Tifinagh in the context of "Libyco-Berber"

The Berber languages, also known as the Amazigh languages or Tamazight, are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They comprise a group of closely related but mostly mutually unintelligible languages spoken by Berber communities, who are indigenous to North Africa. The languages are primarily spoken and not typically written. Historically, they have been written with the ancient Libyco-Berber script, which now exists in the form of Tifinagh. Today, they may also be written in the Berber Latin alphabet or the Arabic script, with Latin being the most pervasive.

The Berber languages have a level of variety similar to the Romance languages, although they are sometimes referred to as a single collective language, often as "Berber", "Tamazight", or "Amazigh". The languages, with a few exceptions, form a dialect continuum. There is a debate as to how to best sub-categorize languages within the Berber branch. Berber languages typically follow verb–subject–object word order. Their phonological inventories are diverse.

Numidian /n(j)uːˈmɪdiən/ was a language spoken in ancient Numidia. The script in which it was written, the Libyco-Berber alphabet (from which Tifinagh descended), has been almost fully deciphered and most characters (apart from a few exceptions restricted to specific areas) have known values. Libyco-Berber inscriptions are attested from the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD. As most surviving inscriptions are funerary steles with a simple format, only a few words have known meanings. The language can be confidently identified only as belonging to the Afroasiatic family, although it was likely part of the Berber languages, spoken at the start of the breakup of the Proto-Berber language, or possibly a sister branch to the modern Berber languages.

Tuareg (English: /ˈtwɑːrɛɡ/), also known as Tamasheq (English: /ˈtæməʃɛk/), Tamajaq or Tamahaq (Tifinagh: ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵌⴰⵆ), is a group of closely related Berber varieties. They are spoken by the Tuareg Berbers in large parts of Mali, Niger, Algeria, Libya, and Burkina Faso, with a few speakers, the Kinnin, in Chad.

Amazigh orthography is the writing system(s) used to transcribe the Amazigh languages.

In antiquity, the Libyco-Berber script was utilized to write Amazigh languages. Early uses of the script have been found on rock art and in various sepulchres. Usage of this script, in the form of Tifinagh, has continued into the present day among the Tuareg people.