Arabized Berber is derived from the Berber populations of the pre-Islamic period. Arabized Berber Arabized Berber denotes an inhabitant of the Maghreb region in northwestern Africa, whose native language is a local dialect of Arabic and whose origins are Berber. The expression holds that most populations in North Africa are of Berber heritage, including those inhabiting Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Western Sahara, and Mauritania. The widespread language shift from Berber to Arabic happened, at least partially, due to the privileged status that the Arabic language has generally been given in the states of North Africa, from the Arab conquest in 652 up
Berber languages of a lingua franca which became Proto-Berber. Various orthographies have been used to transcribe the Berber languages. In antiquity, the Libyco-Berber script (Tifinagh) was utilised to write Berber. Early uses of the script have been found on rock art and in various sepulchres. Among these are the 1,500 year old monumental tomb of the Tuareg matriarch Tin Hinan, where vestiges of a Tifinagh inscription have been found on one of its walls. Following the spread of Islam, some Berber scholars also utilised the Arabic script. There are now three writing systems in use for Berber languages: Tifinagh, the Arabic script,