Writing System: Siwi is traditionally written in the Tifinagh script, also known as the Berber script, which has adaptations to represent sounds specific to Berber phonology. In more recent times, Siwi is also occasionally written in the Latin script for educational and administrative purposes.
Grammar: Siwi grammar shows influences from Berber languages, featuring agglutinative characteristics with suffixes and prefixes marking grammatical functions such as gender, number, and possession. It typically follows a Verb-Subject-Object (VSO) word order and employs Berber-specific grammatical markers for nouns, adjectives, and verbs.
Phonology: Siwi phonology includes consonants such as /p, t, k, b, d, ɡ, m, n, ŋ, f, v, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, x, h, r, l, j, w/ and vowels /i, e, ə, a, ɛ, ɔ, u/. It features distinctive phonological features such as uvular and pharyngeal consonants and the glottal stop. Siwi also exhibits historical vowel shifts and contrasts between voiced and voiceless consonants.
Lexicon: The Siwi lexicon primarily consists of Berber words with significant borrowings from Arabic, particularly due to cultural and historical interactions in North Africa. It reflects the nomadic and agrarian lifestyle of the Berber-speaking communities in the Siwa Oasis region of Egypt.
Endangered Voices Initiative 