Tifinagh

Tifinagh (Berber languages: ⵜⴼⵏⵗ; Neo-Tifinagh: ⵜⵉⴼⵉⵏⴰⵖ; Berber Latin alphabet: Tifinaɣ; Berber pronunciation: [tifinaɣ]) is a script used to write the Berber languages (Tamazight). It is descended from the ancient Libyco-Berber alphabet. The traditional Tifinagh, sometimes called Tuareg Tifinagh, is still used 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, developed by the Berber Academy in 1970s, is an alphabet that adapts Tuareg Tifinagh for broader use across North Africa, particularly for Kabyle and other Berber dialects. Tifinagh is one of three major competing Berber orthographies alongside the Latin and the Arabic alphabets. However, outside of symbolic or cultural uses, the Latin script remains dominant for writing Berber languages in North Africa.