The Atlas languages are a subgroup of the

Northern Berber languages The Northern Berber languages are a dialect continuum spoken across the Maghreb, constituting a subgroup of the Berber branch of the Afroasiatic family. Their continuity has been broken by the spread of Arabic, and to a lesser extent by the Zen ...

of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken in the

Atlas Mountains The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in the Maghreb in North Africa. It separates the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; the name "Atlantic" is derived from the mountain range. It stretches around through Moroc ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. By

mutual intelligibility In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. It is sometimes used as an ...

, they are a single language spoken by perhaps 14 million people; however, they are distinct

sociolinguistic Sociolinguistics is the descriptive study of the effect of any or all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context, on the way language is used, and society's effect on language. It can overlap with the sociology of l ...

ally and are considered separate languages by the

Royal institute of the Amazigh culture The Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture (french: Institut royal de la culture amazighe (IRCAM); zgh, ⴰⵙⵉⵏⴰⴳ ⴰⴳⵍⴷⴰⵏ ⵏ ⵜⵓⵙⵙⵏⴰ ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ, Asinag Ageldan n Tussna Tamazight (SGSM); ar, المعه� ...

. They are:

Maarten Kossmann Maarten Kossmann (born 5 February 1966 in Zuidlaren, Netherlands) is a Dutch linguist who specializes in Berber languages. He is currently professor of Berber studies at Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Univers ...

,
Berber subclassification (preliminary version)
, Leiden (2011) *

Central Atlas Tamazight Central Atlas Tamazight or Atlasic (also known as Central Morocco Tamazight, variant of tashelhit, Middle Atlas Tamazight, Tamazight, Central Shilha and, rarely, Beraber or Braber; native name: ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ ''Tamazight'' , ) is a Be ...

(Central Atlas Berber), spoken in the central Atlas Mountains * Shilha (''Tashelhiyt''; also rendered ''Tachelhit, Tasusit''; includes

Judeo-Berber Judeo-Berber or Judeo-Amazigh ( ber, ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ ⵏ ⵡⵓⴷⴰⵢⵏ ''tamazight n wudayen'', berberit yehudit) is any of several hybrid Berber varieties traditionally spoken as a second language in Berber Jewish communities of ...

and perhaps the extinct

Lisan al-Gharbi Lisan al-Gharbi (Arabic for "Western dialect") is the name given to an extinct dialect of Berber that was spoken over much of the Atlantic plains of Morocco.B. FrankelHistory in Dispute: The Middle East since 1945. First series(St. James Press, ...

), spoken in southern Morocco * Sanhaja de Srair, spoken in the southern part of the

Rif The Rif or Riff (, ), also called Rif Mountains, is a geographic region in northern Morocco. This mountainous and fertile area is bordered by Cape Spartel and Tangier to the west, by Berkane and the Moulouya River to the east, by the Mediterrane ...

* Ghomara, spoken in the western part of the

, formerly spoken in western Morocco. Percent of Tashlhit speakers in Morocco by census 2004

Percent of Tmazight speakers in Morocco by census 2004

References

Berber languages {{Berber-lang-stub