Tahaggart also known as Tahaggart tamahaq or Tamachek or Tamashekin or Tourage or Tamachek or Tamashekin or Tourage is a definitely endangered language spoken in Ahaggar Mountains in southern Algeria and Ghat in Libya by the Tamastairt,tuareg people.
It belongs to the Tuaregs group of languages .
Tahaggart language has approximately 150,000 native speakers.
The language has 4 dialects; Tahaggart, Ajjer, Ghat and Hoggar.
The Tahaggart is a subset of the wider Berber-speaking Tuareg population composing of cattle raising nomads. They currently occupy a region that encompasses mostly the North Africa nations of algeria,libya and morrocco.
The Tahaggart origin is still much unknown though trails indicate a series of movements as early as the 7th century.By 14th century they had gotten established in their present areas and even extending to some parts of western Sahara.
The Tahaggart's are mostly identified by their unique unified language (alphabet which employs tifinagh characters), intricate social structures, and class system.
Though similar to Arab customs,the contrast is males are supposed to wear veils(tidjelmoust.) rather than women, with an excemption when they are in their nomadic camps.Over the years they have managed to retain their folk cultural practices though they identify as modern Islam.
Their governance structure is divided into villages(a stack of about 5 to 6 nomadic tents) forming a tribe and is headed by a chief.The tribe then make up 3 major confederations headed by sheik and council of viziers.One paramount chief, known as an amenokal, and a council of nobles oversee these three confederations.