North Africa

Egyptian Arabic

also: Masri

The most widely understood Arabic dialect, carried across the region by cinema and music.

Maghrebi Arabic

also: Darija

Spoken across Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. Shaped by Berber, French, and Spanish contact.

Sudanese Arabic

The Arabic of Sudan, retaining a number of older features lost in other dialects and shaped by long contact with Nubian and other African languages.

Hassaniya Arabic

A Bedouin-descended Arabic variety spoken across Mauritania, Western Sahara, and adjacent parts of the Sahel. Carries deep Berber substrate and a strong oral poetic tradition.

Chadian Arabic

also: Shuwa Arabic, Baggara Arabic

Spoken across Chad and adjoining parts of Sudan, north-eastern Nigeria, and northern Cameroon. The main Sahelian Arabic variety, used as a lingua franca well beyond Arab communities.

Maghrebi French

The French of North Africa, used as a second language across Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco. Marked by code-switching with Maghrebi Arabic and Berber.

Tarifit

also: Riffian

The Berber variety of the Rif region in northern Morocco. Heavily distinct from other Tamazight varieties in phonology, including a strong final-vowel reduction.

Tashelhit

also: Shilha, Soussian Berber

The Berber variety of the southern Atlas and Souss valley in Morocco. The most numerous Tamazight variety, with a literary tradition going back centuries.

Kabyle

also: Taqbaylit

The Berber variety of the Kabylie region in northern Algeria. The most documented and standardised Algerian Tamazight, with a strong written literary tradition.

Moroccan Darija

also: Darija, Moroccan Arabic

The Maghrebi Arabic of Morocco, with heavy Berber substrate and substantial French and Spanish loanwords. Distinct enough from Mashreqi Arabic to function as a separate everyday language.

Algerian Arabic

also: Dziri, Darja

The Maghrebi Arabic of Algeria. Internally varied between urban Tellian, Saharan, and Hilalian rural varieties; carries deep Berber substrate and French contact lexicon.

Tunisian Arabic

also: Tounsi, Derja

The Maghrebi Arabic of Tunisia. Notable for vowel reductions, a rich set of French and Italian loanwords, and a literary written tradition unusual among colloquial Arabic varieties.

Libyan Arabic

also: Sulaimitian Arabic

The Maghrebi Arabic of Libya, transitional between western Maghrebi and Egyptian. Tripolitanian and Cyrenaican varieties differ noticeably in vocabulary and phonology.

Saidi Arabic

also: Upper Egyptian Arabic

The Arabic of Upper Egypt, from Beni Suef south to Aswan. Conservative relative to Cairene Egyptian Arabic, with retained interdentals and a distinct rural prestige.

Central Atlas Tamazight

also: Tamazight, Beraber

The Berber variety of the Middle Atlas mountains in central Morocco. Roughly 2.5 million speakers; the basis of much of the standardised Moroccan Tamazight taught in schools.

Siwi

also: Siwa Berber

The easternmost surviving Berber language, spoken in the Siwa Oasis of western Egypt. Heavily restructured by Arabic contact; the only Tamazight variety inside Egypt.

Nafusi

also: Nafusi Berber, Jebel Nafusa

The Berber variety of the Nafusa mountains in north-western Libya. Around 200,000 speakers; one of the few surviving Berber languages inside Libya.

Nobiin

also: Mahas-Fadicca

A Nile Nubian language spoken along the Nile from southern Egypt into northern Sudan. Heir to Old Nubian, the medieval Christian-era written language of the Nubian kingdoms.

Egyptian & Sudanese Domari

also: Ghagar, Halebi

Dom communities across Egypt and Sudan, sometimes grouped under broader regional labels. Linguistic documentation remains limited.