Places & Areas

1. Tizi Wezzu

   Tizi Ouzou (the main city of Kabylie)

   Usage

   Place name, for matching against maps, road signs and destination boards, or for showing to a driver. The best-known city of Kabylie and the capital of the Tizi Ouzou province. Olive oil, figs and grapes are among its agricultural products

   Grammar Note

   Tizi means "pass, passage" (passage) and Wezzu is the rest of the name. "To Tizi Ouzou" is "ɣer Tizi Wezzu".

2. Bgayet

   Béjaïa (port city on the Mediterranean)

   Usage

   Place name, for matching against maps, road signs and destination boards, or for showing to a driver. The capital of Béjaïa province and a port on the Mediterranean, about 220 km from Algiers and 93 km from Tizi Ouzou

3. Lezzayer

   Algiers / Algeria (the name of the capital and of the country)

   Usage

   Place name, for matching against maps, road signs and destination boards, or for showing to a driver. Means both the capital Algiers and the country Algeria. To mean only the capital, say "Lezzayer tamanaɣt" (Algiers, the capital)

   Grammar Note

   The form Dzayer also exists but is rare.

4. Tamurt n Leqbayel

   Kabylie (the mountain region of northern Algeria)

   Usage

   Place name, for matching against maps, road signs and destination boards, or for showing to a driver. The mountain region south of the Mediterranean where Kabyle (Taqbaylit) is spoken, taking in the Djurdjura range and the coastal towns

   Grammar Note

   Locals also say just "Tamurt".

5. Ǧerǧer

   Djurdjura (the mountain range of Kabylie)

   Usage

   Place name, for matching against maps, road signs and destination boards, or for showing to a driver. The mountain range in the middle of Kabylie. Its highest peak, Yemma Xliǧa, is 2,308 m, and it is covered in snow in winter

6. Tikejda

   Tikjda (mountain resort in the Djurdjura)

   Usage

   Place name, for matching against maps, road signs and destination boards, or for showing to a driver. A mountain resort in the Djurdjura.

7. Tigzirt

   Tigzirt (coastal town)

   Usage

   Place name, for matching against maps, road signs and destination boards, or for showing to a driver.

   Grammar Note

   As a common noun tigzirt can also mean "island", so the place name is written with a capital.

8. Aẓeffun

   Azeffoun (coastal town)

   Usage

   Place name, for matching against maps, road signs and destination boards, or for showing to a driver. A coastal town in Tizi Ouzou province. In the French period it was called Port-Gueydon, a name still seen on older maps

9. Delles

   Dellys (coastal town)

   Usage

   Place name, for matching against maps, road signs and destination boards, or for showing to a driver. A Mediterranean coastal town in Boumerdès province, beside the Sebaou river

   Grammar Note

   Road signs use the French spelling Dellys.

10. Aqbu

    Akbou (town in the Soummam valley)

    Usage

    Place name, for matching against maps, road signs and destination boards, or for showing to a driver. A town in Béjaïa province, the second largest in the province, in the upper Soummam valley

    Grammar Note

    Signs use the French spelling Akbou.

11. Buɣni

    Boghni (town in Tizi Ouzou province)

    Usage

    Place name, for matching against maps, road signs and destination boards, or for showing to a driver. A town in Tizi Ouzou province. Signs use the French spelling Boghni

12. Tazmalt

    Tazmalt (town in Béjaïa province)

    Usage

    Place name, for matching against maps, road signs and destination boards, or for showing to a driver. A town in Béjaïa province, about 80 km inland from the provincial capital

13. Tubiret

    Bouira (capital of Bouira province)

    Usage

    Place name, for matching against maps, road signs and destination boards, or for showing to a driver.

14. Wehran

    Oran (large city in western Algeria)

    Usage

    Place name, for matching against maps, road signs and destination boards, or for showing to a driver. It lies outside Kabylie but is a well-known name among Kabyle speakers

    Grammar Note

    The French spelling is Oran.

15. Ilel Agrakal

    The Mediterranean Sea

    Usage

    Place name, for matching against maps, road signs and destination boards, or for showing to a driver. The sea to the north of Kabylie. Coastal towns such as Béjaïa and Tigzirt lie on it

    Grammar Note

    After a preposition it becomes yilel (deg yilel agrakal, "in the Mediterranean"). For just "sea", lebḥer is also used.

16. Asif n Sabaw

    The Sebaou river (the main river of Kabylie)

    Usage

    Place name, for matching against maps, road signs and destination boards, or for showing to a driver. A river that rises in the Djurdjura mountains, runs through Tizi Ouzou province and reaches the Mediterranean

    Grammar Note

    The French/Arabic style spelling is Oued Sebaou.

17. Taddart

    Village (a hill settlement in Kabylie)

    Usage

    Place name, for matching against maps, road signs and destination boards, or for showing to a driver. The word for a "village", as distinct from a town (tamdint). It is common when people talk about where they come from

    Grammar Note

    A town or city is tamdint, so do not mix them up.

18. At Yenni

    At Yenni (a municipality in Tizi Ouzou province)

    Usage

    Place name, for matching against maps, road signs and destination boards, or for showing to a driver. A Kabyle municipality in Tizi Ouzou province. Signs use the French spelling Aït Yenni

    Grammar Note

    At marks "the descendants/clan of" and is common in Kabylie place names (At Yenni = the Yenni clan).

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