of these assimilations: D/T+T=TS, N+W=BB/PP, I+Y=IG. Gemination affects the quality of certain consonants, turning semivowels and fricatives into stops; in particular, geminated ɣ becomes qq, geminated y becomes gg, and geminated w becomes bb. Fricatives vs. stops Kabyle is mostly composed of fricatives, phonemes which are originally stops in other Berber languages, but in writing there is no difference between fricatives and stops. Below is a list of fricatives vs. stops and when they are pronounced (note that gemination turns fricatives into stops). Writing system The most ancient Berber writings were written in the Libyco-Berber script, mostly from Numidian and Roman times. This script was an abjad, and is not yet completely deciphered today. 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. Such writings have been found in Kabylie (also known as Kabylia) and continue to be discovered by archeologists. The Tifinagh script of the Tuaregs was a direct continuation of this earlier script. 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 rest of the former Roman empire. Kabyle became a mostly spoken language after the Arabic conquest of North Africa, and while many examples of the Kabyle language written in a form of Berber-Arabic script survive, the number of Kabyle texts was relatively much smaller than those written in other Berber languages such as Shilha, Mozabite, and Nafusi. The first French–Kabyle dictionary was compiled by a French ethnologist in the 18th century. It was written in Latin script with an orthography based on that of French. However, the Kabyle language really became a written language again in the beginning of the 19th century. Under French influence, Kabyle intellectuals began to use the Latin script. "Tamacahutt n wuccen" by Brahim Zellal was one of the first Kabyle books written using this alphabet. After the independence of Algeria, some Kabyle activists tried to revive the Libyco-Berber script, which is still in use by the Tuareg. 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. However, a majority of Berber activists (both