| Also Known As: Tamazight,Kabyle
Description:
Kabyle is a Berber language (Kabyle: Ṯaqbayliṯ, Taqbaylit (help·info), pronounced [ˌθæqβæjˈlɪθ]) spoken by the Kabyle people. In 1995, there were 7,123,000 speakers worldwide, the majority in Algeria, where there were more than 4,500,000. However, according to INALCO estimates, there are 5.5 million speakers in Algeria and about 7 million worldwide.
Kabyle was (with some exceptions) rarely written before the 20th century; however, in recent years a small but increasing body of literature has been printed. The originally oral poetry of Si Mohand is particularly notable in this respect.
The classification of Kabyle is Afro-Asiatic, Berber and Northern Berber languages.
Kabyle is a Berber language native to Kabylie, it is present in seven Algerian districts.
The populations of Tizi Ouzou, Béjaïa (Bgayet) and Bouira (Tubiret) are in majority Kabyle-speaking. Kabyle is majority language in Bordj Bou Arreridj, Sétif and a minority language in Boumerdes and Jijel where it coexists with Algerian Arabic.
Kabyle is also spoken as a mother tongue among the Kabyle diaspora in Algerian and European cities (mainly France). It is estimated that half of Kabyles live outside Kabylie.
Berber..... full article at Wikipedia |
