What language did the Berbers speak?

In 2001, Berber became a constitutional national language of Algeria, and in 2011 Berber became a constitutionally official language of Morocco. In 2016, Berber became a constitutionally official language of Algeria alongside Arabic….Berber languages.

Why are there so many different versions of the Berber language?

Berber and Semitic (a family to which Arabic belongs) are both branches of a bigger Afro-Asiatic language family, making Berber languages distant cousins of Arabic. Their linguistic conversion began in the military, with the troops composed mostly of Berber soldiers led by Arab commanders.

Is the Berber language related to Arabic?

Both groups have different languages. The Berber language belongs to the Afro-Asiatic family of languages while the Arabic language is from the same family. Berbers and Arabs have major and minor settlements in different countries. For the Berbers, they are the dominant race group in Morocco.

What language is Berber similar to?

They belong to the Afro-Asiatic languages phylum. There is a strong movement among Berbers to unify the closely related northern Berber languages into a single standard, Tamazight. Among the Berber languages are Tarifit or Riffi (northern Morocco), Kabyle (Algeria) and Tachelhit (central Morocco).

Is the Berber language Semitic?

In the early 19th century, linguists grouped the Berber, Cushitic and Egyptian languages within a “Hamitic” phylum, in acknowledgement of these languages’ genetic relation with each other and with those in the Semitic phylum.

Why was the Berber language suppressed in Libya?

The indigenous people of north Africa, known to others as Berbers and among themselves as Amazigh, were brutally suppressed under Gaddafi, who considered the teaching of their language and culture to be a form of imperialism in his Arab country.

Is Berber still spoken?

Berber languages are spoken today by some 14 million people, mostly in scattered enclaves found in the Maghrib, a large region of northern Africa between Egypt’s Siwa Oasis and Mauretania. The heaviest concentration of Berber speakers is found in Morocco.

Are all Libyans Berber?

Most Libyans, they say, are Berbers. In a country fed a steady diet of Arab nationalism for over four decades, the idea of rewriting Libya’s understanding of its own history and identity would seem almost impossible. Yet, less than a month after the country’s liberation, these groups are hard at work.