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The Berber languages, also known as the Amazigh languages or Tamazight, are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They comprise a group of closely related but mostly mutually unintelligible languages spoken by Berbers communities, who are indigenous to North Africa.Hayward, Richard J., chapter Afroasiatic in Heine, Bernd & Nurse, Derek, editors, African Languages: An Introduction Cambridge 2000. . The languages are primarily spoken and not typically written. Historically, they have been written with the ancient Libyco-Berber script, which now exists in the form of Tifinagh. Today, they may also be written in the Berber Latin alphabet or the Arabic script, with Latin being the most pervasive.
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". The languages, with a few exceptions, form a dialect continuum. There is a debate as to how to best sub-categorize languages within the Berber branch. Berber languages typically follow verb–subject–object word order. Their phonological inventories are diverse.
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. There are also probably a few million speakers of Berber languages in Western Europe. Shilha language, Kabyle language, Central Atlas Tamazight, Riffian language, and Shawiya language are some of the most commonly spoken Berber languages. 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.
Following independence in the 20th century, the Berber languages have been suppressed and suffered from low prestige in North Africa. 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.
Most Berber languages have a high percentage of borrowing and influence from the Arabic, as well as from other languages. For example, Arabic loanwords represent 35% to 46% of the total vocabulary of the Kabyle language and represent 44.9% of the total vocabulary of Tarifit. Almost all Berber languages took from Arabic the pharyngeal fricatives /ʕ/ and /ħ/, the (nongeminated) uvular stop /q/, and the voiceless pharyngealized consonant /ṣ/. Unlike the Chadic languages, Cushitic, and Omotic languages languages of the Afro-Asiatic phylum, Berber languages are not tonal languages.
The use of Berber has been the subject of debate due to its historical background as an exonym and present equivalence with the Arabic word for "barbarian." One group, the Linguasphere Observatory, has attempted to introduce the neologism "Tamazic languages" to refer to the Berber languages. Amazigh people typically use "Tamazight" when speaking English. Historically, some Berber groups have used this endonym since Antiquity (such as the Mazices) or continue to do so, although others had their own terms to refer to themselves. For example, the Kabyle people use the term "Leqbayel" to refer to their own people, while the Chaoui people identified themselves as "Ishawiyen".
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.
The'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.Kossmann roughly groups the Berber languages into seven blocks:
The Zenatic block is typically divided into the Zenati languages and Eastern Berber branches, due to the marked difference in features at each end of the continuum. Otherwise, subclassifications by different linguists typically combine various blocks into different branches. Western Moroccan languages, Zenati languages, Kabyle, and sometimes Ghadamès may be grouped under Northern 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.
At the beginning of colonialism in Morocco, Berber speakers were estimated at 40-45% of the Moroccan population. 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. The 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. The 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. The 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.
These estimates, as well as the estimates from various academic sources, are summarized as follows:
| + Estimated number of speakers of Berber languages in Morocco ! Source ! Date ! Total ! Tashelhit ! Central Atlas Tamazight ! Tarifit ! Notes | ||||||
| Moroccan census | 1960 | 3.5 million | – | – | – | Calculated via reported percentages. |
| Tamazight of the Ayt Ndhir | 1973 | 6 million | – | – | – | Extrapolating from Basset's 1952 La langue berbère based on overall population changes. |
| Ethnologue | 2001 | 7.5 million | 3 million | 3 million | 1.5 million | -- |
| Moroccan census | 2004 | 7.5 million | 3.9 million | 2.3 million | 1.3 million | Also used by Ethnologue in 2015. Only individuals over age 5 were included. |
| Multilingualism, Cultural Identity, and Education in Morocco | 2005 | 15 million | 6.8 million | 5.2 million | 3 million | Also used in Semitic and Afroasiatic: Challenges and Opportunities in 2012. |
| Moroccan census | 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 | 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). |
| Moroccan census | 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. |
in the central-western part of Algeria|left]]Kabyle language speakers account for the vast majority of speakers of Berber languages in Algeria. Shawiya language is the second most commonly spoken Berber language in Algeria. Other Berber languages spoken in Algeria include: Shenwa language, with 76,300 speakers; Tashelhit, with 6,000 speakers; Ouargli language, with 20,000 speakers; Tamahaq language, with 71,400 speakers; Tugurt language, with 8,100 speakers; Tidikelt, with 1,000 speakers; Gurara language, with 11,000 speakers; and Mozabite, with 150,000 speakers. (2025). 9781556715020, SIL International Publications. ISBN 9781556715020 (2025). 9781556715020, SIL International Publications. ISBN 9781556715020
Population estimates are summarized as follows:
| + 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 | 1906 | 1.3 million | – | – | – | |
| Textes en linguistique berbère Salem Chaker (1984). 9782222035787, Editions du Centre national de la recherche scientifique. ISBN 9782222035787 | 1980 | 3.6 million | – | – | – | |
| International Encyclopedia of Linguistics | 2003 | – | 2.5 million | – | – | |
| Language Diversity Endangered | 2015 | 4.5 million | 2.5–3 million | 1.4 million | ||
| Journal of African Languages and Literatures | 2021 | – | 3 million | – | – |
As of 2018 and 2014 respectively, there were an estimated 420,000 speakers of Tawellemmet and 378,000 of Tamasheq in Mali. (2025). 9781556715020, SIL International Publications. ISBN 9781556715020
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, 22,800 speakers of Tamahaq, 13,400 speakers of Ghadamés, and 2,690 speakers of Awjila language. The number of Siwi language speakers in Libya is listed as negligible, and the last Sokna language speaker is thought to have died in the 1950s. (2025). 9781556715020, SIL International Publications. ISBN 9781556715020
There are an estimated 50,000 Jerba Berber speakers in Tunisia, based on figures from 2004. Sened language 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. (2025). 9781556715020, SIL International Publications. ISBN 9781556715020 Chenini is one of the rare remaining Berber-speaking villages in Tunisia.
There are an estimated 20,000 Siwi speakers in Egypt, based on figures from 2013. (2025). 9781556715020, SIL International Publications. ISBN 9781556715020
As of 2018 and 2017 respectively, there were an estimated 200 speakers of Zenaga language and 117,000 of Tamasheq in Mauritania. (2025). 9781556715020, SIL International Publications. ISBN 9781556715020
As of 2009, there were an estimated 122,000 Tamasheq speakers in Burkina Faso. (2025). 9781556715020, SIL International Publications. ISBN 9781556715020
There are an estimated 1.5 million speakers of various Berber languages in France. (2025). 9781556715020, SIL International Publications. ISBN 9781556715020 A small number of Tawellemmet speakers live in Nigeria. (2025). 9781556715020, SIL International Publications. ISBN 9781556715020
In total, there are an estimated 3.6 million speakers of Berber languages in countries outside of Morocco and Algeria, summarized as follows:
The 2000 Charter for Education Reform marked a change in policy, with its statement of "openness to Tamazight." Planning for a public Tamazight-language TV network began in 2006; in 2010, the Moroccan government launched Tamazight TV. On July 29, 2011, Tamazight was added as an official language to the Moroccan constitution.
After the 1994-1995 general school boycott in Kabylia, Tamazight was recognized for the first time as a national language. In 2002, following the riots of the Black Spring, Tamazight was recognized for the second time as a national language, though not as an official one. – « Loi n° 02-03 portent révision constitutionnelle » , adopted on April 10, 2002, allotting in particular to "Tamazight" the status of national language. This was done on April 8, 2003.
Tamazight has been taught for three hours a week through the first three years of Algerian middle schools since 2005.
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.
| + ! Notation ! Meaning | |
| /š/ | unvoiced anterior post-alveolar, as in Slavic languages and Lithuanian |
| /ž/ | voiced anterior post-alveolar, also in Slavic languages and Lithuanian |
| /ɣ/ | voiced uvular fricative (in IPA, this represents the voiced velar fricative) |
| /◌͑/ | voiced pharyngeal fricative |
| /h/ | laryngeal voiced consonant |
| /◌͗/ | glottal stop |
| /ř/ | strident flap or /r̝/, as in Czech language |
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. (2025). 9781139423649, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139423649 All Berber languages, as is common in Afroasiatic languages, have pharyngealized consonants and phonemic gemination. (2025). 9781139423649, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139423649 (2025). 9781139423649, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139423649 The consonants which may undergo gemination, and the positions in a word where gemination may occur, differ by language. They have also been observed to have Tenseness and lax consonants, although the status of tense consonants has been the subject of "considerable discussion" by linguists. Three (Kabyle, Tarifit and Shawiya) of the most spoken five Tamazight languages have the interdental consonants and which are considered rare cross-linguistically.
| + Major Berber phonetic correspondences
! Tahaggart ! Tashlhiyt ! Kabyle ! Figuig ! Central Atlas Tamazight ! Tarifit ! 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-!yzzətš | "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-addžal-t | t-ahžžal-t | t-adžal-t | θ-ažžat | "window" |
| élem | ilm | a-gwlim | ilem | iləm | iřem | "skin" |
| a-!hiyod | a-!žddid | a-!žəddžid | – | a-!ḡddžid | a-!žžið | "scabies" |
| a-gûhil | i-gigil | a-gužil | a-yužil | a-wižil | a-yužiř | "orphan" |
| t-immé | i-gnzi | t-a-gwənza | 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 | "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" |
The lexical categories of all Berber languages are , , , , and 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.
The gender, number, and case of nouns, as well as the gender, number, and person of verbs, are typically distinguished through affixes. Arguments are described with word order and . 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. (2025). 9789027288424, J. Benjamins Pub. Co. ISBN 9789027288424
Linguist Maarten Kossmann divides pronouns in Berber languages into three morphological groups:
When clitics precede or follow a verb, they are almost always ordered with the indirect object first, direct object second, and andative-venitive Deixis clitic last. An example in Tarifit is shown as follows:
The allowed positioning of different kinds of clitics varies by language.
Gender can be feminine or masculine, and can be lexically determined, or can be used to distinguish qualities of the noun. 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. The ways in which gender is used to distinguish nouns is shown in as follows, with examples from Figuig language:
| + ! rowspan="2" | Noun type ! colspan="3" | Feminine ! colspan="3" | Masculine | |||
| 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" |
| varies, but typically fruits and vegetables | unit noun | ta-mlul-t | "(one) melon" | collective noun | a-mlul | "melons (in general)" |
| ti-mlal (plural) | "(specific) melons" |
Most Berber languages have two cases, which distinguish the construct state from the free state. 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." When present, case is always expressed through nominal prefixes and initial-vowel reduction. The use of the marked nominative system and constructions similar to Split-S alignment varies by language. Eastern Berber languages do not have case.
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. 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.
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. Possessive phrases in noun phrases must have a genitive proposition.
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:
Different linguists analyze and label aspects in the Berber languages vary differently. Kossman roughly summarizes the basic stems which denote aspect as follows:
The aspectual stems of some classes of verbs in various Berber languages are shown as follows:
| + ! ! 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 | -- | -- |
Original Berber numerals agree in gender with the noun they describe, whereas the borrowed Arabic forms do not.
The numerals 1–10 in Tashelhiyt and Mali Tuareg are as follows:Hans Stumme: Handbuch des Schilhischen von Tazerwalt. Hinrichs, Leipzig 1899, § 169; Transcription modified.Galand (1988, 4.11).
Verbal sentences have a finite verb, and are commonly understood to follow verb–subject–object word order (VSO). Some linguists have proposed opposing analyses of the word order patterns in Berber languages, and there has been some support for characterizing Taqbaylit as discourse-configurational.
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:
Non-verbal sentences may use the verb meaning "to be," which exists in all Berber languages. An example from Tarifit is given as follows:
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 Ancient Egyptian, likely due to the introduction of date palm cultivation into North Africa from Egypt. Around a dozen Berber words are probable Phoenician-Punic loanwords, although the overall influence of Phoenician-Punic on Berber languages is negligible. A number of loanwords could be attributed to Phoenician-Punic, Hebrew language, or Aramaic language. The similar vocabulary between these Semitic languages, as well as Arabic, is a complicating factor in tracing the etymology of certain words.
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 ("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. 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. 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.
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. These names may be precolonial non-African Romance loans, adopted into Berber languages through Arabic, rather than from Latin directly.
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. Salem Chaker estimates that Arabic loanwords represent 38% of Kabyle language vocabulary, 25% of Tashelhiyt vocabulary, and 5% of Tuareg vocabulary, including non-core words.
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). 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, , S. 302
| his father |
| he was lost |
| he called |
In addition he notes that the Genitive case in both languages is formed with n = "of" (though likely a common inheritance from Proto-Afro-Asiatic; cf. A.Eg genitive n).Migeod, F. W. H., The Languages of West Africa. Kegan, Paul, Trench & Trübner, London 1913. pages 232, 233.
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.Richard Hayward, 2000, "Afroasiatic", in Heine & Nurse eds, African Languages, Cambridge University Press
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