Tifinagh

Tifinagh (Tuareg Berber language: ⵜⴼⵏⵗ; Neo-Tifinagh: ⵜⵉⴼⵉⵏⴰⵖ; Berber Latin alphabet: Tifinaɣ; Berber pronunciation: [tifinaɣ]) is a script used to write the Berber languages. Tifinagh is descended from the ancient Libyco-Berber alphabet. The traditional Tifinagh, sometimes called Tuareg Tifinagh, is still favored by the Tuareg people of the Sahara desert in southern Algeria, northeastern Mali, northern Niger, and northern Burkina Faso for writing the Tuareg languages. Neo-Tifinagh is an alphabet developed by the Berber Academy by adopting Tuareg Tifinagh for use for Kabyle; it has been since modified for use across North Africa.

Tifinagh is one of three major competing Berber orthographies alongside the Berber Latin alphabet and the Arabic alphabet. Tifinagh is the official script for Tamazight, an official language of Morocco and Algeria. Outside of symbolic cultural uses, Latin remains the dominant script for writing Berber languages throughout North Africa.

The ancient Libyco-Berber script was used by the ancient northern Berbers known as Libyco-Berbers, also known as Numidians, Afri, and Mauretanians, who inhabited the northern parts of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and the Canary Islands.