Northern Berber languages - Definition and Overview

The Northern Berber languages are a dialect continuum across the Maghreb that form a sub-family within the Berber languages. Their continuity is broken by the spread of Arabic, and to a lesser extent by the Zenati subgroup, which, though unmistakeably Northern Berber, shares certain innovations not found in the surrounding languages, notably a softening of k to sh or ch, and an absence of a- in certain words, such as "hand" (afus vs. fus.) They include:

• Moroccan Atlas languages:
  • Tachelhit language (also called Tasusit, Shilha; includes "Judeo-Berber language")
  • Middle Atlas Tamazight language (also called Tachelhit)
  • Senhaja de Srair language (listed erroneously as Zenati by the Ethnologue)
• Zenati languages
  • Ghomara language
  • Tarifit language
  • Figuig dialect
  • dialects of western Algeria:
    • Beni Snous
    • Achacha
    • Ouarsenis
    • Bel Halima
    • Haraoua/Djebel Bissa
    • Chenoua language/Beni Menacer
  • Chaouia language
  • northern Saharan varieties:
    • Tumzabt language (of the Mzab)
    • Ouargli language (at Ouargla)
    • language of Touat and Gourara (called "Taznatit" by the Ethnologue, but that name is in fact used for most of the Zenati languages)
    • language of Touggourt and Temacine
  • Tidikelt language
  • Sened language in Tunisia
  • Djerbi language (including Matmata and Tamezret) in Tunisia
  • Zuara language (controversially classified by the Ethnologue as part of Nafusi, along with the previous)
• Kabyle language (including the Beni Salah of Blida)

The eastern boundaries of the group seem to be controversial; some sources include the Nafusi language and the Ghadames language, while others do not. Most sources agree in regarding Ghadames language as outside of Northern Berber, but the Ethnologue does not.

There is no authoritative answer to the question of which of these to describe as a "language" versus a "dialect"; some academics have seen not only Northern Berber but all the Berber languages as dialects of a single language, while others come up with much higher counts. At any rate, mutual comprehensibility among Northern Berber languages is high, though not perfect.