Numidian language
| Numidian | |
|---|---|
| Old Libyan | |
 Numidian stela with Libyc text in the Bardo National Museum | |
| Native to | ancient Numidia |
| Region | Mainly modern day Algeria, parts of Tunisia and parts of west Libya (as result of Numidian expansion but with Libyan Berber languages) |
| Ethnicity | Numidians |
| Era | 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD |
Afro-Asiatic
| |
Early form | |
| Dialects |
|
| Libyco-Berber alphabet (Proto-Tifinagh) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | nxm |
| Glottolog | numi1241 |
Numidian (/n(j)uː.ˈmɪd.i.ən/, n(y)oo-MID-ee-ən) was an Afroasiatic language or dialect spoken in ancient Numidia. The script in which it was written, the Libyco-Berber alphabet (from which Tifinagh descended), has been almost fully deciphered and most characters (apart from a few exceptions restricted to specific areas) have known values. Libyco-Berber inscriptions are attested from the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD. As most surviving inscriptions are funerary steles with a simple format, only a few words have known meanings. The language can be confidently identified only as belonging to the Afroasiatic family, although it was likely part of the Berber languages, a part of a larger Libyco-Berber dialect continuum, precursor to the modern Berber languages, or possibly an extinct sister branch to the modern Berber languages.