Kabyle language

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Kabyle
audio speaker iconTaqbaylit 
Native toAlgeria; immigrant communities in France, Belgium, Canada and elsewhere
RegionKabylie (Provinces of Algiers, Béjaïa, BBA, Bouira, Boumerdes, Sétif, Tizi Ouzou, and parts of Jijel)
EthnicityKabyle people
Native speakers
5 to 7 millions worldwide.
Berber Latin alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-2kab
ISO 639-3kab
Kabyle-speaking areas
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Kabyle is a Berber language (Kabyle: Ṯāqbāylīṯ, taqbaylit, pronounced /ˌθaq.βajˈliθ/) spoken by the Kabyle people. There are 3,123,000 speakers worldwide, the majority in Algeria, where there are more 2,000,000 speakers.

Kabyle was (with some exceptions) rarely written before the 20th century; however, in recent years a small but increasing body of literature has been printed. The originally oral poetry of Si Mohand and Ait Menguellet are particularly notable in this respect.