Berber languages Berber languages The Berber languages, also known as Berber or the Amazigh languages (Berber name: , ; Neo-Tifinagh: ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ, Tuareg Tifinagh: ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵗⵜ, ⵝⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵗⵝ, , ), are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They comprise a group of closely related dialects 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. Berber is spoken by large populations of Morocco, Algeria and Libya, by smaller populations of Tunisia, northern Mali, western and northern Niger, northern Burkina Faso and Mauritania and in the Siwa
Berber kings of Roman-era Tunisia from Tripolitania westward. Although within a commercial sphere dominated by Carthage, most Berbers lived in territories outside its direct political control. Comparatively little is known of the most ancient Berber peoples since the few surviving writings from Carthage shed little light on this history, although surviving inscriptions and artifacts do offer some clues and hints. Starting with the Punic Wars, Berbers are, however, mentioned in surviving works of classical Greek and Roman authors and these sources provide some details in the descriptions of Berber events. During the three Punic Wars, Rome directly entered into permanent relations with the Berber people.