Tamahaq (''Tahaggart Tamahaq'', ''Tamahaq Tahaggart'') is the only known Northern Tuareg language, spoken in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, western

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

and northern

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesTuareg languages The Tuareg () languages constitute a group of closely related Berber languages and dialects. They are spoken by the Tuareg Berbers in large parts of Mali, Niger, Algeria, Libya and Burkina Faso, with a few speakers, the ''Kinnin'', in Chad. Des ...

of the

Aïr Mountains The Aïr Mountains or Aïr Massif ( tmh, Ayăr; Hausa: Eastern ''Azbin'', Western ''Abzin'') is a triangular massif, located in northern Niger, within the Sahara. Part of the West Saharan montane xeric woodlands ecoregion, the ...

Azawagh The Azawagh (alias ''Azaouagh'' or ''Azawak'') is a dry structural basin, basin covering what is today the northwestern Niger, as well as parts of northeastern Mali and southern Algeria. The Azawagh is mainly made up of Sahelian and Saharan f ...

and Adagh. The differences mostly consist of sound substitutions, such as ''Tamahaq'' instead of ''Tamajaq'' or ''Tamasheq''.

Varieties

There are three main varieties of Tamahaq:
/ref> *''Tahaggart'', spoken around the Ahaggar Mountains in southern Algeria by the

Kel Ahaggar Kel Ahaggar ( Berber: ⴾⵍ ⵂⴴⵔ) (trans: "People of Ahaggar") is a Tuareg confederation inhabiting the Hoggar Mountains (Ahaggar mountains) in Algeria. The confederation is believed to have been founded by the Tuareg matriarch Tin Hinan, w ...

confederation *''Ajjer'', spoken by the Kel Ajjer confederation *''Ghat'', spoken around

Djanet Djanet ( ar, جانت) is an oasis city, and capital of Djanet District as well as of Djanet Province, southeast Algeria. It is located south of Illizi. According to the 2008 census it has a population of 14,655, up from 9,699 in 1998, and an a ...

in southeast Algeria and

Ghat Ghat, a term used in the Indian subcontinent, depending on the context could refer either to a range of stepped hills with valleys (ghati in Hindi), such as the Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats; or the series of steps leading down to a body of ...

in Libya. According to Blench (2006), Tahaggart and Ghat are distinct Tuareg languages.

References

Tuareg languages Berbers in Algeria Berbers in Libya Berbers in Niger Languages of Algeria Languages of Libya Languages of Niger {{Berber-lang-stub