Knowra Tifinagh Tifinagh Tifinagh is an alphabet used to write Amazigh languages. Its ancient inscriptions and modern forms share distinctive geometric letter shapes, though their signs and conventions differ.
Amazigh languages : A branch of the Afroasiatic language family spoken by Amazigh communities across North Africa and the Sahara. These languages are the principal languages written in Tifinagh.
Libyco-Berber inscriptions : Ancient and historical inscriptions in North African scripts related to Tifinagh, found on stone and other surfaces. They are the principal evidence for Tifinagh’s ancient script ancestry.
Consonantal alphabet : A writing system that primarily represents consonants, often leaving vowel information to context or supplementary marks. Ancient Libyco-Berber writing is generally analyzed as consonantal.
Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture : Morocco’s institution for promoting Amazigh language and culture, established in 2001. Its work helped develop and promote Morocco’s standardized Tifinagh.
Arabic script : A consonantal writing system used for Arabic and adapted to write many other languages. Arabic script has also been used to write Amazigh languages, with different letter conventions.
Amazigh : An Indigenous people of North Africa who speak Amazigh languages and have diverse regional identities and traditions. Amazigh communities sustain Tifinagh as a living writing tradition.
Numidian language : An extinct language of ancient North Africa, known mainly from short inscriptions and personal names. Some Libyco-Berber inscriptions are associated with Numidian, though their language is incompletely understood.
Amazigh orthography : The conventions used to spell Amazigh languages, including choices of script, letters, and word forms. Orthographic conventions determine how Tifinagh represents sounds across Amazigh varieties.
Moroccan Constitution of 2011 : Morocco’s constitution adopted in 2011, which recognizes Amazigh as an official language alongside Arabic. Official recognition strengthened the case for Tifinagh in public institutions.
Latin script : An alphabetic writing system used for many languages, including several modern Amazigh orthographies. Latin-based Amazigh writing offers a competing modern standard with a different history and reach.
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