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The Atlas languages are a subgroup of the Northern Berber languages of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken in the 
Atlas Mountains
The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in the Maghreb in North Africa. They separate the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; the name "Atlantic" is derived from the mountain range, which stretches around through M ...
of Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
. By mutual intelligibility
In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between different but related language varieties in which speakers of the different varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. Mutual intelli ...
, they are a single language spoken by perhaps 14 million people; however, they are distinct sociolinguistic
Sociolinguistics is the descriptive, scientific study of how language is shaped by, and used differently within, any given society. The field largely looks at how a language changes between distinct social groups, as well as how it varies unde ...
ally and are considered separate languages by the Royal institute of the Amazigh culture. They are:
* Central Atlas Tamazight
Central Atlas Tamazight or Atlasic (native name: ''Tamazight'' ; ) is a Berber languageCentral Atlas Tamazight may be referred to as either a Berber language or a Berber dialect. As Berber languages have some degree of mutual intelligibility, ...
(Central Atlas Berber), spoken in the central Atlas Mountains
* Shilha (''Tashelhiyt''; also rendered ''Tachelhit, Tasusit''; includes Judeo-Berber and perhaps the extinct Lisan al-Gharbi
Lisan al-Gharbi (, "Western dialect") is the name given to an extinct dialect of Berber that was spoken over much of the Atlantic plains of Morocco.B. FrankelHistory in Dispute: The Middle East since 1945. First series(St. James Press, 2003), p. ...
), spoken in southern Morocco
* Sanhaja de Srair, spoken in the southern part of the Rif
The Rif (, ), also called Rif Mountains, is a geographic region in northern Morocco. It is bordered on the north by the Mediterranean Sea and Spain and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, and is the homeland of the Rifians and the Jebala people ...
* Ghomara, spoken in the western part of the Rif
The Rif (, ), also called Rif Mountains, is a geographic region in northern Morocco. It is bordered on the north by the Mediterranean Sea and Spain and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, and is the homeland of the Rifians and the Jebala people ...
* Lisan al-Gharbi
Lisan al-Gharbi (, "Western dialect") is the name given to an extinct dialect of Berber that was spoken over much of the Atlantic plains of Morocco.B. FrankelHistory in Dispute: The Middle East since 1945. First series(St. James Press, 2003), p. ...
, formerly spoken in western Morocco.
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