermilk") in Figuig.[125] Mass nouns have lexically determined gender across Berber languages.[132]
Most Berber languages have two cases, which distinguish theconstruct state from the free state.[58][133] 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."[58] When present, case is always expressed through nominal prefixes and initial-vowel reduction.[58][133] The use of themarked nominative system and constructions similar toSplit-S alignment varies by language.[17][58] Eastern Berber languages do not have case.[58][133]
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 singulara- andta- to plurali- andti- respectively.[127] The number of mass nouns are lexically determined. For example, in multiple Berber languages, such as Figuig,a-ɣi ("buttermilk") is singular whileam-an ("water") is plural.[132]
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.[134] Possessive phrases in noun phrases must have a genitive proposition.[126][134]
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:[134]
The pluralizerid-
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
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.[128][130]
Different linguists analyze and labelaspects in the Berber languages vary differently. Kossman roughly summarizes the basic stems which denote aspect as follows:[135]
Aorist, also called aoriste, without a preceding particle:
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.[135]
The aspectual stems of some classes of verbs in various Berber languages are shown as follows:[136]
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 aread,wər, and their variants, which correspond to the meanings of "non-realized" and "negative" respectively.[137]
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,Ghadames,Ouargla, andZenaga.[138][139]
Original Berber numerals agree in gender with the noun they describe, whereas the borrowed Arabic forms do not.[138][139]
The numerals 1–10 in Tashelhiyt and Mali Tuareg are as follows:[140][141][139]
Sentences in Berber languages can be divided into verbal and non-verbal sentences. Thetopic, which has a unique intonation in the sentence, precedes all other arguments in both types.[16]
Verbal sentences have a finite verb, and are commonly understood to followverb–subject–object word order (VSO).[16][17] Some linguists have proposed opposing analyses of the word order patterns in Berber languages, and there has been some support for characterizing Taqbaylit asdiscourse-configurational.[17]
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 particled sometimes in between. Two examples, one without and one with a subject, are given from Kabyle as follows:[16]
Above all in the area of basic lexicon, the Berber languages are very similar.[citation needed] 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.[142] In contrast, Tahaggart has a rich vocabulary for the description of camels.[143]
Some loanwords in the Berber languages can be traced to pre-Roman times. The Berber wordste-ḇăyne "date" anda-sḇan "loose woody tissue around the palm tree stem" originate fromAncient Egyptian, likely due to the introduction ofdate palm cultivation into North Africa from Egypt.[144] Around a dozen Berber words are probablePhoenician-Punic loanwords, although the overall influence of Phoenician-Punic on Berber languages is negligible.[145] A number of loanwords could be attributed to Phoenician-Punic,Hebrew, orAramaic. The similar vocabulary between these Semitic languages, as well as Arabic, is a complicating factor in tracing the etymology of certain words.[146]
Words ofLatin origin have been introduced into Berber languages over time. Maarten Kossman separates Latin loanwords in Berber languages into those from during theRoman 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.[147] 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.[147][148] 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.[148]
TheBerber calendar uses month names derived from theJulian calendar. Not every language uses every month. For example, Figuig appears to use only eight of the months.[148] These names may be precolonial non-African Romance loans, adopted into Berber languages through Arabic, rather than from Latin directly.[149]
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.[150]Salem Chaker estimates that Arabic loanwords represent 38% ofKabyle vocabulary, 25% of Tashelhiyt vocabulary, and 5% of Tuareg vocabulary, including non-core words.[151][152]
On the one hand, the words and expressions connected to Islam were borrowed, e.g. Tashlhiytbismillah "in the name ofAllah" < Classical Arabicbi-smi-llāhi, Tuaregta-mejjīda "mosque" (Arabicmasjid); on the other, Berber adopted cultural concepts such as Kabylessuq "market" from Arabicas-sūq,tamdint "town" < Arabicmadīna. Even expressions such as the Arabic greetingas-salāmu ʿalaikum "Peace be upon you!" were adopted (Tuaregsalāmu ɣlīkum).[153]
The Berber languages have influenced localArabic dialects in the Maghreb. AlthoughMaghrebi Arabic has a predominantlySemitic andArabic vocabulary,[154] it contains a few Berber loanwords which represent 2–3% of the vocabulary ofLibyan Arabic, 8–9% ofAlgerian Arabic andTunisian Arabic, and 10–15% ofMoroccan Arabic.[155] Their influence is also seen in some languages in West Africa. F. W. H. Migeod pointed to strong resemblances between Berber andHausa in such words and phrases as these:
Berber
Hausa
gloss
obanis
obansa
his father
a bat
ya bata
he was lost
eghare
ya kirra
he called
In addition he notes that thegenitive in both languages is formed withn = "of" (though likely a common inheritance from Proto-Afro-Asiatic; cf. A.Eg genitiven).[156]
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 theC-Group culture in present-day southernEgypt and northernSudan spoke Berber languages.[49][50] TheNilo-SaharanNobiin language today contains a number of key pastoralism relatedloanwords 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 theKerma culture, inhabited the Nile valley immediately before the arrival of the firstNubian speakers—spoke Afro-Asiatic languages.[49]
Additionally, historical linguistics indicate that theGuanche language, which was spoken on theCanary Islands by the ancientGuanches, likely belonged to the Berber branch of the Afro-Asiatic family.[157]
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^abcdCampbell, George L. (2012).The Routledge handbook of scripts and alphabets. Christopher Moseley (2nd ed.). Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. pp. 58–59.ISBN978-0-203-86548-4.OCLC810078009.
^Briggs, L. Cabot (February 1957). "A Review of the Physical Anthropology of the Sahara and Its Prehistoric Implications".Man.56:20–23.doi:10.2307/2793877.JSTOR2793877.
^SeeLibyco-Berber alphabet, andTifinagh: "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'." The adjective "Punic" commonly refers toCarthage, destroyed by Rome at the end of thePunic Wars, 146 BCE. In the usual theory, Carthaginians were western Phoenicians. But maybe not so much: • Moots, Hannah M.; et al. (13 March 2022)."A Genetic History of Continuity and Mobility in the Iron Age Central Mediterranean"(PDF).Biorxiv.org. Stanford, California.doi:10.1101/2022.03.13.483276.S2CID247549249.Archived(PDF) from the original on 13 June 2023. Retrieved15 June 2023.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.
^abLarbi, Hsen (2003)."Which Script for Tamazight, Whose Choice is it ?".Amazigh Voice (Taghect Tamazight).12 (2). New Jersey: Amazigh Cultural Association in America (ACAA).Archived from the original on 7 September 2017. Retrieved17 December 2009.
^"Imazighen – Amazigh Aesthetics & Symbology". Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, at Harvard.Archived from the original on 26 May 2024. Retrieved15 June 2023.Amazigh arts,like the Tamazight language, have coexisted with other North African forms of expression since pre-Islamic times.[emphasis added]
^abcdefKossmann, Maarten (2012). "Berber". In Frajzyngier, Zygmunt; Shay, Erin (eds.).The Afroasiatic languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 22–23.ISBN978-1-139-42364-9.OCLC795895594.
^abcdefgKossmann, Maarten (2007). "Berber".Morphologies of Asia and Africa. Alan S. Kaye. Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns. pp. 83–86.ISBN978-1-57506-566-3.OCLC646569109.
^abcdeMettouchi, Amina; Fleisch, Axel (2010). "Topic-focus articulation in Taqbaylit and Tashelhit Berber".The expression of information structure : a documentation of its diversity across Africa. Ines Fiedler, Anne Schwarz. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins Pub. Co. pp. 194–199.ISBN978-90-272-8842-4.OCLC642205456.
^abMaddy-Weitzman, Bruce (2011).The Berber identity movement and the challenge to North African states (1st ed.). Austin: University of Texas Press. pp. 2–3.ISBN978-0-292-72587-4.OCLC679936739.
^The encyclopaedia of Islam. H. A. R. Gibb, P. J. Bearman (New ed.). Leiden: Brill. 1960–2009.ISBN90-04-16121-X.OCLC399624.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)CS1 maint: others (link)
^Dalby, Andrew (1998).Dictionary of languages : the definitive reference to more than 400 languages. New York: Columbia University Press.ISBN1-4081-0214-5.OCLC320322204.
^Maddy-Weitzman, Bruce (2011).The Berber Identity Movement and the Challenge to North African States. University of Texas Press. pp. 14–17.ISBN9780292745056.
^abVourlias, Christopher (25 January 2010). "Moroccan minority's net gain".Variety. Vol. 417, no. 10. Penske Business Media, LLC.
^Briggs, L. Cabot (February 1957). "A Review of the Physical Anthropology of the Sahara and Its Prehistoric Implications".Man.56:20–23.doi:10.2307/2793877.JSTOR2793877.
^abElmedlaoui, Mohamed (2012). "Berber".Semitic and Afroasiatic : challenges and opportunities. Lutz Edzard. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. pp. 139–141.ISBN978-3-447-06695-2.OCLC793573735.
^Aïtel, Fazia (2014).We are Imazigen : the development of Algerian Berber identity in twentieth-century literature and culture. Gainesville, FL. pp. 115–116.ISBN978-0-8130-4895-6.OCLC895334326.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Maddy-Weitzman, Bruce (2011).The Berber identity movement and the challenge to North African states (1st ed.). Austin: University of Texas Press. p. 75.ISBN978-0-292-73478-4.OCLC741751261.
^abcKossmann, Maarten (2020). "Berber".The Oxford handbook of African languages. Rainer Vossen, Gerrit Jan Dimmendaal, Rainer Vossen, Gerrit Jan Dimmendaal (First ed.). Oxford. pp. 283–285.ISBN978-0-19-960989-5.OCLC1164662912.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Dalby, Andrew (1998).Dictionary of languages : the definitive reference to more than 400 languages. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 89.ISBN1-4081-0214-5.OCLC320322204.
^abEnnaji, Moha (2005).Multilingualism, cultural identity, and education in Morocco. New York: Springer. p. 72.ISBN0-387-23979-0.OCLC62708280.
^abEberhard, David; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2022). "Morocco".Ethnologue. Languages of Africa and Europe (Twenty-fifth ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International Publications. pp. 223–224.ISBN978-1-55671-502-0.OCLC1315489099.
^abGautier, É.-F. (1913)."Répartition de la Langue Berbère en Algérie".Annales de Géographie.22 (123): 256.doi:10.3406/geo.1913.8304.ISSN0003-4010.JSTOR23437471.Archived from the original on 25 December 2022. Retrieved25 December 2022.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.
^Nyrop, Richard F. (1972).Area Handbook for Algeria. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 105.Archived from the original on 9 March 2023. Retrieved8 February 2023.
^Souriau, Christiane (10 April 2013).XVI. L'arabisation en Algérie. Connaissance du monde arabe. Institut de recherches et d’études sur les mondes arabes et musulmans. pp. 375–397.ISBN9782271081247.Archived from the original on 9 March 2023. Retrieved9 March 2023.{{cite book}}:|website= ignored (help)
^David W. Lesch (2000).History in Dispute. St. James Press. p. 203.ISBN978-1-55862-472-6.
^Wolfgang Weissleder (2011).The Nomadic Alternative Modes and Models of Interaction in the African-Asian Deserts and Steppes. Walter de Gruyter. p. 13.ISBN978-3-11-081023-3.
^Eberhard, David; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2022). "Algeria".Ethnologue. Languages of Africa and Europe (Twenty-fifth ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International Publications. pp. 55–57.ISBN978-1-55671-502-0.OCLC1315489099.
^Eberhard, David; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2022).Ethnologue. Languages of Africa and Europe (Twenty-fifth ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International Publications. pp. 77, 160,208–210,220–221, 233, 322, 363.ISBN978-1-55671-502-0.OCLC1315489099.
^Chaker, Salem (1984).Textes en linguistique berbère : introduction au domaine berbère. Paris: Editions du Centre national de la recherche scientifique. pp. 8–9.ISBN2-222-03578-3.OCLC12751275.
^Mettouchi, Amina (2021)."Negation in Kabyle (Berber)".Journal of African Languages and Literatures (2): N. 2 (2021): Journal of African Languages and Literatures.doi:10.6092/JALALIT.V2I2.8059 (inactive 11 July 2025). Archived fromthe original on 11 November 2021. Retrieved7 February 2023.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link)
^abcEberhard, David; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2022). "Niger".Ethnologue. Languages of Africa and Europe (Twenty-fifth ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International Publications. p. 233.ISBN978-1-55671-502-0.OCLC1315489099.
^abEberhard, David; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2022). "Mali".Ethnologue. Languages of Africa and Europe (Twenty-fifth ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International Publications. p. 220.ISBN978-1-55671-502-0.OCLC1315489099.
^abEberhard, David; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2022). "Libya".Ethnologue. Languages of Africa and Europe (Twenty-fifth ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International Publications. pp. 208–210.ISBN978-1-55671-502-0.OCLC1315489099.
^abEberhard, David; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2022). "Tunisia".Ethnologue. Languages of Africa and Europe (Twenty-fifth ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International Publications. p. 322.ISBN978-1-55671-502-0.OCLC1315489099.
^abEberhard, David; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2022). "Egypt".Ethnologue. Languages of Africa and Europe (Twenty-fifth ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International Publications. p. 160.ISBN978-1-55671-502-0.OCLC1315489099.
^abEberhard, David; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2022). "Mauritania".Ethnologue. Languages of Africa and Europe (Twenty-fifth ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International Publications. p. 221.ISBN978-1-55671-502-0.OCLC1315489099.
^abEberhard, David; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2022). "Burkina Faso".Ethnologue. Languages of Africa and Europe (Twenty-fifth ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International Publications. p. 77.ISBN978-1-55671-502-0.OCLC1315489099.
^abEberhard, David; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2022). "France".Ethnologue. Languages of Africa and Europe (Twenty-fifth ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International Publications. p. 363.ISBN978-1-55671-502-0.OCLC1315489099.
^Eberhard, David; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2022). "Nigeria".Ethnologue. Languages of Africa and Europe (Twenty-fifth ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International Publications. p. 267.ISBN978-1-55671-502-0.OCLC1315489099.
^Kossmann, Maarten (2012). "Berber". In Frajzyngier, Zygmunt; Shay, Erin (eds.).The Afroasiatic languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 27.ISBN978-1-139-42364-9.OCLC795895594.
^Kossmann, Maarten (2012). "Berber". In Frajzyngier, Zygmunt; Shay, Erin (eds.).The Afroasiatic languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 26.ISBN978-1-139-42364-9.OCLC795895594.
^Frajzyngier, Zygmunt; Shay, Erin, eds. (2012).The Afroasiatic languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 25.ISBN978-1-139-42364-9.OCLC795895594.
^abKossmann, Marteen; Stroomer, H.J. (1997). "Berber Phonology".Phonologies of Asia and Africa:464–466.
^Frajzyngier, Zygmunt; Shay, Erin, eds. (2012).The Afroasiatic languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 508–509.ISBN978-1-139-42364-9.OCLC795895594.
^Frajzyngier, Zygmunt; Shay, Erin, eds. (2012).The Afroasiatic languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 530.ISBN978-1-139-42364-9.OCLC795895594.
^Elmedlaoui, Mohamed (2012). "Berber". In Edzard, Lutz (ed.).Semitic and Afroasiatic: challenges and opportunities. Porta linguarum orientalium. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. p. 143.ISBN978-3-447-06695-2.
^abcKossman, Maarten (2012). "Berber". In Frajzyngier, Zygmunt; Shay, Erin (eds.).The Afroasiatic languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 28.ISBN978-1-139-42364-9.OCLC795895594.
^Frajzyngier, Zygmunt; Shay, Erin, eds. (2012).The Afroasiatic languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 625.ISBN978-1-139-42364-9.OCLC795895594.
^Kossman, Maarten (2012). "Berber". In Frajzyngier, Zygmunt; Shay, Erin (eds.).The Afroasiatic languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 28–33.ISBN978-1-139-42364-9.OCLC795895594.
^Lahrouchi, Mohamed (2018). "Syllable structure and vowel/zero alternations in Moroccan Arabic and Berber". In Agwuele, Augustine;Bodomo, Adams (eds.).The Routledge handbook of African linguistics. New York, NY: Routledge. p. 171.ISBN978-1-315-39298-1.OCLC1028731846.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.
^Heath, Jeffrey (2005).A grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. p. 42.ISBN3-11-018484-2.OCLC60839346.
^abMaarten, Kossmann (2012). "Berber". In Frajzyngier, Zygmunt; Shay, Erin (eds.).The Afroasiatic languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 33–34.ISBN978-1-139-42364-9.OCLC795895594.
^Elmedlaoui, Mohamed (2012). "Berber".Semitic and Afroasiatic : challenges and opportunities. Lutz Edzard. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. p. 137.ISBN978-3-447-06695-2.OCLC793573735.
^Elmedlaoui, Mohamed (2012). "Berber".Semitic and Afroasiatic : challenges and opportunities. Lutz Edzard. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. p. 139.ISBN978-3-447-06695-2.OCLC793573735.
^abcdefgKossmann, Maarten (2007). "Berber Morphology".Morphologies of Asia and Africa. Alan S. Kaye. Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns. pp. 429–431.ISBN978-1-57506-566-3.OCLC646569109.
^abKossmann, Maarten (2012). "Berber". In Frajzyngier, Zygmunt; Shay, Erin (eds.).The Afroasiatic languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 34.ISBN978-1-139-42364-9.OCLC795895594.
^abcKossmann, Maarten (2007). "Berber Morphology".Morphologies of Asia and Africa. Alan S. Kaye. Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns. pp. 433–434.ISBN978-1-57506-566-3.OCLC646569109.
^abKossmann, Maarten (2012). "Berber". In Frajzyngier, Zygmunt; Shay, Erin (eds.).The Afroasiatic languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 36.ISBN978-1-139-42364-9.OCLC795895594.
^abcdeKossmann, Maarten (2012). "Berber". In Frajzyngier, Zygmunt; Shay, Erin (eds.).The Afroasiatic languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 58–61.ISBN978-1-139-42364-9.OCLC795895594.
^abKossmann, Maarten (2007). "Berber Morphology".Morphologies of Asia and Africa. Alan S. Kaye. Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns. p. 435.ISBN978-1-57506-566-3.OCLC646569109.
^Kossmann, Maarten (2012). "Berber". In Frajzyngier, Zygmunt; Shay, Erin (eds.).The Afroasiatic languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 54–55.ISBN978-1-139-42364-9.OCLC795895594.
^abcdKossmann, Maarten (2012). "Berber". In Frajzyngier, Zygmunt; Shay, Erin (eds.).The Afroasiatic languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 66–67.ISBN978-1-139-42364-9.OCLC795895594.
^abcKossmann, Maarten (2007). "Berber Morphology".Morphologies of Asia and Africa. Alan S. Kaye. Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns. pp. 431–433.ISBN978-1-57506-566-3.OCLC646569109.
^abcKossmann, Maarten (2007). "Berber".Morphologies of Asia and Africa. Alan S. Kaye. Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns. pp. 72–76.ISBN978-1-57506-566-3.OCLC646569109.
^abKossmann, Maarten (2007). "Berber Morphology".Morphologies of Asia and Africa. Alan S. Kaye. Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns. pp. 436–438.ISBN978-1-57506-566-3.OCLC646569109.
^Kossmann, Maarten (2012). "Berber". In Frajzyngier, Zygmunt; Shay, Erin (eds.).The Afroasiatic languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 39.ISBN978-1-139-42364-9.OCLC795895594.
^Kossmann, Maarten (2007). "Berber".Morphologies of Asia and Africa. Alan S. Kaye. Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns. p. 77.ISBN978-1-57506-566-3.OCLC646569109.
^abCorpus-based studies of lesser-described languages : the CorpAfroAs corpus of spoken AfroAsiatic languages. Amina Mettouchi, Martine Vanhove, Dominique Caubet. Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 2015. pp. 237–238.ISBN978-90-272-6889-1.OCLC897946694.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
^abcKossmann, Maarten (2012). "Berber". In Frajzyngier, Zygmunt; Shay, Erin (eds.).The Afroasiatic languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 64.ISBN978-1-139-42364-9.OCLC795895594.
^Hans Stumme:Handbuch des Schilhischen von Tazerwalt. Hinrichs, Leipzig 1899, § 169; Transcription modified.
^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,ISBN2-85744-176-3{{isbn}}: ignored ISBN errors (link), S. 302
^Wexler, Paul (1 February 2012).The Non-Jewish Origins of the Sephardic Jews. State University of New York Press. p. 174.ISBN978-1-4384-2393-7.Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved25 June 2023.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.
^Migeod, F. W. H.,The Languages of West Africa. Kegan, Paul, Trench & Trübner, London 1913. pages 232, 233.
^Richard Hayward, 2000, "Afroasiatic", in Heine & Nurse eds,African Languages, Cambridge University Press
