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This research paper explores the sociolinguistic context of the Tamahaq language, focusing on the challenges it faces in urban environments. It discusses the impact of French linguistic hegemony, Arabization, and diglossia on the preservation and recognition of Tamahaq. The paper also examines the role of sedentarization, media, and music in the urbanization of the Tuareg culture. Finally, it addresses the political unrest in Azawad and its implications for the linguistic situation in the region.
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TAMAHAQ: A VULNERABLE LANGUAGE IN THE CITYDaphné Laure Romy, Département de l’Instruction Publique, SwitzerlandSamira Houcine , Djilali LiabesUniversity of Sidi Bel Abbes, Algeria • The background: Multilingual and diglossiccontext • Wrong image or wrongidentity? Sociolinguistics Symposium 19 Berlin, August 21-24, 2012
THE TOUAREGS AND ALGERIA Sociolinguistics Symposium 19 Berlin, August 21-24, 2012
Algeria and Tamahaq French linguistichegemony and ensuingArabization; “Arabic is an essential component of the cultural identity of the Algerian people. One cannot separate our personality from the language which expresses it. Therefore, the widespread use of the Arabic language and its mastery as a creative and functional instrument, is a primordial task for the Algerian society at every level of cultural manifestations and of socialist ideology. (National Charter, 1976:65) Algerianmultilingualism and perpetualdiglossia; Diglossia “remains the single greatest impediment to Arabization in the Maghreb” (Mc Ferren, 1984:5). The People (Targi/touareg): the culture and the (lost) language. Diversity and globalization: Tamanrasset has tripledits population since the 60s. SL19 Berlin
TAMAHAQ IN THE CITIES • Sedentarization; • Tamanrasset (Fort Laperrine); • Aghadez, Niger; • Ménaka, Mali; • Tamahaq in the media; • And in world music thankstoTinariwen SL19 Berlin
illustrations • Urbanizedtuareg IALL 2010
Azawad and politicalunrest • « Since the military coup of March 22nd in Mali, followed by the conquest of the northern part of thisterritory by Mali’s Touareg Independentists, Tamanrasset, birthplace of Algerian Touareg in the Hoggar, is on the alert» Le Monde, 11 April 2012 IALL 2010
PREVALENT LINGUISTIC SITUATION French • MSA (Modern Standard Arabic); • Dialectal variety; • National, Official Language(s); • Non standardizedvarieties; • ForeignLanguages: French and English; NATIONAL Tmq Tamazight Algerianarabic SL19 Berlin
The spread….cf. Le Diplo 1994 and 1995 Berlin 2012
AƔRƏM WA N BABEL/The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11: 1-9) TamajaqTamahaq/Tamasheq/Tuareg • Daɣəddənet ket-net wər-itawašawalarawaliyyanda. • Əmalan-tu aytedanətagalatnen ad d-əhanen sas dənnəg, əgrawnenasalwaiyyandaɣaṃadalənŠinar, əɣsarandaɣ-as. • Ənamaṇṇangar-essan: «Əndawat, ad-nagubargitan, nassaŋŋ-en əstamsay.» • English translation (2002) • Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. • And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. • And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." Berlin 2012
Recognition vs Application of a Law • In Algeria, The 1989 Constitution, article 3, stipulatesthat« l’arabe est la langue nationale et officielle ». However a major stepistaken in the preamblewhere a mention is made of the « amazighity », i.e. the BerberCivilization : • Aboutissement d’une longue résistance aux agressions menées contre sa culture, ses valeurs et les composantes fondamentales de son identité que sont l’islam, l’arabité et l’amazighité, le 1er novembre aura solidement ancré les luttes présentes dans le passé glorieux de la Nation. • April, 2002 RECOGNITION of Tamazight as a « national language » • ExecutiveDecree nr. 03-470, December, 2003 on National Educational and Linguistic Centre for the Teaching of Tamazight » • And even if a lawwereenacted and enforced… SL19 Berlin
Tifinagh alphabet • Tifinaghcharacters IALL 2010
application • Transliteration • Imdanen, akken ma llanttlalen d ilelliyenmsawan di lḥweṛma d yizerfan-ghur sen tamsakwit d lâquel u yessefk ad-tilitegmattgarasen. • Translation: • All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) IALL 2010
Bibliography Abid-Houcine, S. (2006). Plurilinguisme en Algérie, SidiBelAbbès. Albaka et D.Casajus (1992), Poésies et chants touaregs de l’Ayr. Awal/L’Harmattan, Keenan, J. (2004) « The lesser gods of the Sahara: social change and contested terrain amongst the Tuareg of Algeria », Taylor & Francis. Koubi, G. (2000). Penser les Minorités en Droit. Le Droit et les Minorités: analyses et textes. A. Fenet, G. Koubi and I. Schulte-Tenckhoff. Bruxelles, Bruylant: 385-468. Lenore A. Grenoble & N. LouannaFurbee (Eds) (2010) Language Documentation Practice and values, John Benjamin Publishing Company. Henri Lhote, Les Touaregs du Hoggar. Ed. Armand Colin, 1984. Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. Paris, UNESCO Publishing. Online version:http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas Schulte-Tenckhoff, I. (2000). Le Droit et les Minorités. Le Droit et les Minorités: analyses et textes. A. Fenet, G. Koubi and I. Schulte-Tenckhoff. Bruxelles, Bruylant: 661. http://www.sorosoro.org/en/the-tamasheq-language Vinding, D. & S. Stidsen (Eds) (2005) The Indigenous World 2005. SL19 Berlin
Samira Houcine <samhouc.univ@gmail.com> • Sociolinguists on FB and Académie Sans Frontières on FB; • Cosmopolitanism.wordpress.com • Droit et Cultures on English and Cultures issue S’entendre sur la Langue. SL19 Berlin