Languages of Algeria

Last updated

Languages of Algeria
Official Arabic
Tamazight
Regional Hassaniya Arabic (unrecognized)
Korandje (unrecognized) [1]
Vernacular Varieties of Arabic (72%)

Berber languages (27.4%)

Immigrant Turkish
Foreign French 70%
English 8%
Signed Algerian Sign Language
Keyboard layout
Trilingual signs at the Mouloud Mammeri University of Tizi-Ouzou Tizi Ouzou Tasdawit.jpg
Trilingual signs at the Mouloud Mammeri University of Tizi-Ouzou

The official languages of Algeria are Arabic and Tamazight (Berber), [2] as specified in its constitution since 1963 for the former and since 2016 for the latter. [3] [4] 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. Algerian Arabic and Berber are the native languages of over 99% of Algerians, with Algerian Arabic spoken by about 90% and Berber by 10%. [5] French, though it has no official status, is still used in media (some newspapers) and education due to Algeria's colonial history. Kabyle, the most spoken Berber language in the country, is taught and partially co-official (with a few restrictions) in parts of Kabylie.

Contents

Malika Rebai Maamri, author of "The Syndrome of the French Language in Algeria," said "The language spoken at home and in the street remains a mixture of Algerian dialect and French words." [6] Due to the number of languages and complexity involving those languages, Maamri argued that "[t]oday the linguistic situation in Algeria is dominated by multiple discourses and positions." [6]

Currently spoken languages

Arabic

According to Canadian ethnolinguist Jacques Leclerc  [ de ] (*1943), 72% of Algerians in 2008 spoke Arabic: 60% spoke Algerian Arabic (83% of Arabic speakers); 11.3% of Arabic speakers spoke Hassaniyya; 0.4% spoke Moroccan Arabic; 0.1% spoke Saharan Arabic; a smaller number spoke Egyptian Arabic or Iraqi Arabic. [5] Non-native speakers learn Literary Arabic at school, and as such a relative majority of the population understands Standard Arabic or the Algerian Arabic dialect. Algerian Arabic (or derja) is spoken by 60% of the total population (83% of Arab speakers). [5]

The 1963 constitution of Algeria made Arabic the official language, and this was retained in the 1976 constitution. The 1976 constitution states in Article 3 "Arabic is the national and official language". Neither constitution mentions Berber. The Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for British Official Use (PCGN) stated "Arabic was chosen at the outset as the language which was to represent Algeria’s identity and religion, and official attitudes towards both Berber and French have been largely negative." [7] The PCGN stated that French, not Arabic, is the actual lingua franca of Algeria. [7] Arabic is not commonly used in the Kabylie region. [7]

In Algeria, as elsewhere, spoken Arabic differs very substantially from written Arabic; Algerian Arabic has a much-simplified vowel system, a substantially changed vocabulary and does not have the case endings of the written Arabic. Algerian Arabic does not necessarily stem from written Arabic. Within Algerian Arabic itself, there are significant local variations; Jijel Arabic, in particular, is noteworthy for its pronunciation of qaf as kaf and its profusion of Berber loanwords, and the dialects of some ports show influence from Andalusi Arabic brought by refugees from al-Andalus. Algerian Arabic is part of the Maghrebi Arabic dialect continuum, and fades into Moroccan Arabic and Tunisian Arabic along the respective borders.

In the Sahara, more conservative Bedouin dialects, grouped under the name Saharan Arabic, are spoken; in addition, the many Sahrawi refugees at Tindouf speak Hassaniya Arabic. Most Jews of Algeria once spoke dialects of Arabic specific to their community, collectively termed Judeo-Arabic.

After Algeria became independent in 1962, it tried to improve fluency by importing Arabic teachers from Egypt and Syria. Martin Regg Cohn of the Toronto Star said that many of the instructors were unqualified. [8] In 1963, of the 1,300,000 literate people in Algeria, an estimate of 300,000 read literary Arabic. Mohamed Benrabah, author of "Language maintenance and spread: French in Algeria," said that during that year, "linguistic competence in Standard Arabic was relatively low." [9] Malika Rebai Maamri, author of "The Syndrome of the French Language in Algeria," said that as of 2009, "classical Arabic is still not mastered even at higher educational levels" and that "dialectical Arabic cannot express things in writing." [6]

As of 2012, remaining generations educated under the French colonial system are unable to read or write Arabic. [10]

Berber

Berber-speaking areas in Algeria Algeria Berber-speaking areas.png
Berber-speaking areas in Algeria
Berber speakers in percentage in 1840 Berber speakers in percentage in 1840.png
Berber speakers in percentage in 1840

The Berber languages are considered the native language of Algeria since antiquity. They are spoken in five major dialects in many parts of the territory, but mainly in Kabylia, in the Awras, and in the Algerian Sahara desert (by Algerian Tuaregs).

Before, during and after Phoenician settlers' arrival, Berber remained spoken throughout ancient Algeria (Numidia), as later attested by early Tifinagh (or Libyco-Berber) inscriptions, and as understood from Latin and Greek historical sources. Despite the presence or growth of Latin, and later Arabic, in some urban areas, Berber remained the majority language of Algeria since ancient times until well after the French invasion in 1830.

Arabic remained Algeria's only official language until 2002, when Berber was recognized as a second national language. [11] And in 2016 Berber was recognized as a second official language of Algeria.

The 1963 constitution and the 1976 constitution do not mention Berber and French. The Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for British Official Use (PCGN) stated "official attitudes towards both Berber and French have been largely negative" and "The Algerian authorities have even at times rejected use of the very word “Berber”, either on the secular grounds that the term undermines national unity, or on the religious grounds that it is a term hostile to Identity and prefer to call it Tamazight another name for Berber." [7] Berber and French are the two languages commonly used in the Kabylie region. [7]

The Berber languages/dialects spoken in Algeria include:

In the north

  • Kabyle, about 5 million speakers mostly in Kabylie and surrounding regions, due to Kabyle migration outside of the Kabyle region in Algeria and Europe, some estimates are as high as 8 million. [12]
  • Shawiya (also called Tachawit, Chawi) in the Aurès, maybe 2 million speakers. [13]
  • Shenwa, in the Dahra region, particularly of Jebel Chenoua in Algeria, just west of Algiers near Tipaza province and Cherchell and the Chlef., estimated 56,300 speakers. Two main dialects: Beni Menacer, west and south of Mount Chenoua area, in the Mount Chenoua area, 55,250 speakers. [14]
  • The Tamazight of Blida, traditionally spoken in the wilaya of Blida.
  • The Matmata dialect, spoken in some villages of the Ouarsenis region.

In the extreme northwest

In the Sahara

French

Bilingual French-Arabic sign in Algiers. Tram alger travaux 3.jpg
Bilingual French-Arabic sign in Algiers.

The CIA World Factbook states that French is a lingua franca of Algeria. [17] The Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for British Official Use (PCGN) states "In reality, French is the lingua franca of Algeria", [7] and that despite government efforts to remove French, it has never ceased being the lingua franca. [18] Algeria is the second largest Francophone country in the world in terms of speakers. [19] In 2008, 11.2 million Algerians (33%) could read and write in French. [20]

The 1963 and 1976 constitutions do not mention Berber and French. The PCGN stated "official attitudes towards both Berber and French have been largely negative". [7] French and Berber are the two languages commonly used in the Kabylie region. [7]

French is a part of the standard school curriculum, and is widely understood (18 million Algerians can write and read French, which is 50% of the population, and the figure is higher if those who can only speak and understand it are included; Ethnologue estimates indicate that 10 200 people in Algeria speak it as their native language, mostly pied-noirs who stayed behind and people raised in French-speaking households.) Some two-thirds of Algerians have a "fairly broad" grasp of French, and half speak it as a second language. [5] French is widely used in media and commerce. French is widely used and spoken in everyday life in Algeria's larger cities, in diglossic combination with Algerian Arabic.[ citation needed ] Malika Rebai Mammri, author of "The Syndrome of the French Language in Algeria," said "French continues to be the dominant language in business and professional circles" and that "certain aspects of formal education and research are still carried in the French language and a great part of the economic and industrial sectors and press still use French extensively." [6]

French is the most widely studied foreign language in the country, and a majority of Algerians can understand it and speak it. Since independence, the government has pursued a policy of linguistic Arabization of education and bureaucracy, which has resulted in limiting the use of Berber and the Arabization of many Berber-speakers. The strong position of French in Algeria was little affected by the Arabization policy. All scientific and business university courses are still taught in French. Recently, schools have begun to incorporate French into the curriculum as early as children are taught written classical Arabic. French is also used in media and business. After a political debate in Algeria in the late 1990s about whether to replace French with English in the educational system, the government decided to retain French. English is taught in the first year of middle schools.[ citation needed ]

In spite of its widespread use of French, Algeria has not joined the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie , an international organization of French-speaking countries. [8] Although not a member, they attend for it.

In 2014, 76% of Facebook users in Algeria posted in French, while 32% posted in Arabic. In 2016 68% used Facebook in French, while 43% used it in Arabic.

English

According to the Algerian envoy to India, only five percent of the population are able to speak "good English"[ clarification needed ]. That led the Government to invite Indians to teach the language in Algerian universities in 2012. [21] Some 100 institutes affiliated to 13 Algerian universities needed nearly 250 English teachers in early 2012. [21]

Korandje

The Korandje language of the Saharan oasis of Tabelbala is a heavily Berber-influenced variety of Songhay. A Nilo-Saharan language, it is more widely spoken far to the south in Niger.

Sign languages

Algerian Sign Language is used in Algeria by the deaf; it has sometimes been used on national TV.

Formerly spoken languages

Phoenician

Phoenician, particularly in its North African Punic form, was brought to Algeria by Carthage's influence, it was an influential language in the region; Augustine learned it, and quotes occasional phrases. However, by his time the language was losing ground to Latin, and no trace of it survives now (apart from occasional names of places).

Latin

Latin (which later developed into the brief-existent, little-known African Romance language) was the language of the Roman occupation; it became widely spoken in the coastal towns, and Augustine attests that in his day it was gaining ground over Punic.[ citation needed ] However, it continued to flourish until the 11th century especially in towns and in Tunisia. It died out in the 14th century.

Ottoman Turkish

Ottoman rule after the 16th century brought a dominant minority of Turks to Algeria, particularly concentrated in the large cities; for a while, Ottoman Turkish became a major governmental language. However, over time these Turks gradually assimilated, and, while many families of partial Turkish descent remain in Algeria, none speak the language.

Other

Languages used in the Algerian government

Mohamed Benrabah, author of "Language maintenance and spread: French in Algeria," said that as of 2007, "Arabization is either complete or almost complete" in the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Religious Affairs and registry offices in Algerian town halls. [22] He also said that the Ministry of Education had been affected to a "lesser extent." [22] Official documents of ministries which had not been affected partially or fully to Arabization are often written in French, and Arabic translations of these documents are provided when needed. [22] Benrabah said that as of 2007 "the use of French in a number of higher domains has diminished since the colonial era when the language held an unassailable position in the media, education, government, and administration." [23]

In 1968 the Algerian government decreed that all civil positions use the Arabic language. In 1990 the government ruled that Arabic is the only language to be used in institutions and public service, and imprisonment was a penalty for violating this law. [24] Around 1997 the Algerian government had passed laws prohibiting officials from speaking any language other than Arabic publicly. The government laws called for a fine for officials who prepared government documents not in Arabic. The government mandated that all textbooks and lectures must be Arabic, with French ones being phased out. The laws also stated that all television broadcasts must be in Arabic only. [8] In 1997, Slimane Chikh, the Minister of Education, said that French needed to be phased out because it was preventing Arabic from reaching prominence and because it was leading Algerians away from English, the primary international language of commerce, computers, and science. [8]

Of the documents submitted by the Algerian government to the sessions of the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names and the United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names, all were in French, and the government used French in its participation in almost all of the conferences associated with these groups. [18]

Languages used in Algerian education

As of 2007, Arabization has mainly affected primary and secondary education, while in university education French retained a higher social prestige and class and is the language used in scientific studies. [22] As of 2002, French was taught as a foreign language from the fourth year of primary school until the final year of secondary school. French is used in the high school level in the exact sciences, the medical sciences, and technology studies. Some specialized fields offer courses in French and courses in Arabic. Almost all students prefer the French courses in those fields. Over 60% of university students in Algeria are educated in French. In graduate programmes in social sciences, French is used. [25]

History of languages in Algerian education

The first President of Algeria, Ahmed ben Bella, introduced Arabization in the education system in 1962. The Arabic language was introduced in all levels and all programmes in the 1963–1964 period. As time passed, the time in the educational system spent on French gradually declined. [26] In 1964–1965 primary grade one was fully Arabized with all other levels each receiving ten hours of Arabic per period. [27] The plans were complicated by the flight of 25,000 European teachers from Algeria and the illiteracy rate of 90%. The demographics also complicated the plans. Of 10 million Algerians, about 300,000 were fluent in Modern Standard Arabic while 1 million were able to read French and 6 million were able to speak French. To remedy this, the Algerian government hired 10,988 academic monitors. C. F. Gallagher, author of "North African problems and prospects: Language and identity", said that the monitors' "intellectual horizons [were] at times only slightly less limited than their pupils". [28] In 1963 the government recruited 1,000 Egyptians as Arabic teachers. Mohamed Benrabah, author of "Language-in-Education Planning in Algeria: Historical Development and Current Issues", said "Most of these teachers turned out to be unqualified for teaching and totally ignorant of the Algerian social reality" and that "Their spoken Egyptian Arabic was incomprehensible to Algerians in general and Tamazight-speaking populations in particular and their traditional pedagogy (learning by rote and class recitation, physical punishment and so on) proved inadequate". [28] In addition the teachers were members of the Muslim Brotherhood and introduced Islamist thought in Algeria. [28] In September 1967 Minister of Education Ahmed Taleb Ibrahimi completely Arabized primary level two, so many parents delayed registration of their children in school until grade three when they could have a higher educational quality and where the French language was still dominant. [29]

The Algerian government had plans to totally Arabize the university sector effective December 1980. In all levels of education, bilingual education ended in 1985. [30] In that period many Algerian elites practiced "elite closure" by sending their own children to schools controlled by the French government while promoting Arabization for the masses, so their own children would learn French and have access to jobs open to those with French knowledge. [31] Since most young Algerians had a poor command of French and were in Arabized school streams, they enrolled in Arabic-language university departments such as Islamic law and Arabic literature and were exposed to Islamist points of view. [32] Algiers had many unofficially bilingual primary and secondary schools and Benrabah said that the elite closure practice was "most visible in Algiers". [31] The Algerian government, in 1988, officially prohibited Algerian nationals and children of mixed Algerian and French people from attending "French Mission of Algeria" schools. [24] President Chadli Bendjedid ruled that Algerian nationals were not permitted to attend all-French schools. [30] The Algiers French lycée moved from one neighbourhood to another. The Lycée Cheikh Bouamama (Arabic : ثانوية الشيخ بوعمامة), originally called the Lycée Descartes, [33] took in students from the tchitchi (children of wealthy) backgrounds instead of bohi ("rejects"). [24] When it was nationalized it served members of the educational, military, and political elites. [31] After Chadli's decree, the school had a secret program which placed higher emphasis on French than other Algerian secondary schools did. Many students in the programme attended universities abroad after graduation. [24]

In 1999 the Algerian authorities conducted a survey which stated that 75% of the population supported teaching scientific school subjects in the French language. [34] In the middle of March 2001 the National Commission for the Reform of the Educational System (CNRSE according to its French name) proposed that French would be reintroduced in grade two of the primary cycle, serving 6–7 year olds, instead of grade four, serving 8–9 year olds, and that scientific subjects in secondary school should be taught in French. Therefore, students would be biliterate in French and Arabic instead of having French as a subject. In 2002 the opponents to the bilingual educational proposal declared a fatwa against the pro-bilingual supporters. The reforms were intended to be implemented in September 2001 but the Ministry of the Interior suspended them on 3 September 2001. [35]

By 2008 the Algerian government began reintroducing French in the school system. [36]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Algeria</span> Demographics of a country

Demographic features of the population of Algeria include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kabylia</span> Region of northern Algeria inhabited by Kabyle people

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.

Maghrebi Arabic is a vernacular Arabic dialect continuum spoken in the Maghreb. It includes the Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian, Libyan, Hassaniya and Saharan Arabic dialects. It is known as ad-Dārija. This serves to differentiate the spoken vernacular from Literary Arabic. Maghrebi Arabic has a predominantly Semitic and Arabic vocabulary, although it contains a few Berber loanwords which represent 2–3% of the vocabulary of Libyan Arabic, 8–9% of Algerian and Tunisian Arabic, and 10–15% of Moroccan Arabic. Maghrebi Arabic was formerly spoken in Al-Andalus and Sicily until the 17th and 13th centuries, respectively, in the extinct forms of Andalusi Arabic and Siculo-Arabic. The Maltese language is believed to have its source in a language spoken in Muslim Sicily that ultimately originates from Tunisia, as it contains some typical Maghrebi Arabic areal characteristics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judeo-Berber language</span> Group of Berber-language varieties

Judeo-Berber or Judeo-Amazigh is any of several hybrid Berber varieties traditionally spoken as a second language in Berber Jewish communities of central and southern Morocco, and perhaps earlier in Algeria. Judeo-Berber is a contact language; the first language of speakers was Judeo-Arabic. Speakers immigrated to Israel in the 1950s and 1960s. While mutually comprehensible with the Tamazight spoken by most inhabitants of the area, these varieties are distinguished by the use of Hebrew loanwords and the pronunciation of š as s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arabization</span> Process of growing Arab influence on non-Arab populations

Arabization or Arabicization is a sociological process of cultural change in which a non-Arab society becomes Arab, meaning it either directly adopts or becomes strongly influenced by the Arabic language, culture, literature, art, music, and ethnic identity as well as other socio-cultural factors. It is a specific form of cultural assimilation that often includes a language shift. The term applies not only to cultures, but also to individuals, as they acclimate to Arab culture and become "Arabized". Arabization took place after the Muslim conquest of the Middle East and North Africa, as well as during the more recent Arab nationalist policies toward non-Arab minorities in modern Arab states, such as Algeria, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Bahrain, and Sudan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kabyle language</span> Berber language of northern Algeria

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tunisian Arabic</span> Arabic dialect spoken in Tunisia

Tunisian Arabic, or simply Tunisian, is a variety of Arabic spoken in Tunisia. It is known among its 12 million speakers as Tūnsi, "Tunisian" or Derja to distinguish it from Modern Standard Arabic, the official language of Tunisia. Tunisian Arabic is mostly similar to eastern Algerian Arabic and western Libyan Arabic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berberism</span> Berber political-cultural movement of North Africa

Berberism is a Berber political-cultural movement of ethnic nationalism, started mainly in Kabylia (Algeria) and in Morocco later spreading to the rest of the Berber communities in the Maghreb region of North Africa. The Berberist movement in Algeria and Morocco is in opposition to cultural Arabization, the pan-Arabist political ideology and Islamism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Egypt</span> Languages and dialects spoken in Egypt

Egyptians speak a continuum of dialects. The predominant dialect in Egypt is Egyptian Colloquial Arabic or Masri/Masry, which is the vernacular language. Literary Arabic is the official language and the most widely written. The Coptic language is used primarily by Egyptian Copts and it is the liturgical language of Coptic Christianity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kabyle people</span> Berber ethnic group

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.

Kouloughlis, also spelled Koulouglis, Cologhlis and Qulaughlis, but the translation of the word "kul" as slave is misleading since in the Ottoman context, it referred to one's special status as being in the special service of the sultan. It was a term used during the period of Ottoman influence in North Africa that usually designated the mixed offspring of Ottoman officials and janissaries, and local North African women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Morocco</span> Languages of the country and its peoples

There are a number of languages in Morocco. De jure, the two official languages are Standard Arabic and Standard Moroccan Berber. Moroccan Arabic is by far the primary spoken vernacular and lingua franca, whereas Berber languages serve as vernaculars for significant portions of the country. The languages of prestige in Morocco are Arabic in its Classical and Modern Standard Forms and sometimes French, the latter of which serves as a second language for approximately 33% of Moroccans. According to a 2000–2002 survey done by Moha Ennaji, author of Multilingualism, Cultural Identity, and Education in Morocco, "there is a general agreement that Standard Arabic, Moroccan Arabic, and Berber are the national languages." Ennaji also concluded "This survey confirms the idea that multilingualism in Morocco is a vivid sociolinguistic phenomenon, which is favored by many people."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethnic groups in Algeria</span>

Ethnic groups in Algeria include Arabs and Berbers, who represent 99% of the population, of which 75–85% are Arab and about 15–25% are Berber. Algeria also has a minority population of Europeans that represents less than 1% of the population. The minority European population is predominantly of French, Spanish, and Italian descent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerba Berber</span> Berber language of Tunisia

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Mauritania</span>

The languages of Mauritania include the official language, Arabic, three national languages, Pular, Soninke and Wolof, and French, a former official language which is still the language of working language, education and administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Tunisia</span>

Of the languages of Tunisia, Arabic is the sole official language according to the Tunisian Constitution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arab-Berber</span> Ethnolinguistic group of the Maghreb

Arab-Berbers are a population of the Maghreb, a vast region of North Africa in the western part of the Arab world along the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Arab-Berbers are people of mixed Arab and Berber origin, most of whom speak a variant of Maghrebi Arabic as their native language, some also speak various Berber languages. Many Arab-Berbers identify primarily as Arab and secondarily as Berber.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">French language in Algeria</span>

French is a lingua franca of Algeria according to the CIA World Factbook. Algeria is the second largest Francophone country in the world in terms of speakers. In 2008, 11.2 million Algerians (33%) could read and write in French. Despite intermittent attempts to eradicate French from public life, by the 2000s the proportion of French speakers in Algeria was much higher than on the eve of independence in 1962.

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Lewis, M. Paul, ed. (2009). "Languages of Algeria". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (sixteenth edition). SIL International . Retrieved 2010-01-08.
  2. ↑ Constitution of Algeria.
  3. ↑ Tamazight official in Algeria
  4. ↑ "Algeria reinstates term limit and recognises Berber language". BBC News. 7 February 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Leclerc, Jacques (2009-04-05). "Algérie: Situation géographique et démolinguistique". L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde. Université Laval. Archived from the original on 2010-01-24. Retrieved 2010-01-08."Aujourd'hui, la majorité des Algériens sont arabophones dans une proportion de 72 %. Parmi les Arabophones, c'est l'arabe algérien qui dominent nettement avec 60 % de la population totale et 83,2 % des arabophones. Les autres arabophones parlent le hassaniyya (11,3 %), l'arabe marocain (0,4 %), l'arabe du Sahara (0,1 %), l'arabe égyptien, voire l'arabe irakien. Toutes les variétés d'arabe appartiennent au groupe sémitique de la famille chamito-sémitique. Mais tous les arabophones d'Algérie parlent l'arabe dialectal ou l'arabe dit algérien (ou ses diverses variétés) pour communiquer entre eux. Autrement dit, à l'oral, c'est l'arabe algérien qui sert de langue véhiculaire, mais à l'écrit, c'est l'arabe classique."
  6. 1 2 3 4 Maamri, Malika Rebai. "The Syndrome of the French Language in Algeria." (Archive) International Journal of Arts and Sciences . 3(3): 77 – 89 (2009) CD-ROM. ISSN   1944-6934 p. 10 of 13
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "ALGERIA Language & Toponymy How politically driven language policies have impeded toponymic progress." (Archive) Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for British Official Use. p. 2. Retrieved on 12 March 2013. "Yet Arabic is rarely heard in Kabylie, where Berber and French are spoken"
  8. 1 2 3 4 Cohn, Martin Regg. "Algeria's other 'civil war' – on the French language." Toronto Star . July 29, 1997. Insight p. A11. Available on LexisNexis.
  9. ↑ Benrabah "Language maintenance and spread: French in Algeria" p. 194.
  10. ↑ Arnold, Chloe. "Algeria: A nation yearning for change." BBC . 11 October 2012. Retrieved on 13 October 2012.
  11. ↑ (in French) – « Loi n° 02-03 portant révision constitutionnelle », adopted on 10 April 2002.
  12. ↑ Lewis, M. Paul, ed. (2009), "Kabyle: A Language of Algeria", Ethnologue: Languages of the World (sixteenth edition), SIL International , retrieved 2010-01-08
  13. ↑ Lewis, M. Paul, ed. (2009). "Tachawit: A Language of Algeria". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (sixteenth edition). SIL International . Retrieved 2010-01-08.
  14. ↑ Lewis, M. Paul, ed. (2009). "Chenoua: A Language of Algeria". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (sixteenth edition). SIL International . Retrieved 2010-01-08.
  15. ↑ Souag, Lameen (2009-03-19). "Beni-Snous: Two unrelated phonetic forms for every noun?". Jabal al-Lughat. Retrieved 2010-01-08.
  16. ↑ Ilahiane, Hsain (2006). Historical dictionary of the Berbers (Imazighen). Rowman & Littlefield. p. 84. ISBN   978-0-8108-5452-9.
  17. ↑ "The World Factbook – Africa – Algeria". CIA. Archived from the original on 3 January 2021. Retrieved 3 Jan 2021.
  18. 1 2 "ALGERIA Language & Toponymy How politically driven language policies have impeded toponymic progress." (Archive) Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for British Official Use. p. 7. Retrieved on 12 March 2013.
  19. ↑ "La mondialisation, une chance pour la francophonie". Senat.fr. Archived from the original on 2013-05-13. Retrieved 2013-01-17. () "L'Algérie, non membre de l'Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, comptabilise la seconde communauté francophone au monde, avec environ 16 millions de locuteurs, suivie par la Côte d'Ivoire avec près de 12 millions de locuteurs francophones, le Québec avec 6 millions et la Belgique avec plus de 4 millions de francophones."
  20. ↑ "Le dénombrement des francophones" (PDF). Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-12. Retrieved 2013-04-07. () p. 9 "Nous y agrégeons néanmoins quelques données disponibles pour des pays n’appartenant pas à l’OIF mais dont nous savons, comme pour l’Algérie (11,2 millions en 20081)," and "1. Nombre de personnes âgées de cinq ans et plus déclarant savoir lire et écrire le français, d’après les données du recensement de 2008 communiquées par l’Office national des statistiques d’Algérie."
  21. 1 2 Kashani, Sarwar. "Algeria wants to learn English from India." (Archive) Ummid.com, Awaz Multimedia & Publications. Sunday 29 January 2012. Retrieved on 12 March 2013.
  22. 1 2 3 4 Benrabah "Language maintenance and spread: French in Algeria", p. 195
  23. ↑ Benrabah "Language maintenance and spread: French in Algeria", p. 194-195.
  24. 1 2 3 4 Berger, p. 52.
  25. ↑ Berger, p. 53.
  26. ↑ Benrabah, Mohamed "Language-in-Education Planning in Algeria: Historical Development and Current Issues", p. 229
  27. ↑ Benrabah, Mohamed "Language-in-Education Planning in Algeria: Historical Development and Current Issues", p. 229-230
  28. 1 2 3 Benrabah, Mohamed "Language-in-Education Planning in Algeria: Historical Development and Current Issues", p. 230
  29. ↑ Benrabah, Mohamed "Language-in-Education Planning in Algeria: Historical Development and Current Issues", p. 230-231
  30. 1 2 Berger, p. 70. "Standard Arabic became the language of schooling up to the university level, where French still holds sway in some sectors. (Officially the university was to be entirely Arabized as of December 1980. In 1985 an end was put to bilingual education at all levels, while President Chadli officially barred Algerian nationals from attending all-French schools; yet the elite and the powerful, most often educated in French, continued to send their[...]"
  31. 1 2 3 Benrabah, Mohamed "Language-in-Education Planning in Algeria: Historical Development and Current Issues", p. 232
  32. ↑ Benrabah, Mohamed "Language-in-Education Planning in Algeria: Historical Development and Current Issues", p. 232-233
  33. ↑ Farès, Ali. "Insécurité dans les établissements scolaires Une écolière de 7 ans violée au lycée Bouamama (ex-Descartes)." (Archive) Liberté . Saturday 19 November 2011. Retrieved on 21 March 2013.
  34. ↑ Benrabah, Mohamed "Language-in-Education Planning in Algeria: Historical Development and Current Issues", p. 228
  35. ↑ Benrabah, Mohamed "Language-in-Education Planning in Algeria: Historical Development and Current Issues", p. 227
  36. ↑ Slackman, Michael. "In Algeria, a Tug of War for Young Minds." The New York Times . 23 June 2008. Retrieved on 11 March 2013.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.