Berber Latin Alphabet - Tifinagh Berber Alphabet and The Berber Latin Alphabet

Tifinagh Berber Alphabet and The Berber Latin Alphabet

The following table shows the Northern-Berber Latin alphabet with its Neo-Tifinagh and Arabic equivalents:

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 bʷ or b or β like the English "b", and sometimes like the Spanish "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 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 French or German "r"
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 كـ 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 or qʷ 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 وَ w English "w" in water
31 X x ⵅ خ χ Spanish "j", German / Dutch "ch", Arabic "kh"
32 Y y ⵢ يَ j English "y" like in yes
33 Z z ⵣ ز z English "z" in zoo
34 Ẓ ẓ ⵥ (ژ) zˤ emphatic "z"

The Latin letter "O" does occur occasionally in Tuareg-Berber orthography. In Northern-Berber orthography it corresponds to the letter "U".

In the interest of pan-dialectal legibility, the Berber Latin alphabet omits the partly phonemic contrasts found in some Berber language varieties (notably the Kabyle language and Tarifit) between stops and fricatives.

Phonemic labiovelarization of consonants is widespread in Berber varieties, but there are rarely minimal pairs and it is unstable (e.g. ameqqʷran "large", in the Ainsi dialect of Kabyle, is pronounced ameqqran in At Yanni Kabyle-Berber, only a few kilometers away). The INALCO standard uses the diacritic < ° > for labiovelarization only when needed to distinguish words, e.g. ireggel vs. iregg°el.

Labiovelars
North-Berber Latin letter Tifinagh equivalent IPA equivalent
Bʷ bʷ / B° b° ⴱⵯ bʷ
Gʷ gʷ / G° g° ⴳⵯ ɡʷ
Ɣʷ ɣʷ / Ɣ° ɣ° ⵖⵯ ɣʷ
Kʷ kʷ / K° k° ⴽⵯ kʷ
Qʷ qʷ / Q° q° ⵇⵯ qʷ
Xʷ xʷ / X° x° ⵅⵯ xʷ

The letter < ṛ > is used for only when it contrasts with < r > (e.g. ṛwiɣ "I am satisfied" vs. rwiɣ "I am moved"). In all other cases < r > is used, e.g. tarakna "carpet" (pronounced taṛakna). This is because is often an allophone of /r/ in the environment of other emphatics, and it rarely contrasts with /r/ otherwise. Exceptional cases of other emphatics, e.g. "hound", are ignored (i.e. written as uccay).

Read more about this topic:  Berber Latin Alphabet

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