Libyc

Libyc is an adjective and, less commonly, a noun used to denote things related to Libya, its people, and its historical linguistic and cultural heritage. In contemporary English, the term is rare and is often replaced by "Libyan." In scholarly contexts it appears primarily in reference to the Libyco-Berber script and to ancient Libyan culture.

Etymology: The term is derived from Latin Libycus, used by classical authors to describe Libyan matters, and it is cognate with the modern adjective Libyan.

Script and language: Libyco-Berber refers to a family of ancient North African scripts used to write Berber languages and related languages; Libyc descriptors appear in descriptions of inscriptions across the Maghreb and coastal Libya dating from the first millennium BCE to the early centuries CE. The Libyco-Berber script is a distant ancestor of the modern Tifinagh scripts used by Amazigh communities.

Usage and status: The use of Libyc in modern scholarship is largely historical; it appears mainly in older philological and archaeological texts. For most purposes scholars use Libyan, Libyco-Berber, or Tifinagh.

See also: Libyan Arabic, Libyco-Berber script, Tifinagh, Berber languages.