North Africa
Tamazight (Amazigh)
ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ / TamaziɣtThe 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.
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