◙ Berber languages, also called Amazigh languages, family of languages in the Afro-Asiatic language phylum. As they are the most homogeneous division within Afro-Asiatic, the Berber languages have often been referred to as a single language in the past.
◙ Berber languages are spoken by more than 30 million people, mostly in scattered enclaves found in the Maghreb, a large region of northern Africa between Egypt’s Siwa Oasis and Mauretania.
◙ The heaviest concentration of Berber speakers is found in Morocco.
◙ Major Berber languages include Tashelhit (Tashelhiyt, Tashelhait, Shilha), Tarifit, Kabyle, Tamazight, and Tamahaq. The family may also include extinct languages such as the Guanche languages of the Canary Islands, Old Libyan (Numidian), and Old Mauretanian, which are known from inscriptions but have not yet been studied thoroughly enough to make any affirmative generalizations about their linguistic characteristics. Another possible member is the language called Iberian, after whose speakers the Iberian Peninsula is named.
◙ An old consonantal alphabet (tifinagh) has survived among the Tuareg.
◙ Many people in north africa have lost their ability to speak berber, and their territory becomes arabized over time.
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