1932

Abstract

This article reviews several issues that are important for understanding the sociolinguistic situation in North Africa, with an emphasis on Morocco. The article surveys the manner in which North Africa's sociolinguistic profile has evolved over the last two decades (2001–2021). The topics discussed here include the tumultuous and chaotic promotion of monolingualism and the relentless efforts to erase and expunge Amazigh identity from North Africa despite the region's long history of linguistic diversity. Based on an imported ideological slant, these attempts to erase Amazigh identity lasted for decades and contributed to the marginalization of Amazigh people and other minorized communities in the region.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-linguistics-030521-054916
2023-01-17
2024-05-12
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/linguistics/9/1/annurev-linguistics-030521-054916.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-linguistics-030521-054916&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

Literature Cited

  1. Abbassi A. 1977. A sociolinguistic analysis of multilingualism in Morocco PhD Thesis Univ. Tex. Austin:
  2. Aidi H. 2016. Algeria's Berbers cautiously optimistic about reforms: The issue of what language best expresses the identity of modern Algeria is decades old. Al Jazeera Febr. 16. https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2016/2/16/algerias-berbers-cautiously-optimistic-about-reforms .
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Alalou A. 2006. Language and ideology in the Maghreb: Francophonie and other languages. Fr. Rev. 80:2408–21
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Alalou A. 2017. The question of languages and the medium of instruction in Morocco. Curr. Issues Lang. Plan. 19:2136–60
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Amazigh World News. 2017. DNA analysis: Only 4% of Tunisians are Arabs. Amazigh World News Jan. 18. https://amazighworldnews.com/dna-analysis-only-4-of-tunisians-are-arabs
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Belhiah H, Abdelatif A. 2016. English as a medium of instruction in Moroccan higher education. Arab World Engl. J. 7:3227–38
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Benabbou M, Behnstedt P 2004. Le berbère perd de l'espace au détriment de l'arabe. État actuel de la frontière linguistique entre l'arabe et le berbère. Trames de langues: Usages et métissages linguistiques dans l'histoire du Maghreb J Dakhlia 401–12 Paris: Maisonneuve & Larose
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Benyakhlef M. 1979. Propositions pour une arabisation de niveau. Lamalif 104:46–52
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Benyakhlef M. 1980. Pour une arabisation du niveau Casablanca: Graphoprint
  10. Berdichevsky N. 2004. Nations, Language and Citizenship. London: McFarland
  11. Bessaid A. 2020. The quest for Algerian linguistic independence. Arab World Engl. J. Transl. Lit. Stud. 4:2105–19
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Boukous A. 1995. Société, langue et culture au Maroc: enjeux symboliques Meknes, Moroc.: Publ. Fac. Lett. Sci. Hum.
  13. Boukous A. 1997. Situation sociolinguistique de l'Amazighe. Int. J. Sociol. Lang. 123:41–60
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Boukous A. 2008. Le champ langagier: diversité et stratification. Asinag 1:15–37
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Boukous A. 2012. Revitalizing the Amazigh Language: Stakes, Challenges, and Strategies transl. K Bensoukas Rabat, Moroc.: IRCAM
  16. Boukous A. 2022. Dean of the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture in Morocco: We aspire to generalize the teaching of the Amazigh language in all schools and universities. Teller Report Febr. 10. https://www.tellerreport.com/news/2022-02-10-dean-of-the-royal-institute-of-amazigh-culture-in-morocco-we-aspire-to-generalize-the-teaching-of-the-amazigh-language-in-all-schools-and-universities.rk7A-ZqMkq.html
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Bouziane A, Mohamed S 2021. The status of English in Morocco: lessons from spontaneous debates in social media. Engl. Stud. NBU 7:2187–208
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Brown K 1973. The impact of the Dahir Berbère in Salé. Arabs and Berbers: From Tribe to Nation in North Africa E Gellner, C Micaud 201–15 London: Duckworth
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Caubet D 2017a. Darija and the construction of ‘Moroccanness. ’. In Identity and Dialect Performance: A Study of Communities and Dialects R Bassiouney 99–124 New York: Routledge
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Caubet D 2017b. An informal passage to literacy in Dārija (Moroccan Arabic). The Politics of Written Languages in the Arab World: Written Changes J Høigilt, G Mejdell 116–41 Leiden, Neth.: Brill
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Chafik M. 2000. Pour un Maghreb d'abord Maghrébin Rabat, Moroc.: Cent. Tarik Ibn Zyad Étud. Rech.
  22. Chafik M. 2005. A Brief Survey of Thirty-Three Centuries of Amazigh History J Saib, transl. A Azeriah Rabat, Moroc.: IRCAM
  23. Chahhou K. 2014. The status of languages in post-independent Morocco: Moroccan national policies and Spanish cultural action PhD Thesis CUNY New York:
  24. Chaker S. 1989. Berbères aujourd'hui Paris: L'Harmattan
  25. Chaker S 2004. Berber, a “long-forgotten” language of France. Language and (Im)migration in France, Latin America, and the United States: Sociolinguistic Perspectives, transl L Chaker, A Chaker 1–14 Austin: Univ. Tex https://minio.la.utexas.edu/webeditor-files/france-ut/pdf/chaker_english.pdf
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Chaker S. 2012. Amazi (le/un Berbère). Encycl. Berbère 4:562–68
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Chaker S, Ferkal M. 2012. Berbères de Libye: un paramètre méconnu, une irruption politique inattendue. Politique Afr. 125:105–26
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Chtatou M. 1997. The influence of the Berber language on Moroccan Arabic. Int. J. Sociol. Lang. 123:101–18
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Chtatou M. 2017. The linguistic and cultural schizophrenia of Morocco. Morocco World News July 18. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2017/07/223513/linguistic-cultural-schizophrenia-morocco
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Chtatou M. 2019. The state of Amazigh culture in Algeria and Morocco. International Policy Digest Jan. 31. https://intpolicydigest.org/the-state-of-amazigh-culture-in-algeria-and-morocco
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Crawford D. 2002. Morocco's invisible Imazighen. J. N. Afr. Stud. 7:153–70
    [Google Scholar]
  32. El Aissati A. 1993. Berber in Morocco and Algeria: revival or decay?. AILA Rev. 10:88–109
    [Google Scholar]
  33. El Aissati A. 2013. Language education and nationhood in Morocco. Bilingual Education and Language Policy in the Global South JA Shoba, F Chibutane 66–82 New York/London: Routledge
    [Google Scholar]
  34. El Guabli B. 2021. Tankra Tamazight: the revival of Amazigh indigeneity in literature and art. Jadaliyya Novemb. 1. https://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/43440/Tankra-Tamazight-The-Amazigh-Revival
    [Google Scholar]
  35. El Mountassir A. 2003. Déformation et destruction du nom propre amazighe. L'Amazighité: bilan et perspectives A Kich 99–109 Rabat, Moroc.: Cent. Tarik Ibn Zyad Étud. Rech.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Ennaji M. 1997. The sociology of Berber: change and continuity. Int. J. Sociol. Lang. 123:23–40
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Ennaji M. 2001. De la diglossie à la quadriglossie. Lang. Linguist. 8:49–64
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Errihani M. 2008. Language attitudes and language use in Morocco: effects of attitudes on Berber language policy. J. N. Afr. Stud. 13:4411–28
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Ferguson C. 1959. Diglossia. Word 15:325–40
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Ferguson C. 1991. Diglossia revisited. Southwest J. Linguist. 10:1214–34
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Fishman JA. 1967. Bilingualism with and without diglossia, diglossia with and without bilingualism. J. Soc. Issues 23:228–38
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Hart DM. 1997. The Berber Dahir of 1930 in colonial Morocco: then and now (1930–1996). J. N. Afr. Stud. 2:211–33
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Hart DM. 1999. Scratch a Moroccan, find a Berber. J. N. Afr. Stud. 4:223–26
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Haut-Comm. Plan. 2014. Recensement général de la population et de l'habitat—2014 Data set Haut-Comm. Plan. Rabat, Moroc: http://rgphentableaux.hcp.ma/Default1
  45. Hoisington WA Jr. 1978. Cities in revolt: the Berber Dahir (1930) and France's urban strategy in Morocco. J. Contemp. Hist. 13:3433–48
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Hudson A. 2002. Outline of a theory of diglossia. Int. J. Socioling. Lang. 157:1–48
    [Google Scholar]
  47. Ibrahim Z. 2000. Myths about Arabic revisited. Al-‘Arabiyya 33:13–28
    [Google Scholar]
  48. Joffé EGH, Pennell CR, eds. 1991. Tribe and State: Essays in Honour of David Montgomery Hart Cambridge, UK: Gallipoli
  49. King Mohammed VI. 2001. Ajdir (Khénifra) address Address delivered at Ajdir, Moroc., Oct. 17. https://www.ircam.ma/fr/textes-fondateurs/discours-dajdir (in French )
    [Google Scholar]
  50. Lafuente G. 1994. Dahir Berbère (16 mai 1930). Encycl. Berbère 14:2178–92
    [Google Scholar]
  51. Lafuente G. 1999. La politique Berbère de la France et le nationalism Marocain Paris: L'Harmattan
  52. Maddy-Weitzman B 2014. Narrating the past, serving the present: the Berber identity movement and the Jewish connection. Nationalism, Identity and Politics: Israel and the Middle East. Studies in Honor of Prof. Asher Susser M Litvak, B Maddy-Weitzman 103–20 Tel Aviv: Moshe Dayan Cent.
    [Google Scholar]
  53. Marty P. 1925. Le Maroc de demain Paris: Com. Afr. Fr.
  54. Miller C. 2014. Évolution des pratiques, évolutions des représentations? Petit retour sur le débat autour de la valorisation de la darija au Maroc Paper presented at Langues de l'Afrique du Nord (Berbère/Arabe Maghrébin): statut juridique versus statut réel. Evolutions récentes, là-bas et ici Aix-en-Provence, Fr.: March 11
  55. Mostari HA. 2004. A sociolinguistic perspective on Arabisation and language use in Algeria. Lang. Probl. Lang. Plan. 28:125–43
    [Google Scholar]
  56. Mounib M. 2002. Al-ahīr al-Barbarī: akbar ukdhūbah siyāsīyah fī al-Maghrib al-mu‘āir [The Berber Decree: The Biggest Political Lie in Modern Morocco]. Rabat, Moroc.: Dār Abī Riqrāq lil-ibā‘ah wa-al-Nashr
    [Google Scholar]
  57. Peyron M. 2010. Recent cases of incomplete academic research on Morocco's Berbers. J. N. Afr. Stud. 15:2157–71
    [Google Scholar]
  58. Sadiqi F. 1991. The spread of English in Morocco. Int. J. Sociol. Lang. 87:99–114
    [Google Scholar]
  59. Sadiqi F. 1997. The place of Berber in Morocco. Int. J. Sociol. Lang. 123:7–21
    [Google Scholar]
  60. Sayahi L. 2005. Phonological adaptation of Spanish loanwords in Northern Moroccan Arabic. Univ. Pa. Work. Pap. Linguist. 11:1253–63
    [Google Scholar]
  61. Sayahi L. 2011. Spanish in contact with Arabic. Handbook of Hispanic Sociolinguistics M Díaz-Campos 473–89 Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell
    [Google Scholar]
  62. Segalla SD. 2006. French colonial education and elite Moroccan Muslim resistance, from the Treaty of Fez to the Berber Dahir. J. N. Afr. Stud. 11: 1 85–106
    [Google Scholar]
  63. Silverstein P, Crawford D 2004. Amazigh activism and the Moroccan state. Middle East Rep. 233:44–48
    [Google Scholar]
  64. Soulaimani D. 2015. Writing and rewriting Amazigh/Berber identity: orthographies and language ideologies. Writ. Syst. Res. 8:11–16
    [Google Scholar]
  65. Soulaimani D. 2016. Becoming Amazigh: standardization, purity, and questions of identity. J. N. Afr. Stud. 21:3485–500
    [Google Scholar]
  66. TAMAZGHA [Organ. Non-Gouv. Déf. Droits Imazighen (Berbères)]. 2016. L'Etat Tunisien et la question Amazighe: rapport alternatif de Tamazgha au Comité des droits économiques, sociaux et culturels (CESCR) Paper presented at 59th CESCR Meeting, UN Econ. Soc. Counc. Geneva: Sept. 19–Oct. 7
    [Google Scholar]
  67. Tamer A, Diala B. 2020. Teaching science in Arabic: diglossia and discourse patterns in the elementary classroom. Int. J. Sci. Educ. 42:142290–330
    [Google Scholar]
  68. Van Den Boogert N. 1997. The Berber Literary Tradition of the Sous: With an Edition and Translation of ‘The Ocean of Tears’ by Muammad Awzal (d. 1749) Leiden, Neth.: Inst. Nabije Oost.
    [Google Scholar]
  69. Youssi A. 1995. The Moroccan triglossia: facts and implications. Int. J. Sociol. Lang. 112:29–43
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-linguistics-030521-054916
Loading
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-linguistics-030521-054916
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Review Article
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error