Approximately one-third of Algerians are Berber-speakers, clustered mostly near Algiers, in Kabylian and Shawi, but with some communities related to Kabyle in the west (Shenwa languages), east and south of the country.

In addition, Kabyle is mainly spoken in the provinces of Boumerdès, and as well as in Bordj Bou Arréridj, Jijel, and in Algiers where it coexists with Algerian Arabic.

[citation needed] Kabyle Berber is also spoken as a native language among the Algerian Kabyle-descended diaspora in European and North American cities (mainly France).

French ethnologist Camille Lacoste-Dujardin [fr] estimates four million Kabyle speakers in 2001 in Algeria.

[17][18] The French Ministry of Culture estimated there were one million Kabyle speakers in France in 2013.

[19] Linguist Matthias Brenzinger estimates the number of Kabyle speakers in Algeria at between 2.5 and 3 million in 2015.

[21][22] Linguist Asya Pereltsvaig gives 5.6 million Kabyle speakers worldwide in 2020, mostly in Algeria.

A 2013 study found that 54% of Kabyles living in Oran spoke Arabic to their siblings.

Some Algerian newspapers such as La Dépêche de Kabylie [fr] offer a small Kabyle section.

[31][32] In 1994, Kabyle pupils and students boycotted Algerian schools for a year, demanding the officialization of Berber, leading to the symbolic creation of the "Haut commissariat à l'amazighité" (HCA) in 1995.

[31] The Kabyle school boycott also resulted in the first recognition of Amazigh as a national language in November 1996.

[33] In 2005, President Bouteflika, stated that "there is no country in the world with two official languages" and "this will never be the case of Algeria".

[34] Nevertheless, after four decades of pacific struggle, riots, strikes, and social mobilization, including the Berber spring (1980, riots and strikes in the Kabylie region of Tizi Ouzou, Bouira and Bejaïa, as well as Algiers) and the Black Spring in 2001, President Bouteflika and his government recognized Amazigh (Berber) as a "national language" for the second time through a 2002 constitutional amendment.

In February 2016, the Algerian constitution passed a resolution that made Berber an official language alongside Arabic.

The most ancient Berber writings were written in the Libyco-Berber script, mostly from Numidian and Roman times.

[37] Deciphered scripts are mostly funerary, following a simple formula of "X son of Y" (X u Y) which is still used to this day in the Kabyle language.

The Libyco-Berber alphabet disappeared in the region of Kabylia by the sixth century, when Latin became the official and administrative language in North Africa, as in the rest of the former Roman empire.

"Tamacahutt n wuccen" by Brahim Zellal was one of the first Kabyle books written using this alphabet.

Attempts were made to modernize the writing system by modifying the shape of the letters and by adding vowels.

This new version of Tifinagh has been called Neo-Tifinagh and has been adopted as the official script for Berber languages in Morocco.

[citation needed] It uses diacritics and two letters from the extended Latin alphabet: Čč Ḍḍ Ɛɛ Ǧǧ Ɣɣ Ḥḥ Ṣṣ Ṭṭ Ẓẓ.

As in most Berber languages, masculine nouns and adjectives generally start with a vowel (a-, i-, u-), while feminine nouns generally start with t- and end with a -t, e.g. aqcic 'boy' vs. taqcict 'girl'.

[38] Examples: After a preposition (with the exception of "ar" and "s"), all nouns take their annexed state: Verbs are conjugated for three tenses: the preterite (past), intensive aorist (present perfect, present continuous, past continuous) and the future (ad+aorist).

Often a- or t(u)- is prefixed: Pronouns may either occur as standalone words or bound to nouns or verbs.

The Berberized words follow the regular grammar of Kabyle (free and annexed state).

"head of ewe".Yiwen wass, Ǧeḥḥa yefka-yas baba-s frank, akken ad {d-yaɣ aqerruy n tixsi}.

Yeqqim-d uceqlal d ilem, yewwi-yas-t-id i baba-s. Ihi, mi t-iwala yenna-yas: "acu-t wa?"

Jehha said: "a ewe head".-A-Ohccmata,vile,anidawherellanareimeẓẓuɣen-is?ears-its?-A ccmata, anida llan imeẓẓuɣen-is?-Oh vile, where are ears-its?-You vile (boy), where are its ears (the ewe)?-Tella-She.wasdit.istaɛeẓẓugt.deaf.-Tella d taɛeẓẓugt.-She.was it.is deaf.-It was deaf.-Anida-Wherellantarewallen-is?eyes-its?-Anida llant wallen-is?-Where are eyes-its?-Where are its eyes?-Tella-She.wasdit.istaderɣalt.blind.-Tella d taderɣalt.-She.was it.is blind.-It was blind.-Anida-Whereyellaisyiles-is?tongue-its?-Anida yella yiles-is?-Where is tongue-its?-Where is its tongue?-Tella-She.wasdit.istagugamt.dumb.-Tella d tagugamt.-She.was it.is dumb.-It was dumb.-I-Andweglimskinnofuqerruy-is,head-its,anidawhereyella?it.is?-I weglim n uqerruy-is, anida yella?-And skin of head-its, where it.is?-And the skin of its head, where is it?-Tella-She.wasdit.istaferḍast.bald.-Tella d taferḍast.-She.was it.is bald.-It was bald.Note: the predicative particle d was translated as "it.is", the particle of direction d was translated as "here".