Disputatio:Linguae Libycae

Believe it or not, the standard Latin translation for "berber" is Barbarus... but that is of course frought with problems, e.g. Linguae Barbaricae won't cut it. So Libyca is a decent solution. It shoudl probably be mentioned that Numidian was apparently in this family. --Iustinus 17:20 dec 16, 2004 (UTC)

What about some equivalent of "Tamazight", a PC term for them used in recent years? The Latin equivalent of the ethnonym "Amazigh" was "Mazices", so I imagine the language would be "Mazicensis" or "Mazicana"? - Mustafaa 01:20 dec 17, 2004 (UTC)

Interesting (I wonder if the Maxyes (traditionally equated with the Egyptian Mashwash) fit in there somehow.), and not a bad idea. I'm thinking though that I like "Linguae Libycae" better for the name of the language family (especially as Mazices were a specific tribe, at least at one point), and Mazices/Mazaces for Tamazight/Amazigh. That is to say:

• Barbarus should explain the concept of "Barbarian", but have a note explaining the later use, linking to Mazices
• Mazices should have a section about the ancient Mazices, but the bulk of it should be about the modern Amazight/Berbers (as I assume we know much more about them).
• This article should be moved to Linguae Libycae and be about the Berber branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family.

What do you think of that arrangement? In any case, if you disagree witih me, and really want to adapt the ethnonym Mazices to the name of a language, I would go with Mazacana or something similar: it is a pain in the neck when the name of a language is third declension.--Iustinus 03:16 dec 17, 2004 (UTC)

Sounds good to me! Maxyes, by the way, are also generally considered to be an earlier incarnation of the same ethnonym, which originally seems to have meant "noblemen" or "free men", as its cognate still does among the Tuareg. Could be an interesting article... - Mustafaa 17:12 dec 20, 2004 (UTC)