Languages of Mali - Berber

Berber

might be similar in Mali:

In the Sahara:

• Tumzabt language in the Mzab
• Ouargli language at Ouargla
• language of Touat and Gourara (called "Taznatit" by the Ethnologue, but that name is in fact used for most of the Zenati languages)
• language of Touggourt and Temacine
• Tidikelt
• Tamahaq, among the Tuareg of the Hoggar (see Tuareg languages)
• "Tachelhit", the dialect of the western ksours (see also Figuig). Despite the name, this is not the same as Moroccan "Tachelhit". These languages, though the most common, are not found in many parts of the country. An interesting tidbit: in 1566 a man by the name of Francis DuBway was traveling in Mali and heard a very obscure language (the splelling has been lost, but it is likely that this was Tamahaq language), was inspired and wrote a poem. This prose, eventually, after much much revision became what we now call "The Mockeraina"