ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ ⵜⴰⵏⴰⵡⴰⵢⵜ
Standard Moroccan Tamazight
Afro-Asiatic > Berber > Northern Berber (planned standard pooling Tashelhiyt, Central Atlas Tamazight and Tarifit)
Standard Moroccan Tamazight is not anybody's mother tongue but a planned standard, assembled by the Institut Royal de la Culture Amazighe from 2001 onward by pooling Morocco's three large Amazigh varieties — Tashelhiyt, Central Atlas Tamazight and Tarifit. It was made co-official with Arabic by Article 5 of the 2011 constitution, and since 2003 it has been written exclusively in Neo-Tifinagh, an alphabet revived from ancient Libyco-Berber inscriptions and encoded in Unicode. IRCAM's Dictionnaire Général de la Langue Amazighe supplies both the inherited core (aman 'water', tafukt 'sun', tiṭṭ 'eye') and coinages for the modern world, such as amssuds 'computer', built like French ordinateur from a root meaning 'to arrange'. Because the standard resolves competing dialect forms by choice rather than by usage, forms such as amucc 'cat' and keyyi 'you (m.)' can differ from what any given speaker says at home. Implementation in schools, courts and signage has been slow, and most Moroccan Amazigh speakers still read and write their own variety rather than the standard.
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Standard Moroccan Tamazight
Water
ⴰⵎⴰⵏ
/aman/
Fire
ⵜⵉⵎⵙⵙⵉ
/timsːi/
Sun
ⵜⴰⴼⵓⴽⵜ
/tafukt/
Moon
ⴰⵢⵢⵓⵔ
/ajːur/
Star
ⵉⵜⵔⵉ
/itri/
Mother
ⵉⵎⵎⴰ
/imːa/
Father
ⴱⴰⴱⴰ
/baba/
I
ⵏⴽⴽ
/nəkː/
You
ⴽⵢⵢⵉ
/kəjːi/
Name
ⵉⵙⵎ
/isəm/
Eye
ⵜⵉⵟⵟ
/titˤː/
Hand
ⴰⴼⵓⵙ
/afus/
Heart
ⵓⵍ
/ul/
Love
ⵜⴰⵢⵔⵉ
/tajri/
Tree
ⴰⵙⴽⵍⵓ
/asəklu/
House
ⵜⵉⴳⵎⵎⵉ
/tiɡəmːi/
Dog
ⴰⵢⴷⵉ
/ajdi/
Cat
ⴰⵎⵓⵛⵛ
/amutʃː/
Eat
ⵛⵛ
/ətʃː/
Drink
ⵙⵓ
/su/
One
ⵢⴰⵏ
/jan/
Two
ⵙⵉⵏ
/sin/
Hello
ⴰⵣⵓⵍ
/azul/
Thank you
ⵜⴰⵏⵎⵎⵉⵔⵜ
/tanəmːirt/
Good
ⵉⴼⵓⵍⴽⵉ
/ifulki/
Computer
ⴰⵎⵙⵙⵓⴷⵙ
/amsːuds/
Sushi
ⵙⵓⵛⵉ
/suʃi/
Words compared
Compared with related Afro-Asiatic > Berber > Northern Berber (planned standard pooling Tashelhiyt, Central Atlas Tamazight and Tarifit) languages
| Meaning | Standard Moroccan Tamazight | Tashelhit | Central Atlas Tamazight | Kabyle | Shawiya | Tarifit | Tamasheq (Tuareg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | ⴰⵎⴰⵏ /aman/ | ⴰⵎⴰⵏ /aman/ | ⴰⵎⴰⵏ /aman/ | aman /aman/ | aman /aman/ | ⴰⵎⴰⵏ /aman/ | ⴰⵎⴰⵏ /aman/ |
| Fire | ⵜⵉⵎⵙⵙⵉ /timsːi/ | ⵜⵉⵎⵙⵉ /timsi/ | ⵜⵉⵎⵙ /times/ | times /timəs/ | times /times/ | ⵜⵎⵙⵙⵉ /θmesːi/ | ⵜⵎⵙⵉ /təmsi/ |
| Sun | ⵜⴰⴼⵓⴽⵜ /tafukt/ | ⵜⴰⴼⵓⴽⵜ /tafukt/ | ⵜⴰⴼⵓⴽⵜ /tafukt/ | iṭij /itˤiʒ/ | ittij /itːiʒ/ | ⵜⴼⵓⵢⵜ /θfujθ/ | ⵜⴰⴼⵓⴽ /tafuk/ |
| Moon | ⴰⵢⵢⵓⵔ /ajːur/ | ⴰⵢⵢⵓⵔ /ajːuɾ/ | ⴰⵢⵢⵓⵔ /ajːuɾ/ | aggur /aɡːuɾ/ | ayur /ajuɾ/ | ⴰⵢⵢⵓⵔ /ajːuɾ/ | ⴰⵢⵓⵔ /ajor/ |
| Star | ⵉⵜⵔⵉ /itri/ | ⵉⵜⵔⵉ /itri/ | ⵉⵜⵔⵉ /itri/ | itri /itri/ | itri /iθri/ | ⵉⵜⵔⵉ /iθri/ | ⴰⵜⵔⵉ /atri/ |
| Mother | ⵉⵎⵎⴰ /imːa/ | ⵉⵎⵎⴰ /imːa/ | ⵢⵎⵎⴰ /jemːa/ | yemma /jəmːa/ | ima /ima/ | ⵢⵎⵎⴰ /jemːa/ | ⴰⵏⵏⴰ /anːa/ |
| Father | ⴱⴰⴱⴰ /baba/ | ⴱⴰⴱⴰ /baba/ | ⴱⴰⴱⴰ /baba/ | baba /baba/ | baba /baba/ | ⴱⴰⴱⴰ /baba/ | ⴰⴱⴱⴰ /abba/ |
| I | ⵏⴽⴽ /nəkː/ | ⵏⴽⴽⵉ /nəkːi/ | ⵏⴽⴽ /nəkː/ | nekk /nəkː/ | nec /nətʃ/ | ⵏⵜⵛ /nətʃ/ | ⵏⴽⴽ /nækː/ |
| You | ⴽⵢⵢⵉ /kəjːi/ | ⴽⵢⵢⵉ /kəjːi/ | ⵛⴽⴽ /ʃəkː/ | kečč /kətʃː/ | cek /ʃək/ | ⵛⴽ /ʃək/ | ⴽⵢ /kæj/ |
| Name | ⵉⵙⵎ /isəm/ | ⵉⵙⵎ /ism/ | ⵉⵙⵎ /isəm/ | isem /isəm/ | isem /isəm/ | ⵉⵙⵎ /isəm/ | ⴻⵙⵎ /esæm/ |
| Eye | ⵜⵉⵟⵟ /titˤː/ | ⵜⵉⵟⵟ /titˤː/ | ⵜⵉⵟⵟ /titˤː/ | tiṭ /titˤ/ | tiṭ /titˤ/ | ⵜⵉⵟ /θitˤ/ | ⵜⵉⵟⵟ /titˤː/ |
| Hand | ⴰⴼⵓⵙ /afus/ | ⴰⴼⵓⵙ /afus/ | ⴰⴼⵓⵙ /afus/ | afus /afus/ | afus /afus/ | ⴼⵓⵙ /fus/ | ⴰⴼⵓⵙ /afus/ |
| Heart | ⵓⵍ /ul/ | ⵓⵍ /ul/ | ⵓⵍ /ul/ | ul /ul/ | ul /ul/ | ⵓⵍ /ul/ | ⵓⵍ /ul/ |
| Love | ⵜⴰⵢⵔⵉ /tajri/ | ⵜⴰⵢⵔⵉ /tajɾi/ | ⵜⴰⵢⵔⵉ /tajɾi/ | tayri /tajɾi/ | tayri /tajɾi/ | ⵜⴰⵢⵔⵉ /tajɾi/ | ⵜⴰⵔⴰ /tara/ |
| Tree | ⴰⵙⴽⵍⵓ /asəklu/ | ⴰⵙⴽⵍⵓ /aseklu/ | ⴰⵙⴽⵍⵓ /aseklu/ | ttejra /tːəʒɾa/ | aseklu /asekːlu/ | ⴰⵙⵖⴰⵔ /asʁaɾ/ | ⴰⵛⴽ /aʃək/ |
| House | ⵜⵉⴳⵎⵎⵉ /tiɡəmːi/ | ⵜⵉⴳⵎⵎⵉ /tiɡemːi/ | ⵜⵉⴳⵎⵎⵉ /tiɡemːi/ | axxam /aχːam/ | axxam /axːam/ | ⵜⴰⴷⴷⴰⵔⵜ /θadːaɾt/ | ⴻⵀⵏ /ehən/ |
| Dog | ⴰⵢⴷⵉ /ajdi/ | ⴰⵢⴷⵉ /ajdi/ | ⴰⵢⴷⵉ /ajdi/ | aydi /ajdi/ | aydi /ajdi/ | ⴰⵢⴷⵉ /ajdi/ | ⴰⵢⴷⵉ /ajdi/ |
| Cat | ⴰⵎⵓⵛⵛ /amutʃː/ | ⴰⵎⵓⵛ /amuʃ/ | ⴰⵎⵓⵛ /amuʃ/ | amcic /amʃiʃ/ | mucc /mutʃː/ | ⵎⵓⵛⵛ /mutʃː/ | ⴰⵎⵓⵛ /amuʃ/ |
| Eat | ⵛⵛ /ətʃː/ | ⵛⵛ /tʃː/ | ⵛⵛ /etʃː/ | ečč /ətʃː/ | etš /etʃ/ | ⵜⵛ /etʃ/ | ⴽⵛ /əkʃ/ |
| Drink | ⵙⵓ /su/ | ⵙⵙⵓ /sːu/ | ⵙⵡ /səw/ | sew /səw/ | su /su/ | ⵙⵓ /su/ | ⵙⵓ /əsu/ |
| One | ⵢⴰⵏ /jan/ | ⵢⴰⵏ /jan/ | ⵢⴰⵏ /jan/ | yiwen /jiwən/ | ijj /ijː/ | ⵉⵊⵊ /ijː/ | ⵉⵢⵏ /ijən/ |
| Two | ⵙⵉⵏ /sin/ | ⵙⵉⵏ /sin/ | ⵙⵉⵏ /sin/ | sin /sin/ | sen /sən/ | ⵜⵏⴰⵢⵏ /θnajən/ | ⵛⵛⵉⵏ /əʃːin/ |
| Hello | ⴰⵣⵓⵍ /azul/ | ⴰⵣⵓⵍ /azul/ | ⴰⵣⵓⵍ /azul/ | azul /azul/ | azul /azul/ | ⴰⵣⵓⵍ /azul/ | ⵎⴰ ⵜⵍⵍⴰ /ma təlːa/ |
| Thank you | ⵜⴰⵏⵎⵎⵉⵔⵜ /tanəmːirt/ | ⵜⴰⵏⵎⵎⵉⵔⵜ /tanmːiɾt/ | ⵜⴰⵏⵎⵎⵉⵔⵜ /tanmːiɾt/ | tanemmirt /tanəmːiɾt/ | tanmirt /tanmiɾt/ | ⵜⴰⵏⵎⵎⵉⵔⵜ /tanəmːiɾt/ | ⵜⴰⵏⵎⵎⵉⵔⵜ /tanəmːiɾt/ |
| Good | ⵉⴼⵓⵍⴽⵉ /ifulki/ | ⵉⴼⵓⵍⴽⵉ /ifulki/ | ⵉⴼⵓⵍⴽⵉ /ifulki/ | yelha /jəlħa/ | ighwdha /iʁʷða/ | ⵛⵏⵎⵓ /ʃenmu/ | ⵉⵀⵓⵙⵙⵏ /ihosːən/ |
| Computer | ⴰⵎⵙⵙⵓⴷⵙ /amsːuds/ | — | — | aselkim /asəlkim/ | — | — | — |
| Sushi | ⵙⵓⵛⵉ /suʃi/ | — | — | — | — | — | — |
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