| Tifinagh | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Script type | |
Time period | 6th century BCE |
| Direction | Left-to-right,right-to-left script, top-to-bottom, bottom-to-top  |
| Languages | Tuareg Berber language |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | |
Child systems | Neo-Tifinagh (20th century) |
Tifinagh (Tuareg Berber language:ⵜⴼⵏⵗ; Neo-Tifinagh:ⵜⵉⴼⵉⵏⴰⵖ;Berber Latin alphabet:Tifinaɣ;Berber pronunciation:[tifinaɣ]) is a script used to write theBerber languages. Tifinagh is descended from the ancientLibyco-Berber alphabet.[2] The traditional Tifinagh, sometimes calledTuareg Tifinagh, is still favored by theTuareg people of theSahara desert in southernAlgeria, northeasternMali, northernNiger, and northernBurkina Faso for writing theTuareg languages.[3]Neo-Tifinagh is an alphabet developed by theBerber Academy by adopting Tuareg Tifinagh for use forKabyle; it has been since modified for use across North Africa.[4][5]
Tifinagh is one of three major competingBerber orthographies alongside theBerber Latin alphabet and theArabic alphabet.[6] Tifinagh is the official script for Tamazight, an official language ofMorocco andAlgeria. However, outside of symbolic cultural uses, Latin remains the dominant script for writing Berber languages throughout North Africa.[4][7]
The ancient Libyco-Berber script[8][9] was used by the ancient northern Berbers known asLibyco-Berbers,[10][11] also known asNumidians,Afri, andMauretanians, who inhabited the northern parts of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and theCanary Islands.
The wordtifinagh (singulartafinəq < *ta-finəɣ-t) is thought by some scholars to be a Berberized feminine plural cognate or adaptation of the Latin wordPunicus 'Punic, Phoenician' through the Berber feminine prefixti- and the root√FNƔ < *√PNQ < LatinPunicus; thustifinagh could possibly mean 'the Phoenician (letters)'[1][12][13] or 'the Punic letters'. Others support an etymology involving the Tuareg verbefnegh 'to write'.[14] However, the Tuareg verbefnegh is probably derived from the nounTifinagh because all the northern Berbers of Morocco, northern Algeria, Tunisia and northern Libya have a different (and probably older) verbari ~ aru ~ ara 'to write'.[citation needed]
Before or during the existence of the ancient Berber kingdoms ofNumidia (northern Algeria) andMauretania (northern Morocco), between 202 BCE–25 BCE, many inscriptions were engraved using theLibyco-Berber script, also known as Ancient Libyan (libyque). The Libyco-Berber script is found in thousands of stone inscriptions and engravings throughout Morocco, northern Algeria, Tunisia, northern Libya and the Canary Islands.
The exact evolution of both Libyco-Berber and Tifinagh is still unclear.[15] The latter writing system was widely used in antiquity by speakers of the largely undecipheredNumidian language, also called Old Libyan, throughout Africa and on theCanary Islands. The script's origin is uncertain, with some scholars suggesting it is related to, descended or developed from thePhoenician alphabet[1] while others argue an independent conception with slight Phoenician influences.[16] Its first appearance is also uncertain, but it is no older than the first millennium BCE,[17] with the oldest remains likely originating from the 6th century BCE.[18] It disappeared in the northernmost areas of North Africa during the 8th century, after theArab conquest of the Maghreb, Libyco-Berber along with Latin being replaced by the Arabic script.[19]
The Libyco-Berber script was a pureabjad; it had no vowels.Gemination was not marked. The writing was usually from the bottom to the top, although right-to-left, and even other orders, were also found. The letters took different forms when written vertically than when they were written horizontally.[20]
The ancient Libyco-Berber script branched into the Tuareg Tifinagh script which is used to this day[21] to write the BerberTuareg languages, which belong to the Berber branch of theAfroasiatic family. Early uses of the script have been found onrock art and in varioussepulchres. Among these are the 1,500 year oldmonumental tomb of the Tuareg matriarchTin Hinan, where vestiges of a Tifinagh inscription have been found on one of its walls.[22]
According to M. C. A. MacDonald, the Tuareg are "an entirely oral society in which memory and oral communication perform all the functions which reading and writing have in a literate society ... The Tifinagh are used primarily for games and puzzles, short graffiti and brief messages."[15]
Occasionally, the script has been used to write other neighbouring languages such asTagdal, which belongs to a separateSonghay family.
Common forms of the letters are illustrated at left, including various ligatures oft andn.Gemination, though phonemic, is not indicated in Tifinagh. The lettert, ⵜ, is often combined with a preceding letter to form aligature. Most of the letters have more than one common form, including mirror-images of the forms shown above.
When the lettersl andn are adjacent to themselves or to each other, the second is offset, either by inclining, lowering, raising, or shortening it. For example, since the letterl is a double line, ||, andn a single line, |, the sequencenn may be written |/ to differentiate it froml. Similarly,ln is ||/,nl |//,ll ||//,nnn |/|, etc.
Traditionally, the Tifinagh script does not indicate vowels except word-finally, where a single dot stands for any vowel (or ⵢ and ⵓ for -i and -u, respectively, in Ahaggar Tifinagh). In some areas, Arabic vowel diacritics are combined with Tifinagh letters to transcribe vowels, ory, w may be used for longī andū.
| Neo-Tifinagh | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Script type | |
Time period | 1970 to present |
| Direction | Left-to-right,right-to-left script, top-to-bottom, bottom-to-top |
| Languages | Standard Moroccan Berber and otherNorthern Berber languages |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | ?Egyptian hieroglyphs
|
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Tfng(120), Tifinagh (Berber) |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Tifinagh |
| U+2D30–U+2D7F | |
| This article containsphonetic transcriptions in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. For the distinction between[ ],/ / and ⟨ ⟩, seeIPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters. | |
Neo-Tifinagh is the modern fullyalphabetic script developed by theBerber Academy, based in Paris.[23]
Initially, the academy had to choose a script to transliterate the Berber language. The choice between Tifinagh and Latin scripts then sparked intense debate both within and outside the Academy.
Mohand Arav Bessaoud, a founding member of the academy and strong Tifinagh advocate, recounted the resistance he faced from prominent figures likeMouloud Mammeri and Ramdane Achab, who argued that Tifinagh was archaic, obsolete, non-cursive, and impractical. Despite the criticism, Bessaoud persisted in promoting Tifinagh.
"Achab Ramdane opposed my actions, calling it rekindling extinguished embers" - Said Bessaouad[24]
In 1970, a meeting took place to decide on a system of writing. Influenced by Mahdjoubi Ahardane, Bessaoud opted for Tifinagh. Ahardane argued that Tifinagh was not merely a script but a testament to Berber history and identity. Further steps were taken afterwards regarding the standardization of the script.[25]
By 1973,Ammar Negadi, a prominentChaoui writer and fervent advocate of the Tifinagh script, passionately defended the use of Tifinagh, he has been elected secretary general of the Berber Academy, now called Agraw Imazighen, in the Paris region. propagating the academy's publications and cultural activities.[26][27][28]
Negadi reflected on his efforts: "I distributed all of Agraw Imazighen's writings throughout theAurès region starting in 1973. The goal wasn't regular correspondence but widespread dissemination of Tifinagh."[29] Neo-Tifinagh was spread by the Berber Academy's active promotion of the script, including its usage in their bulletin,Imazighen, which was widely read by Berber communities in Algeria and Morocco.[30]
The official activities of the Berber Academy ceased when Mohand Bessaoud Arav was imprisoned.
By 1980, Negadi founded his spin-off organization UPA (Amazigh People's Union), which published a bulletin in both Latin and Tifinagh, calledAzaghen/Link. He remained convinced that Tifinagh was the best graphical tool to express Berber language and culture, seeing it as part of the cultural heritage and identity to be defended.[31][32]
The UPA bulletins continued to promote the Tifinagh alphabet, while activistMessaoud Nedjahi streamlined its characters from 50 to 26.[33] This process inspired the Afus Deg Fus association to create the first set of standardized Neo-Tifinagh fonts in 1993.[31]
Neo-Tifinagh has since undergone further reform and is used in various contexts throughout North Africa.[4] TheRoyal Institute of Amazigh Culture has standardized Neo-Tifinagh for use as the official orthography ofStandard Moroccan Amazigh, an official language of Morocco.[34][35]
The promotion of Neo-Tifinagh by the Berber Academy and Ammar Negadi's UPA was part of the efforts to spreadBerberism throughout the 1960s and 1970s.[36][37] The use of Neo-Tifinagh in their publications was influential in raising Berber consciousness; one reader has described its effect as being "the proof that we actually existed."[36]
The Moroccan state arrested and imprisoned people using Neo-Tifinagh during the 1980s and 1990s.[38] TheAlgerian Black Spring was also partly caused by this repression ofBerber language.[39]
In the 1980s, theBerber flag, which was designed in 1970 and uses the Tifinagh letterz (Tifinagh: ⵣ) from the root ofAmazigh, began being used in demonstrations.[40] The flag was adopted by theWorld Amazigh Congress in 1997.[41]
In Morocco, following the creation of Standard Moroccan Amazigh in 2001, the 2003 adoption of Neo-Tifinagh served as a way to compromise between the deeply split proponents of theLatin script versus theArabic script as Amazigh's official orthography.[42][7][43] This choice, however, has also resulted in backlash from many Amazigh activists, who find Tifinagh to be limiting when compared to the Latin script.[35][7][43]
In Libya, the government ofMuammar Gaddafi consistently banned Tifinagh from being used in public contexts such as store displays and banners.[44] After theLibyan Civil War, theNational Transitional Council has shown an openness towards the Berber language. The rebelLibya TV, based inQatar, has included the Berber language and the Neo-Tifinagh alphabet in some of its programming.[45]
Tifinagh continues to be used as "an emblem of distinctive Berber identity and nationhood."[4]
Due to the official adoption of Neo-Tifinagh in Morocco in 2003, the script has been adapted by the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture for modern digital use.[42][35] Government websites in Morocco may be displayed in Neo-Tifinagh.[46][47]
Starting in 2003, Neo-Tifinagh was used for a small duration ofMoroccan elementary school to teach Standard Moroccan Amazigh.[35][5][48] However, practical use of Tifinagh in Morocco remains rare; one Amazigh activist has summarized the situation with the anecdote that he "[knows] that some books that were written in Tifinagh were read by only two people ... the one who wrote the book and the one who did the editing!"[35] Public displays of Tifinagh in Morocco remains restricted primarily to signage and other culturally conspicuous uses.[49]
Despite Neo-Tifinagh's Algerian origins through the Berber Academy and UPA, the Latin alphabet became the predominant used script. Debate in what script to use for Berber languages tends to view the Latin and Arabic scripts as the primary options.[48]
As of 2012, Tifinagh is "not widely used in education or the media in any country."[4]
The following are the letters of Neo-Tifinagh and traditional Tuareg Tifinagh:[50]
ya ⴰ a IPA:æ | yab ⴱ b IPA:b | yag ⴳ g IPA:ɡ | yag ⴳⵯ gw IPA:ɡʷ | yad ⴷ d IPA:d | yaḍ ⴹ ḍ IPA:dˤ | yey ⴻ e IPA:ə | yaf ⴼ f IPA:f | yak ⴽ k IPA:k | yak ⴽⵯ kw IPA:kʷ | yah ⵀ h IPA:h |
yaḥ ⵃ ḥ IPA:ħ | yaʕ (yaɛ) ⵄ ʕ (o) IPA:ʕ | yax ⵅ kh IPA:χ | yaq ⵇ q IPA:q | yi ⵉ i IPA:i | yaj ⵊ j IPA:ʒ | yal ⵍ l IPA:l | yam ⵎ m IPA:m | yan ⵏ n IPA:n | yu ⵓ u IPA:w | yar ⵔ r IPA:r |
yaṛ ⵕ ṛ IPA:rˤ | yaɣ ⵖ gh IPA:ɣ | yas ⵙ s IPA:s | yaṣ ⵚ ṣ IPA:sˤ | yaš ⵛ c IPA:ʃ | yat ⵜ t IPA:t | yaṭ ⵟ ṭ IPA:tˤ | yaw ⵡ w IPA:w | yay ⵢ y IPA:j | yaz ⵣ z IPA:z | yaẓ ⵥ ẓ IPA:zˤ |
yab ⴲ b IPA:β fricative | yag ⴴ g IPA:ʝ fricative | yaḍ ⴺ ḍ IPA:ðˤ fricative | yak ⴿ k IPA:x fricative | yap ⵒ p IPA:p | yat ⵝ t IPA:θ fricative | yav ⵠ v IPA:v | yadj ⴵ dj, ǧ IPA:d͡ʒ | yah ⵁ h IPA:h | yatš ⵞ ch, č IPA:t͡ʃ |
|
|
Tifinagh was added to theUnicode Standard in March 2005, with the release of version 4.1.
The Unicode block range for Tifinagh is U+2D30–U+2D7F:
| Tifinagh[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF) | ||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
| U+2D3x | ⴰ | ⴱ | ⴲ | ⴳ | ⴴ | ⴵ | ⴶ | ⴷ | ⴸ | ⴹ | ⴺ | ⴻ | ⴼ | ⴽ | ⴾ | ⴿ |
| U+2D4x | ⵀ | ⵁ | ⵂ | ⵃ | ⵄ | ⵅ | ⵆ | ⵇ | ⵈ | ⵉ | ⵊ | ⵋ | ⵌ | ⵍ | ⵎ | ⵏ |
| U+2D5x | ⵐ | ⵑ | ⵒ | ⵓ | ⵔ | ⵕ | ⵖ | ⵗ | ⵘ | ⵙ | ⵚ | ⵛ | ⵜ | ⵝ | ⵞ | ⵟ |
| U+2D6x | ⵠ | ⵡ | ⵢ | ⵣ | ⵤ | ⵥ | ⵦ | ⵧ | ⵯ | |||||||
| U+2D7x | ⵰ | ⵿ | ||||||||||||||
| Notes | ||||||||||||||||
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