North Africa

Tamazight (Amazigh)

ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ / Tamaziɣt

The indigenous language family of North Africa, spoken continuously for at least three thousand years. Tifinagh script descends from ancient Libyco-Berber writing and is official alongside Arabic in Morocco and Algeria.

Family: Afro-Asiatic (Berber)
Script: Tifinagh (ⵜⵉⴼⵉⵏⴰⵖ) and Latin
Speakers: ~30 million speakers across North Africa and the Sahara
Spoken in: Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Mali, Niger

The course

Five units, one word at a time

0/5 mastered

Unit 1

Greetings

Warm, short greetings that work from the Rif to the Sahara.

Azul — Hello
Azul fellawen — Hello to you all
Manzakin? — How are you?
Labas — I'm fine / no problem
Tanemmirt — Thank you
Ar timlilit — See you again

Unit 2

People and family

Amazigh means 'free people' — start with who is who.

Amazigh — Amazigh person / free person
Argaz — Man
Tamttut — Woman
Yemma — Mother
Baba — Father
Amddakel — Friend

Unit 3

Numbers one to ten

The old Amazigh count, still used for time and prices.

Yan — One
Sin — Two
Kraḍ — Three
Kkuẓ — Four
Semmus — Five
Mraw — Ten

Unit 4

Food and the market

Souk words: bread, water, and how much.

Aman — Water
Aghrum — Bread
Atay — Tea
Mnshk? — How much?
Ssuq — Market
Riɣ — I want

Unit 5

Getting around

Mountains, roads and asking the way.

Manig? — Where?
Adrar — Mountain
Abrid — Road / path
Ur fhimɣ — I don't understand
Awi-yi — Take me
Zwar — Go ahead / first

How to sound right

Azul is the pan-Amazigh hello, revived from older roots and now used everywhere.
The letter ɣ (gh) is a soft throaty r, like the French r.
There are big regional varieties — Tashelhit, Tarifit, Kabyle, Tamasheq — that share most of this core vocabulary.

The audio button in lessons uses your device's speech engine, which rarely has a native African voice. Treat it as a rough guide and trust the written pronunciation hints and the coach instead.