Tawellemmet (''Tawəlləmmət'') is the largest of the
Tuareg languages in the
Berber branch of the
Afroasiatic family
The Afroasiatic languages (or Afro-Asiatic), also known as Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic, and sometimes also as Afrasian, Erythraean or Lisramic, are a language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in the geographic su ...
. It is usually one of two languages classed within a language called ''Tamajaq'', the other language being
Aïr Tamajeq. Tawellemmet is the language of the
Iwellemmeden Tuareg. It is spoken in
Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...
,
Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languages[Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...](_blank)
by approximately 801,000 people.
Phonology
Vowels
* Vowels may also be lengthened as /iː, eː, aː, oː, uː/.
* /i, a, u/ in lax form can be heard as
, æ, ʊ
Consonants
* Consonants may also occur as geminated.
See also
*
Languages of Africa
References
Berber languages
Berbers in Mali
Berbers in Niger
Berbers in Nigeria
Tuareg languages
{{Berber-lang-stub