Libyoue, Guanche et Chamito-Sémitique

Research on the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Dougga, Tunisia, has uncovered significant insights into ancient Libyan scripts through bilingual inscriptions. Among nearly 1,200 known inscriptions—many discovered in recent decades—the two bilingual libyque-puniques from Dougga provide a near-complete reconstruction of the local alphabet and its phonetic values. This script, closely related to modern Tifinagh, is strictly consonantal and often arranged horizontally or vertically with points separating words. The findings suggest that while most inscriptions are brief and crudely carved, the bilingual nature of these texts offers a rare opportunity to decode an otherwise elusive writing system, shedding light on North African linguistic history.

Basset, A. (2017). Libyoue, Guanche et Chamito-Sémitique. La Langue Berbère, 47–54. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315105376-6