Editing Berbers (section)

== Languages ==
{{Main|Berber languages}}
[[File:Map of Berber Languages 2018.png|thumb|260px|Areas in North Africa where [[Berber languages]] are spoken]]
[[File:Tifinagh in Tifinagh.svg|thumb|Tifinagh in Tifinagh]]

The Berber languages form a branch of the [[Afroasiatic language family]], a large family that also includes [[Semitic languages]] like Arabic and the [[Ancient Egyptian language]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Campbell |first1=George L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DWAqAAAAQBAJ&dq=world+languages+berber&pg=PA223 |title=Compendium of the World's Languages |last2=King |first2=Gareth |publisher=Routledge |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-136-25846-6 |edition=3rd |pages=223 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lyovin |first1=Anatole |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hjxuDQAAQBAJ&q=afroasiatic+languages+introduction |title=An Introduction to the Languages of the World |last2=Kessler |first2=Brett |last3=Leben |first3=William Ronald |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-19-514988-3 |edition=2nd |pages=198–208 |language=en}}</ref> Most Berbers speak [[Arabic]] and [[French language|French]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Strazny |first=Philipp |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=27JOMobauYAC&pg=PA35 |title=Encyclopedia of Linguistics |date=1 February 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-45522-4 |pages=35 |language=en}}</ref>

{{lang|ber|Tamazight}} is a generic name for all of the Berber languages, which consist of many closely related varieties and dialects. Among these Berber languages are [[Tarifit|Riffian]], [[Zuwara Berber|Zuwara]], [[Kabyle language|Kabyle]], [[Shilha language|Shilha]], [[Siwi language|Siwi]], [[Zenaga language|Zenaga]], [[Sanhaja de Srair language|Sanhaja]], [[Central Atlas Tamazight|Tazayit]] (Central Atlas Tamazight), [[Mozabite language|Tumẓabt]] (Mozabite), [[Nafusi language|Nafusi]], and [[Tamasheq language|Tamasheq]], as well as the ancient [[Guanche language]].

Most Berber languages have a high percentage of borrowing and influence from the [[Arabic|Arabic language]], as well as from other languages.<ref name="Mattar-2004">{{Cite book |last=Mattar |first=Philip |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NDEOAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA463 |title=Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East & North Africa: Aaronsohn-Cyril VI |date=2004 |publisher=Macmillan Reference USA |isbn=978-0-02-865769-1 |pages=463 |language=en |quote=Most Berber languages have a high percentage of borrowing from Arabic, as well as from other languages.}}</ref> For example, Arabic loanwords represent 35%<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Baldauf |first1=Richard B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sabe8l9hox0C&pg=PA50 |title=Language Planning and Policy in Africa |last2=Kaplan |first2=Robert B. |date=1 January 2007 |publisher=Multilingual Matters |isbn=978-1-84769-011-1 |language=en}}</ref> to 46%<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Se-BAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA98 |title=The Arabic Influence on Northern Berber |date=18 July 2013 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-25309-4 |pages=98 |language=en}}</ref> of the total vocabulary of the [[Kabyle language]] and represent 51.7% of the total vocabulary of [[Tarifit]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Haspelmath |first1=Martin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OYFMqEJ1KCgC&pg=PA56 |title=Loanwords in the World's Languages: A Comparative Handbook |last2=Tadmor |first2=Uri |date=2009 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-021843-5 |pages=56 |language=en}}</ref> The least influenced are the [[Tuareg languages]].<ref name="Mattar-2004" /> Almost all Berber languages took from Arabic the [[Voiced pharyngeal fricative|pharyngeal fricatives]] /ʕ/ and /ħ/, the (nongeminated) uvular stop /q/, and the voiceless [[Pharyngealization|pharyngealized consonant]] /ṣ/.<ref>{{Citation |last=Kossmann |first=Maarten |title=Berber-Arabic Language Contact |date=29 March 2017 |url=https://oxfordre.com/linguistics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.001.0001/acrefore-9780199384655-e-232 |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics |access-date=30 May 2023 |language=en |doi=10.14711/spcol/b706487 |isbn=978-0-19-938465-5}}</ref> In turn, Berber languages have influenced local dialects of Arabic. Although [[Maghrebi Arabic]] has a predominantly [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] and [[Arabic]] vocabulary,<ref name="Abdou Elimam">{{cite book |last1=Elimam |first1=Abdou |url=http://gerflint.fr/Base/Tunisie1/elimam.pdf |title=Du Punique au Maghribi :Trajectoires d'une langue sémito-méditerranéenne |publisher=Synergies Tunisie |year=2009}}</ref> it contains a few Berber loanwords which represent 2–3% of the vocabulary of [[Libyan Arabic]], 8–9% of [[Algerian Arabic]] and [[Tunisian Arabic]], and 10–15% of [[Moroccan Arabic]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wexler |first=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YJpdiPiG2g4C&pg=PA174 |title=The Non-Jewish Origins of the Sephardic Jews |date=1 February 2012 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-1-4384-2393-7 |pages=174 |language=en |quote=Zavadovskij gives statistics for the percentage of Berber words in North African Muslim Arabic dialects: 10–15 percent Berber components in the Moroccan Arabic lexicon, 8–9 percent in Algerian and Tunisian Arabic, and only 2–3 percent in Libyan Arabic.}}</ref>

Berber languages in total are spoken by around 14 million<ref name="Berber Languages">{{Cite web |title=Berber languages {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Amazigh-languages |access-date=30 May 2023 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> to 16 million<ref name="Stolz-2015">{{Cite book |last=Stolz |first=Christel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SBtfCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT45 |title=Language Empires in Comparative Perspective |date=10 March 2015 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |isbn=978-3-11-040847-8 |pages=45 |language=en}}</ref> people in Africa (see [[Berber languages#Population|population estimation]]). These Berber speakers are mainly concentrated in Morocco and Algeria, followed by Mali, Niger, and Libya. Smaller Berber-speaking communities are also found as far east as Egypt, with a southwestern limit today at Burkina Faso.