Judeo-Berber language
| Judeo-Berber | |
|---|---|
| Judeo-Shilha | |
| Region | Israel, France, Canada |
Native speakers | 200 (2023) |
| Hebrew alphabet (generally not written) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | jbe |
| Glottolog | (insufficiently attested or not a distinct language)jude1262 |
Map of Judeo Berber speaking communities in the first half of the 20th century | |
Judeo-Berber is the language and dialects formed in Berber Jewish communities of central and southern Morocco where Berber dialects were common. Judeo-Berber was the primary, if not the only, language used by many in Berber Jewish communities, though others used primarily Judeo-Arabic. The language arose as a result of Arabic-speaking Jews getting in touch with Berber languages. It is also called Judeo-Amazigh, Judeo-Tamazight, and Jewish Amazigh.
Its speakers immigrated to Israel in the 1950s and 1960s. While mutually comprehensible with the Tamazight spoken by most inhabitants of the area (Galand-Pernet et al. 1970:14), these varieties are distinguished by the use of Hebrew loanwords and the pronunciation of ลก as /s/, contrary to Judeo-Moroccan Arabic.