Language of the Berber.

Georgiana Elizabeth Spencer ‎~ LANGUAGE OF THE BERBER ~ The Berber dialects belong to the Hamitic subfamily of the Hamito-Semitic language group. They include: in Morocco, Shilha (Tashilhait) spoken by the Shluh, Tamazight by the Berrabers and Tarifit (Zenatiyeh) spoken by the Rif. In Algeria, Kabyle (Tamazirt, Zwawah) spoken by the Kabyles, Shawia spoken by the Shawias and Tamashek spoken by the Tuaregs in central Sahara and north of the Niger river. The sound systems of the various dialects are quite different from one another, but vocabulary and grammar are quite similar. The Arabic script is used for writing all dialects, except for the Tuareg dialect which still uses an ancient Libyan writing system (Tifinagh). Berber dialects borrowed many words from Arabic and contain some words borrowed from Phoenician and Latin. They are spoken languages transmitted orally from generation to generation, as Berber writers wrote in the languages of their conquerors: Punic, Latin, Arabic and French. There are some inscriptions in ancient Libyan, no Berber documents from the early Islamic period, and only a few from the 12th century onward, mainly religious works in Arabic script intended for teaching Islam and for religious edification. Most writing in the Maghreb was done in Arabic. In the 19th century Europeans started collecting texts orally from Berbers and writing them down. Later, translations of the Old and New Testaments were made by Catholic and Protestant missionaries. Secular works are rare. There are Arabic-Berber dictionaries and books on popular medicine. There are a few compilations of customary Berber law and some adaptations in Berber of Arabic stories. Since the eighties, new Berber publications are appearing especially in France, designed to preserve and strengthen the specific Berber heritage. Similar to Semitic languages, Berber words are made up of roots inflected according to a schema, the root containing two or three consonants. There are two genders, masculine and feminine, and two numbers, single and plural. The vocabulary is quite large and includes many Arabic loan words for religious and intellectual terms. Berber folklore is rich and has been transmitted mainly orally. There are many proverbs, fables, humorous tales, animal stories, religious and historical legends. Berbers are also fond of riddles and of songs and poems about love and war that are recited at festivals and gatherings.