The Arabic Language

14.5 Tamazight/Berber
Most studies of language choice in the Maghreb focus on Arabic–French code-
switching and ignore Tamazight, in spite of the fact that a large minority of the 
population are bilingual in Arabic–Tamazight. The general Arabic term for the 
language and the people is 
barbarī 
‘Berber’, which remains the normal designa
-
tion in Western literature. In actual fact, this is not one language, but a series of 
mutually incomprehensible varieties spoken over a large area (see above Map 
11.3, p. 212). In the two countries that will occupy us here, the main varieties are 
Kabylian (Taqbilit) in Algeria, and Tarifit, Tachelhit and Tamazight in Morocco.

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272
The Arabic Language
The self-designation of the people in Morocco and Algeria is Amazigh (plural 
Imazighen), and Tamazight is often used as a collective name for all varieties; even 
though Tamazight was never used for Kabylian in Algeria, it is becoming increas
-
ingly popular in that region as well. Recently, in Morocco the term Amazighe has 
become current as a collective name for the Moroccan varieties. 
Since the earliest period of the Arab conquests Berbers and Arabs have been 
in close contact. The conqueror of al-ʾAndalus, Ṭāriq ibn Ziyād, was a Berber 
commander who in 711 
ce
led the Islamic troops across the Strait of Gibraltar, 
which was named after him. Berbers took part in some of the most important 
Islamic movements in North Africa. Their language was not a written language, 
but just as in the East it was sometimes used in religious instruction. In some cases 
this led to the codification of the language with the help of the Arabic script. At 
least from the sixteenth century onwards, the Moroccan Sous became a centre of 
Islamic learning where hundreds of manuscripts were produced both in Arabic and 
in Berber. The linguistic effects of this centuries-long coexistence are significant. 
As we have seen above, a number of traits of the Arabic dialects in the Maghreb 
can be explained by the influence of a Berber substrate (see above, pp. 141f.). As 
a large proportion of the population in Morocco and Algeria retained their Berber 
language, there are strong patterns of interference, of Arabic in Berber, and the 
other way round.
In spite of the close contacts, and in spite of the large percentage of the popula
-
tion that is bilingual in Arabic and Tamazight, until fairly recently anything 
connected with Tamazight language and culture was strictly taboo in Morocco 
and Algeria. One of the reasons for this marginal position has to do with the effects 
of the French colonial period. In 1930, the French issued an edict (
Dahir berbère
) 
about legal proceedings in Berber-speaking regions. These regions were placed 
under the jurisdiction of customary law tribunals rather than Islamic courts. The 
text of the 
Dahir
does not mention Berber culture or language, but it did not fail to 
be interpreted as an attempt by the French to sow dissension between Arabs and 
Berbers, and to put an end to the teaching of Arabic in Berber-speaking areas. It is 
true that in these areas education in both French and Berber was promoted, and 
several measures were taken to create a distance between speakers of Berber and 
speakers of Arabic. Later nationalist discourse accused the Berbers of complicity 
in this policy, and although there was never any evidence of actual collabora
-
tion with the French authorities, the association of the Berber cause with French 
imperialism remained strong in both Morocco and Algeria. In both countries, 
public support for Berber culture and language was strictly forbidden; in Algeria, 
all Berber publications were prohibited in 1976. The campaigns for Arabicisa-
tion were no doubt also directed against the large number of Tamazight speakers, 
who were forced to send their children to Arabic schools. As a result, almost all 
Tamazight speakers, except in remote regions of the Rif, are at least partly bilin
-
gual in Arabic and Tamazight.

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Bilingualism 
273
In Morocco, an astonishing 
volte-face
was introduced by King Hassan II in 1994, 
when he publicly announced that the Tamazight language and culture were an 
important factor in Moroccan society. He therefore ordered the introduction of 
Tamazight as a language of instruction in primary schools. Yet it took quite some 
while before this policy change led to actual change. In 2003, the 
Institut royal de 
la culture amazighe
was established, whose task it was to develop and coordinate 
all Amazigh cultural activities, but which was widely perceived as a means for the 
state to keep the Amazigh movement under control. In 2011, the new constitu
-
tion stated that Arabic was the official language of Morocco, but it added that 
Amazigh was an official language. Clearly, then, Arabic has a different status, but 
Amazigh – the collective term for all three varieties spoken in Morocco – cannot 
be ignored anymore. Officially, Amazigh should be taught in all primary schools, 
but in reality only very few schools manage to include the language in their 
curriculum. Much to the dismay of some Amazigh linguists, Tifinagh script has 
been chosen to represent Tamazight in writing in Morocco, creating a distance 
between the varieties spoken in Morocco and in Algeria.
In Algeria, too, the state at first tried to incorporate Amazigh aspirations within 
its own policy. Official institutes for the study of Tamazight were established in 
Bougie and Tizi-Ouzou, but the aspirations of Kabylian activists continued to be 
viewed with suspicion by the central government, and they were opposed by 
religious fundamentalists and pan-Arabic nationalists alike. During the 1990s, the 
fundamentalist factions on the whole viewed the Amazigh as possibly heterodox 
Muslims. The official policy towards Tamazight changed with the new reform 
policies of the Bouteflika government. At present, Tamazight is the second 
national language of Algeria, although it has not (yet) received the status of 
official language.
Perhaps the most amazing development, after many decades in which anything 
connected with Tamazight was regarded as controversial, is the fact that in 2003 
a Tamazight translation of the 
Qurʾān 
was published in Casablanca by a Moroccan 
scholar Jouhadi, 
Tarurt m wammaken n Leqran
. It is too early to say what the impact 
of this translation will be, but according to Benrabah (2007: 101), sermons in 
mosques in Kabylia are regularly given in Kabylian, so it seems that even the 
domain of religion is now open to Tamazight.