英和和英

語源

Borrowed from Central Atlas Tamazight ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ (tamaziɣt), the feminine form of ⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖ (amaziɣ).

The construction ⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖ (maziɣ) suggests that is an ancient verbal adjective of the Proto-Berber verb *MZƔ "to be noble", attested in Tamazight mmuzeɣ (“to be prestigious”) and Tamajeq mujeɣ (“to be noble, brave”).

This has caused some authors to translate Tamazight as "the noble language". In any case, ⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖ (maziɣ) is an ethnonym for the Amazigh people today, and it has been historically the case for a number of Amazigh groups in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya and under variant forms amongst the Tuareg. Tamazight is, naturally, the name of the language of the Imazighen.