Get to Know the Amazigh languages of the Imazighen

 

The Amazigh languages are a group of closely related languages and dialects spoken by the Amazigh people, predominantly in North Africa. The Amazigh are sometimes known as Berbers in English, although Amazigh or Imazighen are the proper terms.

 

Why learn the Amazigh languages?

Estimates vary, but the number of speakers of Amazigh languages today is likely to be anywhere between 20 and 30 million. The largest Amazigh languages and dialects by number of speakers are in Morocco and Algeria, and to a lesser extent Libya, Tunisia, northern Mali, and northern Niger. There are also smaller communities in Burkina Faso, Egypt, and Mauritania, as well as significant emigrated communities in France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Italy, Canada, and the United States.

Sheep in a green field by the Atlas Mountains, Morocco

The classification of languages and dialects depends on how someone chooses to define these terms, but regardless of such distinctions, the Amazigh languages are closely related. A significant factor for most people is mutual intelligibility, and this can vary significantly between the Amazigh languages and dialects.

Béjaïa at night, Kabylia, Algeria

In recent years, there has been a growing movement to develop a standardised form of Amazigh among speakers of the closely related varieties of the Northern Amazigh languages. The name for this language is Tamazight (Tamaziɣt), or standardised Tamazight. The name Tamazight is also used to refer to the Central Atlas Tamazight variety of Amazigh, but is sometimes used to refer to other languages and dialects from the Atlas group of Amazigh languages as well.

Tamnougalt, Morocco, with palm trees and mountains in the background

Unfortunately, some Amazigh dialects have gone extinct. For example, Amazigh dialects were once spoken in southern Egypt and northern Sudan, whilst Guanche was spoken by the indigenous people of the Canary Islands - the Guanches.

The Amazigh languages and dialects have a written tradition dating back 2,500 years. Although the Latin script is sometimes used, the Amazigh languages have their own script, known as Tifinagh. In the Tifinagh script, the Amazigh languages are known as ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ.

Hikers stop to rest in a mountain valley in Tetouan, Morocco
Beautiful town in Morocco, with palm trees in the foreground and mountains in the background

Speakers :

20 to 30 million

Where :

Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Niger, Mali, Mauritania, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Italy, Canada, and the United States

Dialects (or Languages) :

Northern - including Kabyle (Taqbaylit); Atlas languages - Central Atlas Tamazight (Tamaziɣt), Shilha (Tashelhiyt), Senhaja de Srair, and Ghomara; Zenati languages - Riffian / Tarifit (Tmaziɣt), Ayt Seghrouchen, Ayt Warayn, Shenwa, Shawiya, Mzab-Wargla, and East Zenati

Western - including Zenaga (Tuẓẓungiyya)

Eastern - including Siwi, Nafusi, Ghadamès, and Awjila

Tuareg - including Tamahaq, Tamasheq, Air Tamajaq, and Tawellemet

 
 
Map of North Africa showing the areas where the Amazigh languages are spoken
 

Cover Images

Morocco

Photo by Mari Potter on Unsplash

Tamnougalt, Morocco

Photo by Sergey Pesterev on Unsplash

Map

By Ajellid-n-arif - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71160447

Resources for learning the Amazigh languages

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Some of the resources available for learning Amazigh languages are in French.

One of the great things about learning French is that it makes learning Amazigh languages like Kabyle easier - simply because Kabyle is spoken in Algeria (which suffered French colonialism), and some of the resources are therefore in French.

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