Introduction to the Kabyle language and the alphabet used in the course

1. Basic Tamazight
(Berber)
Introduction and Alphabet
By: Cambck2

2. Berber languages
• The Berber languages are a group of languages and dialects
spoken throughout North Africa.
• In total there are about 25 million speakers of these
languages.
• The type of Berber in
this course is the
Kabyle dialect of
North-Eastern Algeria.

3. Alphabet
• Since Berber has many sounds that English
doesn't, there are many sounds that require
extra letters. Some letters are the same as in
English but have totally different sounds.

4. Alphabet
• “C”
• Pronounced like the sound “sh” as in “ship”
•Č
• Pronounced like “ch” as in “church”
• “E”
• Pronounced always as a short ‘e’ as in “help”
• “G”
• Pronounced as a soft ‘g’ as in ‘game’
• “Ǧ”
• Pronounced like the “J” in ‘Jet’

5. Alphabet
• “Gh”
• Sounds like a french ‘r’
• “I”
• Pronounced like a long ‘e’ as in ‘heat’
• “J”
• Pronounced like a French ‘j’
• “Q”
• Sounds like the sound ‘k’ but from the throat
• “X”
• Pronounced always as a strong ‘h’ from the throat