Language/Standard-moroccan-tamazight/Pronunciation/Alphabet-and-Pronunciation

Berber (Standard Moroccan Tamazight) Alphabet, IPA Pronuncation, Video, Virtual Keyboard...

Hello Polyglots,

The Berber languages (also known as the Amazigh languages, Tamaziɣt, Tamazight, Thamazight; Neo-Tifinagh: ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ, Tuareg Tifinagh: ⵜⵎⵣⵗⵜ), are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family.

They comprise a group of closely related languages spoken by the Berbers, who are indigenous to North Africa. The languages were traditionally written with the ancient Libyco-Berber script, which now exists in the form of Tifinagh.

In today's lesson, you will learn how to write the different letters of the Berber alphabet, how to pronounce these letters whether it is through the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), or through a video with the pronunciation of the letters by a native speaker.

You will also find at the end of this lesson a virtual keyboard to be able to type each special character of this language.

Berber Alphabet and IPA Pronunciation

Berber-Latin		IRCAM's Tifinagh equivalent	Arabic equivalent	IPA equivalent	Similar English sound
1	A a	ⴰ	أ / ا / َ	æ	"a" like in the English word bad
2	B b	ⴱ	ب	β	like the Spanish intervocalic "b" or "v"
3	C c	ⵛ	ش	ʃ	the English "sh" in ship
4	Č č (tc)	ⵞ	تش	t͡ʃ	the English "ch" in China
5	D d	ⴷ	د / ذ	d or ð	English "d", and English "th" in this
6	Ḍ ḍ	ⴹ	ض	ðˤ	emphatic "d"
7	E e	ⴻ	none	ə	"a" in (unstressed) attack
8	Ɛ ɛ ( â)	ⵄ	ع	ʕ	like Arabic ع `ayn (no English equivalent)
9	F f	ⴼ	ف	f	like the English "f"
10	G g	ⴳ	(گ)	ɡ	"g" like in the words gate or Greek
11	Ǧ ǧ (dj)	ⴵ	(دج)	d͡ʒ	English "j" like in the words joke and James
12	Ɣ ɣ (gh)	ⵖ	غ	ɣ	like "g" in Spanish haga or Southern Dutch gaan
13	H h	ⵀ	هـ	h	"h" like in hello or high
14	Ḥ ḥ	ⵃ	ح	ħ	like in Arabic Muḥammad (no English equivalent)
15	I i	ⵉ	ي / ِ	i	English ee like in sheet
16	J j	ⵊ	ج	ʒ	like in confusion or television, French "j" in déjà vu.
17	K k	ⴽ	(ک)	k	English "k"
18	L l	ⵍ	ل	l or ɫ	non-emphatic "L" (like in German or French)
19	M m	ⵎ	م	m	m
20	N n	ⵏ	ن	n	n
21	Q q	ⵇ	ق	q, qʷ or ɢ	like Arabic ق "qaf" (no English equivalent)
22	R r	ⵔ	ر	r, rˤ	like a Spanish or Italian "r"
23	Ř ř	ⵔ / ⵍ	ر	r ~ l	A very light "R", pronounced like something between "R" and "L".
24	Ṛ ṛ	ⵕ	ر	rˤ	emphatic "r"
25	S s	ⵙ	س	s	s
26	Ṣ ṣ	ⵚ	ص	sˤ	emphatic "s"
27	T t	ⵜ	ت / ث	t or θ	English "t", and/or English "th" in three
28	Ṭ ṭ	ⵟ	ط	tˤ	emphatic "t"
29	U u	ⵓ	و / ُ	ʊ	English "u" like in put
30	W w	ⵡ	وْ	w	English "w" in water
31	X x	ⵅ	خ	χ	Spanish "j", German / Dutch "ch", Arabic "kh"
32	Y y	ⵢ	يْ	j	English "y" like in yes
33	Z z	ⵣ	ز	z	English "z" in zoo
34	Ẓ ẓ	ⵥ	(ژ)	zˤ	emphatic "z"

Berber Online Virtual Keyboard