Tamazight | |
---|---|
Tamaziɣt ثامازيغث ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ | |
Native to | Algeria |
Region | Algeria |
Ethnicity | Algerian Berbers |
Afro-Asiatic
| |
Latin Alphabet | |
Official status | |
Official language in | ![]() |
Regulated by | Algerian Academy of Amazigh Language |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | – |
Tamazight, or Standard Algerian Berber, [1] is the standardized national variety of Berber (specifically Kabyle) spoken in Algeria. It is under active development since the officialization of Berber in Algeria in 2016. [2]
The standardization is largely based on the works of Mouloud Mammeri (the Dictionnaire and the Précis de grammaire berbère (kabyle), ISBN 9782906659001). [3]
As of 2017, 350,000 pupils were studying Tamazight in 38 wilayas out of 48, [4] representing 4% of all students. [5] Ninety percent of them study Tamazight in Latin characters. [6] [7] In 2018, the government announced that optional classes of Tamazight will be offered in all public primary and secondary schools in the future. [8] [9]
The Berber languages, also known as the Amazigh languages or Tamazight, are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They comprise a group of closely related but mostly mutually unintelligible languages spoken by Berber communities, who are indigenous to North Africa. The languages are primarily spoken and not typically written. Historically, they have been written with the ancient Libyco-Berber script, which now exists in the form of Tifinagh. Today, they may also be written in the Berber Latin alphabet or the Arabic script, with Latin being the most pervasive.
Tifinagh is a script used to write the Berber languages. Tifinagh is descended from the ancient Libyco-Berber alphabet. The traditional Tifinagh, sometimes called Tuareg Tifinagh, is still favored by the Tuareg people of the Sahara desert in southern Algeria, northeastern Mali, northern Niger, and northern Burkina Faso for writing the Tuareg languages. Neo-Tifinagh is an alphabet developed by the Berber Academy by adopting Tuareg Tifinagh for use for Kabyle; it has been since modified for use across North Africa.
Demographic features of the population of Algeria include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects.
Kabylia or Kabylie is a mountainous coastal region in northern Algeria and the homeland of the Kabyle people. It is part of the Tell Atlas mountain range and is located at the edge of the Mediterranean Sea.
Tamazgha is a fictitious entity and neologism in the Berber languages denoting the lands traditionally inhabited by the Berber peoples within the Maghreb. The term was coined in the 1970s by the Berber Academy in France and, since the late 1990s, has gained particular significance among speakers of Berber languages. Although Berberists see Tamazgha as the geographic embodiment of a Berber imaginary of a once unified language and culture that had its own territory, it has never been a single political entity, and Berbers across the Maghreb did not see themselves as a single cultural or linguistic unit, nor was there a greater "Berber community" due to their differing cultures and languages. Despite this, certain Berberists such as members of the Algerian separatist Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia use the term to imagine and describe a hypothetical federation spanning between the Canary Islands and the Siwa Oasis, a large swathe of territory including Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Egypt, the Western Sahara, Burkina Faso and Senegal.
Kabyle or Kabylian is a Berber language (tamazight) spoken by the Kabyle people in the north and northeast of Algeria. It is spoken primarily in Kabylia, east of the capital Algiers and in Algiers itself, but also by various groups near Blida, such as the Beni Salah and Beni Bou Yaqob.
Arabic, particularly the Algerian Arabic dialect, is the most widely spoken language in Algeria, but a number of regional and foreign languages are also spoken. The official languages of Algeria are Arabic and Berber, as specified in its constitution since 1963 for the former and since 2016 for the latter. Berber has been recognized as a "national language" by constitutional amendment since 8 May 2002. In February 2016, a constitutional resolution was passed making Berber an official language alongside Arabic. Arabic is spoken by about 81% of Algerians, while Berber languages are spoken by 27%. French, though it has no official status, is still used in media and education due to Algeria's colonial history. Kabyle, with 3 million speakers, is the most spoken Berber language in the country, is taught and partially co-official in parts of Kabylie.
Berberism is a Berber ethnonationalist movement, that started mainly in Kabylia (Algeria) and Morocco during the French colonial era with the Kabyle myth and was largely driven by colonial capitalism and France's divide and conquer policy. The Berberist movement originally manifested itself as anti-Arab racism, Islamophobia, and Francophilia, that was sanctioned and sponsored by French colonial authorities. The movement later spread to other Berber communities in the Maghreb region of North Africa and was facilitated by colonial policies such as the Berber Dahir. The Berberist movement in Algeria and Morocco is in opposition to cultural Arabization, pan-Arabism and Islamism.
Algerians are the citizens and nationals of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria. The majority of the country's population is composed of Arabs who make up 85% of the population, and there is a Berber minority of 15%. The term also applies more broadly to any people who are of Algerian nationality, sharing a common culture and identity, as well as those who natively speak Algerian Arabic or other languages of Algeria.
The Kabyle people are a Berber ethnic group indigenous to Kabylia in the north of Algeria, spread across the Atlas Mountains, 160 kilometres (100 mi) east of Algiers. They represent the largest Berber population of Algeria and the second largest in North Africa.
Education in Algeria is free and compulsory for Algerians from the ages of 6 to 15. However, only half of Algerian students are enrolled in secondary schools. As of 2015, Algeria has 92 post-secondary institutions, which includes 48 universities.
Mouloud Mammeri was an Algerian writer, anthropologist and linguist.
The Berber Latin alphabet is the version of the Latin alphabet used to write the Berber languages. It was adopted in the 19th century, using varieties of letters.
Public Establishment of Television, abbreviated as EPTV, is a state-owned company that manages the activity of television in Algeria, going from production to broadcasting.
Tamazight of Djerba, Shilha of Djerba, Djerbi or Djerbian is a Berber language of the Eastern Maghreb, spoken on the island of Djerba, in Tunisia. It is a component of what is regularly denominated Tunisian "Shilha" or "Chelha" in the south of the country.
The Haut commissariat à l'amazighité is a government department in Algeria overseeing the Berber (Amazigh) sphere.
The Algerian Academy of the Amazigh Language is the pre-eminent Algerian council for matters pertaining to the Amazigh language. The academy was officially established on December 27, 2017, by the former president of Algeria Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
Fodil Mezali is an Algerian journalist, editor-in-chief and managing editor.
Belkassem Ben Sedira, born in Biskra on November 30, 1844 and died in Sidi M'Hamed on November 30, 1901, was a professor at the Higher School of Letters in Algiers, writer and researcher in Darija, during the French presence in Algeria.
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