Northern Berber languagesThe Northern Berber languages are a dialect continuum spoken across the Maghreb, constituting a subgroup of the Berber branch of the Afroasiatic language family. Their continuity has been broken by the spread of Arabic, and to a lesser extent by the Zenati group within Northern Berber. The Zenati idioms share certain innovations not found in the surrounding languages; notably a softening of k to sh and an absence of a- in certain words, such as "hand" (afus vs. fus.)
Proto-Berber languageProto-Berber or Proto-Libyan is the reconstructed proto-language from which the modern Berber languages descend. Proto-Berber was an Afroasiatic language, and thus its descendant Berber languages are cousins to the Egyptian language, Cushitic languages, Semitic languages, Chadic languages, and the Omotic languages. HistoryProto-Berber shows features that clearly distinguish it from all other branches of Afroasiatic, but modern Berber languages are relatively homogeneous.
Kabyle languageKabyle () or Kabylian (; native name: Taqbaylit) is a Berber language spoken by the Kabyle people in the north and northeast of Algeria. It is spoken primarily in Kabylia. Estimating the number of Berber speakers is very difficult and figures are often contested. A 2004 estimate was that 9.4% of the Algerian population spoke Kabyle. The number of diaspora speakers has been estimated at one million.
Libyco-Berber alphabetThe Libyco-Berber alphabet is an abjadwriting system that was used during the first millennium BC by various Berber peoples of North Africa and the Canary Islands, to write ancient varieties of the Berber language (possibly Numidian language).
Berber languagesFamily of languages and dialects Indigenous to North Africa
Dialect continuumA dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated varieties may not be. This is a typical occurrence with widely spread languages and language families around the world, when these languages did not spread recently.MasinissaMasinissa (Numidian: MSNSN) (c. 238 BC – 148 BC), also spelled Massinissa, Massena and Massan, was an ancient Numidian king best known for leading a federation of Massylii Berber tribes during the Second Punic War (218–201 BC), ultimately uniting them into a kingdom that became a major regional power in North Africa. Much of what is known about Masinissa comes from Livy's History of Rome, and to a lesser extent Cicero's Scipio's Dream.
TifinaghScript used for Berber languagesTifinagh (Berber languages: ⵜⴼⵏⵗ; Neo-Tifinagh: ⵜⵉⴼⵉⵏⴰⵖ; Berber Latin alphabet: Tifinaɣ; Berber pronunciation:) is a script used to write the Berber languages (Tamazight). It is descended from the ancient Libyco-Berber alphabet.
Afroasiatic languagesLarge language family of Africa and West AsiaThe Afroasiatic languages (also known as the Afro-Asiatic, Afrasian, Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic languages) are a language family (or phylum) of about 400 languages spoken predominantly in West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of the Sahara and Sahel.
NumidiaKingdom in North Africa, 202 to 25 BCToday part ofAlgeriaTunisiaLibyaMoroccoNumidia (Latin: Regnum Numidiae) was the ancient Libyan kingdom of the indigenous NumidianBerbers in Northwest Africa during the Hellenistic period. Initially comprising the northern part of what is now Algeria, Numidia expanded into western modern Tunisia and Libya.
SteleA stele ( STEE-lee) or stela ( STEE-lə) is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected in the ancient world as a monument. The surface of the stele often has text, ornamentation, or both. These may be inscribed, carved in relief, or painted. Stelae were created for many reasons. Grave stelae were used for funerary or commemorative purposes.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.