Tifinagh

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Tifinagh, in tifinagh ⵜⵉⴼⵉⵏⴰⵖ (pronounced Template:IPA) is an alphabetic script used by the Tuareg, a Berber people of northern Africa, to write their Tuareg languages. An older version of Tifinagh, sometimes named the Libyan (French libyque) or Libyco-berber alphabet, was more widely used by speakers of Berber languages all across North Africa and on the Canary Islands. It is attested from the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD. It is usually assumed to be of Phoenician origin. The word "Tifinagh" is usually explained as "Phoenician". For a discussion, see [1] and [2].

Traditionally, the script marks no vowels, except word-finally; however, various proposals to allow it to mark vowels have been made in recent times. In some areas, Arabic vowel diacritics are combined with Tifinagh characters to mark vowels. The letter forms vary significantly across the wide area where Tifinagh is used. The direction of writing varies; right-to-left is common, but the older "Libyan" inscriptions most commonly use the unusual orientation bottom-to-top. Occasionally the script has been used to write other neighboring languages, such as Tagdal Songhai.

A modern version, sometimes styled "Neo-Tifinagh", was put forward by the Académie Berbère in the 1960's; it is written left to right, marks vowels, and has been modified to better fit Northern Berber phonology. In a modified form, this script has recently (2003) been adopted for pedagogical purposes in Morocco.

Code chart

Tifinagh is encoded in the Unicode range U+2D30—U+2D7F, starting from version 4.1.0. There are 55 defined characters, but there are more characters being used than those defined. In ISO 15924, the code Tfng is assigned to Tifinagh.

Unicode representative glyphs chart (in left-to-right direction)

Code	+0	+1	+2	+3	+4	+5	+6	+7	+8	+9	+A	+B	+C	+D	+E	+F
U+2D30	Image:2D30.png	Image:2D31.png	Image:2D32.png	Image:2D33.png	Image:2D34.png	Image:2D35.png	Image:2D36.png	Image:2D37.png	Image:2D38.png	Image:2D39.png	Image:2D3A.png	Image:2D3B.png	Image:2D3C.png	Image:2D3D.png	Image:2D3E.png	Image:2D3F.png
U+2D40	Image:2D40.png	Image:2D41.png	Image:2D42.png	Image:2D43.png	Image:2D44.png	Image:2D45.png	Image:2D46.png	Image:2D47.png	Image:2D48.png	Image:2D49.png	Image:2D4A.png	Image:2D4B.png	Image:2D4C.png	Image:2D4D.png	Image:2D4E.png	Image:2D4F.png
U+2D50	Image:2D50.png	Image:2D51.png	Image:2D52.png	Image:2D53.png	Image:2D54.png	Image:2D55.png	Image:2D56.png	Image:2D57.png	Image:2D58.png	Image:2D59.png	Image:2D5A.png	Image:2D5B.png	Image:2D5C.png	Image:2D5D.png	Image:2D5E.png	Image:2D5F.png
U+2D60	Image:2D60.png	Image:2D61.png	Image:2D62.png	Image:2D63.png	Image:2D64.png	Image:2D65.png										Image:2D6F.png
U+2D70

Here is a comparison chart for the character glyph and the transliteration.

Color keys

Color	Meaning
	Basic Tifinagh (IRCAM)
	Extended Tifinagh (IRCAM)
	Other Tifinagh letters
	Modern Tuareg letters
	This position shall not be used

Simple letters (and modifier letter)

Code Glyph Unicode Transliteration Name Latin Arabic U+2D30 Image:2D30.png ⴰ a ا ya U+2D31 Image:2D31.png ⴱ b ب yab U+2D32 Image:2D32.png ⴲ bh ٻ yabh U+2D33 Image:2D33.png ⴳ g گ yag U+2D34 Image:2D34.png ⴴ gh ڲ yagh U+2D35 Image:2D35.png ⴵ dj ج Berber Academy yaj U+2D36 Image:2D36.png ⴶ dj ج yaj U+2D37 Image:2D37.png ⴷ d د yad U+2D38 Image:2D38.png ⴸ ḍ ض yadh U+2D39 Image:2D39.png ⴹ ḍ ض yadd U+2D3A Image:2D3A.png ⴺ ḍ ض yaddh U+2D3B Image:2D3B.png ⴻ e ه yey U+2D3C Image:2D3C.png ⴼ f ف yaf U+2D3D Image:2D3D.png ⴽ k ک yak U+2D3E Image:2D3E.png ⴾ k ک Tuareg yak U+2D3F Image:2D3F.png ⴿ kh خ yakhh U+2D40 Image:2D40.png ⵀ h b ھ ب yah = Tuareg yab U+2D41 Image:2D41.png ⵁ h ھ Berber Academy yah U+2D42 Image:2D42.png ⵂ h ھ Tuareg yah U+2D43 Image:2D43.png ⵃ ḥ ح yahh U+2D44 Image:2D44.png ⵄ æ (ɛ) ع yaa U+2D45 Image:2D45.png ⵅ kh خ yakh U+2D46 Image:2D46.png ⵆ kh خ Tuareg yakh U+2D47 Image:2D47.png ⵇ q ق yaq U+2D48 Image:2D48.png ⵈ q ق Tuareg yaq U+2D49 Image:2D49.png ⵉ i ي yi U+2D4A Image:2D4A.png ⵊ j ج yazh U+2D4B Image:2D4B.png ⵋ j ج Ahaggar yazh U+2D4C Image:2D4C.png ⵌ j ج Tuareg yazh

Code Glyph Unicode Transliteration Name Latin Arabic U+2D4D Image:2D4D.png ⵍ l ل yal U+2D4E Image:2D4E.png ⵎ m م yam U+2D4F Image:2D4F.png ⵏ n ن yan U+2D50 Image:2D50.png ⵐ ny ني Tuareg yagn U+2D51 Image:2D51.png ⵑ ng ڭ Tuareg yang U+2D52 Image:2D52.png ⵒ p پ yap U+2D53 Image:2D53.png ⵓ u w و ۉ yu = Tuareg yaw U+2D54 Image:2D54.png ⵔ r ر yar U+2D55 Image:2D55.png ⵕ ṛ ڕ yarr U+2D56 Image:2D56.png ⵖ gh (ɣ) غ yagh U+2D57 Image:2D57.png ⵗ gh (ɣ) غ Tuareg yagh U+2D58 Image:2D58.png ⵘ gh (ɣ) dj غ ج Ayer yagh = Adrar yaj U+2D59 Image:2D59.png ⵙ s س yas U+2D5A Image:2D5A.png ⵚ ṣ ص yass U+2D5B Image:2D5B.png ⵛ sh (ʃ) ش yash U+2D5C Image:2D5C.png ⵜ t ت yat U+2D5D Image:2D5D.png ⵝ ṭ ط yath U+2D5E Image:2D5E.png ⵞ ch (tʃ) تش yach U+2D5F Image:2D5F.png ⵟ ṭ ط yatt U+2D60 Image:2D60.png ⵠ v ۋ yav U+2D61 Image:2D61.png ⵡ w ۉ yaw U+2D62 Image:2D62.png ⵢ y ي yay U+2D63 Image:2D63.png ⵣ z ز yaz U+2D64 Image:2D64.png ⵤ z ز Tawellemet yaz = Harpoon yaz U+2D65 Image:2D65.png ⵥ ẓ دز yazz U+2D6F Image:2D6F.png ⵯ +w ۥ+ Labio-velarization mark = Tamatart = <super> 2D61

Digraph letters (ligatures are possible)

Code Glyph Unicode Transliteration Name Latin Arabic U+2D5C U+2D59 Image:2D5C.pngImage:2D59.png ⵜⵙ ts تس yats U+2D37 U+2D63 Image:2D37.pngImage:2D63.png ⴷⵣ dz دز yadz

Code Glyph Unicode Transliteration Name Latin Arabic U+2D5C U+2D5B Image:2D5C.pngImage:2D5B.png ⵜⵛ ch (tʃ) تش yach U+2D37 U+2D4A Image:2D37.pngImage:2D4A.png ⴷⵊ dj دج yadzh

Bibliography

• Encyclopedia of Islam, s.v. Tifinagh.

External links

• Amanar pictures of Tifinagh fonts used in books, magazines
• http://www.ancientscripts.com/berber.html
• http://amazighworld.net/studies/articles/touareg_histoire.php
• http://ennedi.free.fr/tifin.htm
• http://www.mondeberbere.com/langue/tifinagh/tifinagh_origine.htm
• http://www.omniglot.com/writing/tifinagh.htmar:تيفيناغ

br:Skritur berberek de:Tifinagh-Schrift es:Tifinagh fr:Tifinagh gl:Tifinagh it:Neo-tifinagh nl:Tifinagh wa:Tifinar zh:提非納字母