An Afro-Asiatic language and a member of the Berber group, spoken by c. 1-2 million people (mostly bilingual in Arabic) throughout North Africa, mainly in Algeria, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso with some further speakers in Libya, Mauritania and Morocco; also spelt Tamasheq, Tamajeq, or Tamajaq.
Ancient Berber had a script of its own around the 6th century BC. It is believed to have sprung off the Punic script and was widely used throughout north Africa until the 3rd century AD. The modern form of that ancient script is known as Tifinagh (or Shifinagh), the script of the Tamashek language. The Roman and Arabic alphabets are also used.
Tamashek is spoken in several sets of dialects, the most prominent ones being Northern and Southern.
| Documentaries | |
| Issalan : cronique touareg : 1ère et 2ème parties | TAMAS DOCU 1(DVD) |
| Mali, la révolte bleue | TAMAS DOCU 2(DVD) |