Tifinagh, Lengua Desconocida

Tifinagh 1

Tifinagh

Arabic, Neo-Tifinagh, and French at a store in Morocco.

Tifinagh (Berber pronunciation: [tifinaɣ]; also

written Tifinaɣ in the Berber Latin

alphabet, ⵜⵉⴼⵉⵏⴰⵖ in Neo-Tifinagh, and

تيفيناغ in the Berber Arabic alphabet) is a

series of abjad and alphabetic scripts used

by some Berber peoples, notably the Tuareg,

to write Berber languages.[1]

A modern derivate of the traditional script,

known as Neo-Tifinagh, was introduced in

the 20th century. It is not in widespread use

as a means of daily communication, but

often serves to assert a Berber identity

politically and symbolically. A slightly

modified version of the traditional script,

called Tifinagh Ircam, is used in a limited

number of Moroccan elementary schools in

teaching the Berber language to children.

The word tifinagh is thought to be a Berberized feminine plural cognate of Punic, through the Berber feminine prefix

ti- and Latin Punicus; thus tifinagh could possibly mean "the Phoenician (letters)" or "the Punic letters".

Origins

Libyco-Berber

Type Abjad

Time period 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD

Parent systems Egyptian hieroglyphs

• Proto-Sinaitic alphabet

• Phoenician alphabet

• Libyco-Berber

Child systems Tifinagh

Tifinagh may have descended from a script sometimes named the Libyan (libyque) or Libyco-Berber script although

the descent is unclear and uncertain. This was widely used by speakers of Berber languages all across North Africa

and on the Canary Islands. It is attested from the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD. Its origin is uncertain, with

some scholars suggesting it is related to the Punic alphabet or the Phoenician alphabet. The word Tifinagh is a

Tifinagh 2

feminine plural noun whose singular in Tamasheq is Tafineqq; it means 'the Phoenician (letters)', according to the

most known opinions. For a discussion (in French), see [2] and [3].

There are two known variants: eastern and western. The eastern variant was used in what is now Constantine, the

Aures region and Tunisia. It is the best-deciphered variant, due to the discovery of several Numidian bilingual

inscriptions in Libyan and Punic (notably at Dougga in Tunisia). 22 letters out of the 24 were deciphered. The

western variant was more primitive (Février 1964–1965). It was used along the Mediterranean coast from Kabylie to

the Canary Islands. It used 13 supplementary letters.

The Libyco-Berber script was a pure abjad; it had no vowels. Gemination was not marked. The writing was usually

from the bottom to the top, although right-to-left, and even other orders, were also found. The letters would take

different forms when written vertically than when they were written horizontally.

Tuareg Tifinagh

Tifinagh

Type Abjad

Languages Tuareg language

Time period ?? to present

Parent systems Egyptian hieroglyphs

• Proto-Sinaitic alphabet

• Phoenician alphabet

• Libyco-Berber

• Tifinagh

Child systems Neo-Tifinagh

The Libyco-Berber script survived in the writing of the Tuareg language.

According to M.C.A. MacDonald, the Tuareg are "an entirely oral society in which memory and oral communication

perform all the functions which reading and writing have in a literate society… The Tifinagh are used primarily for

games and puzzles, short graffiti and brief messages."

Occasionally the script has been used to write other neighboring languages, such as Tagdal Songhai.

Right: Entrance to the town of Kidal. The name is written in Tifinagh (ⴾⴸⵍ) and Latin script.

Tifinagh 3

Orthography

Traditional Tifinagh

Common forms of the letters are illustrated at left, including various

ligatures of t and n. Gemination, though phonemic, is not indicated in

Tifinagh. The letter t, +, is often combined with a preceding letter to form a

ligature. Most of the letters have more than one common form, including

mirror-images of the forms shown here.

When the letters l and n are adjacent to themselves or to each other, the

second is offset, either by inclining, lowering, raising, or shortening it. For

example, since the letter l is a double line, ||, and n a single line, |, the

sequence nn may be written |/ to differentiate in from l. Similarly, ln is ||/,

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