Editing Tuareg languages (section)

==Orthography==
The Tuareg languages may be written using the ancient [[Tifinagh]] (Libyco-Berber) script, the [[Latin script]] or the [[Arabic script]]. The Malian national literacy program [[DNAFLA]] has established a standard for the Latin alphabet, which is used with modifications in Prasse's ''Lexique'' and the government literacy program in Burkina, while in Niger a different system was used. There is also some variation in Tifinagh and in the Arabic script.{{sfn|Sudlow|2001|pp=33–36}}

Early uses of the Tifinagh script have been found on [[rock art]] and in various [[sepulchre]]s. Among these are the [[Tin Hinan Tomb|1,500 year old monumental tomb]] of the Tuareg matriarch [[Tin Hinan]], where vestiges of a Tifinagh [[inscription]] have been found on one of its walls.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Briggs|first1=L. Cabot|title=A Review of the Physical Anthropology of the Sahara and Its Prehistoric Implications|journal=Man|date=February 1957|volume=56|pages=20–23|doi=10.2307/2793877 |jstor=2793877}}</ref>

Tifinagh usage is now restricted mainly to writing magical formulae, writing on palms when silence is required, and in letter-writing.<ref>{{cite book|title= Tamazight of the Ayt Ndhir|last= Penchoen|first= Thomas G.|year= 1973|publisher= Undena Publications|location=Los Angeles|page=3}}</ref> The Arabic script is mostly in use by tribes more involved in Islamic learning, and little is known about its conventions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.onderzoekinformatie.nl/en/oi/nod/onderzoek/OND1308586/|title=Orthography in a plurigraphic society: the case of Tuareg in Niger | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080503182427/http://www.onderzoekinformatie.nl/en/oi/nod/onderzoek/OND1308586/ | archive-date=May 3, 2008}}</ref>

[[File:Tifinagh abjad.png|thumb|Traditional Tifinagh, including various ligatures of ''t'' and ''n''. Gemination is not indicated. Most of the letters have more than one common form. When the letters ''l'' and ''n'' are adjacent to themselves or to each other, the second one is inclined: ⵍ ("l"), ⵏⵏ ("nn"), ⵍⵏ ("ln"), ⵏⵍ ("nl"), ⵍⵍ ("ll"), ⵏⵏⵏ ("nnn").]]
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Representative alphabets for Tuareg{{sfn|Sudlow|2001|pp=28,35–36}}<ref>{{cite web | author=Ridouane Ziri, Rachid | title=Les différents systèmes d'écriture amazighe| url=http://www.mondeberbere.com/langue/tifinagh/tifinagh_diffsyst.htm | access-date=August 19, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170430081222/http://www.mondeberbere.com/langue/tifinagh/tifinagh_diffsyst.htm | archive-date=April 30, 2017 | language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | author=Bizari, Brahim | title=Ecriture amazigh | url=http://bizari.multimania.com/tirra.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010405234304/http://bizari.multimania.com/tirra.htm | archive-date=April 5, 2001 | access-date=August 19, 2012 | language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| title=Alphabets of Tamashek in Mali: Alphabetization and Tifinagh | url=http://wwwusers.imaginet.fr/~yusuf/tamashek.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040201213949/http://wwwusers.imaginet.fr/~yusuf/tamashek.html | archive-date=February 1, 2004|author1=Fukui, Yusuf Yoshinori |author2=Walett Mahmoud, Khadijatou | access-date=August 18, 2012 }}</ref>
! rowspan="2" | DNAFLA<br>(Mali)<ref>{{cite web| title=Base extended-Latin characters and combinations for languages of Mali | author=Osborn, Don | year=2002 | url=http://www.bisharat.net/A12N/MALI-table.htm | access-date=August 18, 2012 }}</ref>
! rowspan="2" | Niger<ref>{{cite web | author=Enguehard, Chantal | year=2007 | title=alphabet tamajaq (arrété 214-99 de la République du Niger) | url=http://pagesperso.lina.univ-nantes.fr/info/perso/permanents/enguehard/recherche/Afrique/alphabet_tamajaq.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180310011304/http://pagesperso.lina.univ-nantes.fr/info/perso/permanents/enguehard/recherche/Afrique/alphabet_tamajaq.htm | archive-date=March 10, 2018 | access-date=August 19, 2012 | language=fr}}</ref>
! colspan="2" | Tifinagh
! rowspan="2" | Arabic
|-
! Image
! Unicode
|-
|-<!-- -->
| a || a || || ||
|-<!-- -->
| || â || || ||
|-<!-- -->
| ă || ă || || ||
|-<!-- -->
| ǝ || ǝ || || ||
|-
| b || b || [[File:2D40.png|20px|alt=ⵀ]] || ⵀ || ب
|-<!-- -->
| (ḅ) || || || ||
|-<!-- -->
| || c || || ||
|-
| d || d || [[File:2D37.png|20px|alt=ⴷ]] || ⴷ || د
|-
| ḍ || ḍ || [[File:2D39.png|20px|alt=ⴹ]] || ⴹ || ض
|-<!-- -->
| e || e || || ||
|-<!-- -->
| || ê || || ||
|-
| f || f || [[File:2D3C.png|20px|alt=ⴼ]] || ⴼ || ف
|-
| g || g || [[File:2D33.png|20px|alt=ⴳ]] || ⴳ || [[Gaf|{{script/Arabic|گ ݣ}}]]
|-<!-- -->
| i || i || || ||
|-<!-- -->
| || î || || ||
|-
| j || j || [[File:2D36.png|20px|alt=ⴶ]] || ⴶ || چ
|-<!-- -->
| || ǰ || || ||
|-
| ɣ || ɣ || [[File:2D57.png|20px|alt=ⵗ]] || ⵗ || غ
|-
| h || h || [[File:2D42.png|20px|alt=ⵂ]] || ⵂ || ه
|-
| k || k || [[File:2D3E.png|20px|alt=ⴾ]] || ⴾ || ک
|-
| l || l || [[File:2D4D.png|20px|alt=ⵍ]] || ⵍ || ل
|-<!-- -->
| ḷ || ḷ || || ||
|-
| m || m || [[File:2D4E.png|20px|alt=ⵎ]] || ⵎ || م
|-
| n || n || [[File:2D4F.png|20px|alt=ⵏ]] || ⵏ || ن
|-<!-- -->
| ŋ || ŋ || || ||
|-<!-- -->
| o || o || || ||
|-<!-- -->
| || ô || || ||
|-
| q || q || [[File:2D46.png|20px|alt=ⵆ]] [[File:2D48.png|20px|alt=ⵈ]] || ⵆ, ⵈ || ق
|-
| r || r || [[File:2D54.png|20px|alt=ⵔ]] || ⵔ || ر
|-
| s || s || [[File:2D59.png|20px|alt=ⵙ]] || ⵙ || س
|-
| ṣ || ṣ || [[File:2D5A.png|20px|alt=ⵚ]] || ⵚ || ص
|-
| š (ʃ)|| š || [[File:2D5B.png|20px|alt=ⵛ]] || ⵛ || ش
|-
| t || t || [[File:2D5C.png|20px|alt=ⵜ]] || ⵜ || ت
|-
| ṭ || ṭ || [[File:2D5F.png|20px|alt=ⵟ]] || ⵟ || ط
|-<!-- -->
| u || u || || ||
|-<!-- -->
|  || û || || ||
|-
| w || w || [[File:2D53.png|20px|alt=ⵓ]] || ⵓ || و
|-
| x || x || [[File:2D45.png|20px|alt=ⵅ]] || ⵅ || خ
|-
| y || y || [[File:2D62.png|20px|alt=ⵢ]] [[File:2D49.png|20px|alt=ⵉ]] || ⵢ, ⵉ || ي
|-
| z || z || [[File:2D4C.png|20px|alt=ⵌ]] [[File:2D63.png|20px|alt=ⵣ]] || ⵌ, ⵣ || ز
|-
| ẓ || ẓ || [[File:2D65.png|20px|alt=ⵥ]] || ⵥ || ظ
|-
| ž (ʒ) || ǧ || [[File:2D4A.png|20px|alt=ⵊ]]<!-- ⵋ ?--> || ⵊ || ج
|-
| ḥ || || [[File:2D46.png|20px|alt=ⵆ]] || ⵆ || ح
|-
| (ʕ) || || [[File:2D44.png|20px|alt=ⵄ]] || ⵄ || ع
|}

The DNAFLA system is a somewhat [[Morphophonology|morphophonemic]] orthography, not indicating initial vowel shortening, always writing the directional particle as < dd⟩, and not indicating all [[Assimilation (linguistics)|assimilations]] (e.g. {{angbr|Tămašăɣt}} for [tămašăq]).{{sfn|Sudlow|2001|p=34}}

In Burkina Faso the emphatics are denoted by "hooked" letters, as in [[Fula language|Fula]], e.g. {{angbr|ɗ ƭ}}.{{sfn|Sudlow|2001|p=33}}