Tamahaq also known as (''Tahaggart Tamahaq'' or ''Tamahaq Tahaggart'') is the only known Northern Tuareg language, spoken in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

, western

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

and northern

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

. It varies little from the Southern

Tuareg languages Tuareg (), also known as ''Tamasheq'' (), ''Tamajaq'' or ''Tamahaq'' (Tifinagh: ), is a group of closely related Berber languages, Berber Linguistic variety, varieties. They are spoken by the Tuareg people, Tuareg Berbers in large parts of Mali, ...

of the

Aïr Mountains The Aïr Mountains or Aïr Massif (Air Tamajeq language, Tamajăq: ''Ayǝr''; Hausa language, Hausa: Eastern ''Azbin'', Western ''Abzin'') is a triangular massif, located in northern Niger, within the Sahara. Part of the West Sa ...

Azawagh The Azawagh (alias ''Azaouagh'' or ''Azawak'') is a dry basin covering what is today the northwestern Niger, as well as parts of northeastern Mali and southern Algeria. The Azawagh is mainly made up of Sahelian and Saharan flatlands and has ...

and Adagh. The differences mostly consist of sound substitutions, such as ''Tamahaq'' instead of ''Tamajaq'' or ''Tamasheq''. This language is “one of the sister languages spoken by the inhabitants of many districts of the Atlas range of mountains from

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

to the Western shores 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 ...

, and which are all included in the general term Berber.”

Orthography

The Tuareg write from right to left, like other abjads such as Hebrew and Arabic. The alphabet is called “Tifinagh” and contains 25 letters.

Phonology

Vowels

Consonants

Grammar

Nouns

Tamahaq nouns belong to two

noun classes In linguistics, a noun class is a particular category of nouns. A noun may belong to a given class because of the characteristic features of its referent, such as gender, animacy, shape, but such designations are often clearly conventional. Some a ...

, traditionally called ''masculine'' and ''feminine'', each potentially inflecting for two

numbers A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The most basic examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

: singular and plural. General rules of Thumb: * Singular Masculine nouns begin with one of the vowel sounds : a, ă, e, i, u, o. * Plural masculine nouns begin with the sound i. * Feminine singular and plural nouns begin a t. There are a few exceptions to these rules: # Certain masculine names, no matter whether plural or singular, begin with a consonant e.g. ⵢⵜ (ti) – father # Some singular Masculine names begin with ''u'' and this sound follows through in the plural nouns too e.g. ⵓ (ul) - heart # If a masculine singular noun begins with a ''short'' sound, it may be represented as ă, and this rule follows through to the plural: e.g. ⵓ (ălu) ''sing.-'' ⵏⵓⵍ (ălwăn). # Some plural masculine names begin with the sound a: e.g. ⵏⵓⵔ (arăwăn) (new born babies) # Some feminine names (plural or singular) don’t begin with a ''t'': e.g. ⴰⵎⵜⵓ (wălătma) – sister / ⴰⵎ (ma)- mother We can also obtain feminine names by adding a T to the beginning and end of a masculine name (although this is not always the case, there are exceptions).

Varieties

There are three main varieties of Tamahaq:
/ref> *''Tahaggart'', spoken around the

Ahaggar Mountains The Hoggar Mountains (; Berber: ''idurar n Ahaggar'') are a highland region in the central Sahara in southern Algeria, along the Tropic of Cancer. The mountains cover an area of approximately 550,000 km2. The Hoggar Mountains are home to ...

in southern Algeria by the

Kel Ahaggar Kel Ahaggar was a Tuareg confederation inhabiting the Hoggar Mountains in Algeria. The confederation is believed to have been founded by the Tuareg matriarch Tin Hinan, whose monumental tomb is located at Abalessa. The official establishment ...

confederation *''Ajjer'', spoken by the

Kel Ajjer Kel Ajjer (also Kel Azjar, Kel Azjer) is a Tuareg people, Tuareg confederation inhabiting in southwestern Libya and southeastern Algeria. Their main stronghold was Ghat, Libya, Ghat, followed by Ubari, both in the Fezzan, Fezzan region of southweste ...

confederation *''Ghat'', spoken around

Djanet Djanet (; Berber: ⵊⴰⵏⴻⵜ, ''Janet'') is an oasis city, and capital of Djanet District as well as of Djanet Province, southeast Algeria. It is located south of Illizi. According to the 2008 census it has a population of 14,655, up fro ...

in southeast Algeria and

Ghat Ghat (), a term used in the Indian subcontinent, to refer to the series of steps leading down to a body of water or wharf, such as a bathing or cremation place along the banks of a river or pond, the Ghats in Varanasi, Dhobi Ghat or the Aap ...

in Libya. According to Blench (2006), Tahaggart and Ghat are distinct Tuareg languages.

References

* * Tuareg languages Berbers in Algeria Berbers in Libya Berbers in Niger Languages of Algeria Languages of Libya Languages of Niger {{Berber-lang-stub