Salem Chaker (born 1950 in
Nevers
Nevers ( , ; la, Noviodunum, later ''Nevirnum'' and ''Nebirnum'') is the prefecture of the Nièvre department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in central France. It was the principal city of the former province of Nivernais. It is s ...
) is an Algerian linguist. A specialist in
Berber linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Ling ...
(syntax, diachrony, sociolinguistics), he is recognized as the "dean" of modern Berber studies.
Biography
Salem Chaker was born in 1950 in Nevers, France. In a family from Ait Iraten tribe of
Kabylia
Kabylia ('' Kabyle: Tamurt n Leqbayel'' or ''Iqbayliyen'', meaning "Land of Kabyles", '','' meaning "Land of the Tribes") is a cultural, natural and historical region in northern Algeria and the homeland of the Kabyle people. It is part of the ...
. He studied at the
University of Provence
The University of Provence Aix-Marseille I (french: Université de Provence) was a public research university mostly located in Aix-en-Provence and Marseille. It was one of the three Universities of Aix-Marseille and was part of the Academy of ...
, then in
Paris Descartes University
Paris Descartes University (french: Université Paris 5 René Descartes, links=no), also known as Paris V, was a French public university located in Paris. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 ...
where he received his
''Doctorat de troisième cycle'' in 1973 and a
''Doctorat d'Etat'' in 1978. After an early career in the Faculty of Letters of Algiers and CRAPE (''Centre de Recherches Anthropologiques Préhistoriques et Ethnologiques'') from 1973 to 1981, he joins University of Provence serving as an associate professor of Berber Language from 1981 to 1983, and
CNRS
The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe.
In 2016, it employed 31,637 ...
from 1984 to 1989 where he continued his research activities in the laboratory LAPMO (''Laboratoire d'anthropologie et de préhistoire de la Méditerranée occidentale'') founded and directed by
Gabriel Camps
Gabriel Camps (May 20, 1927 – September 7, 2002) was a French archaeologist and social anthropologist, the founder of the '' Encyclopédie berbère'' and is considered a prestigious scholar on the history of the Berber people.
Biography
Gabrie ...
. From 1989 to 2008, he worked as a Berber Language Professor at ''
Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales
Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales ( en, National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations), abbreviated as INALCO, is a French university specializing in the teaching of languages and cultures from the world. ...
'' ("''Langues'O''") in Paris, where he created in 1990 ''
Centre de Recherche Berbère'' (Berber Research Center) he directed until the end of 2009. He is currently Professor of Berber language at the
Aix-Marseille University
Aix-Marseille University (AMU; french: Aix-Marseille Université; formally incorporated as ''Université d'Aix-Marseille'') is a public research university located in the Provence region of southern France. It was founded in 1409 when Louis II ...
where he is also a research associate at Iremam (''Institut de recherches et d'études sur le monde arabe et musulman'').
Encyclopédie berbère
His involvement in the ''
Encyclopédie berbère
''Encyclopédie berbère'' (English: ''Berber Encyclopaedia'') is a French-language encyclopaedia dealing with subjects related to the Berber peoples (''Imazighen'' in Berber language), published both in print editions and in a partial online ...
'' dates back to the launching phase of the project by Gabriel Camps in 1970, when he was still a student at the University of Provence. The founding team comprising only pre-historians and ethnologists, Gabriel asked him to invest in the linguistic field. Thus appeared his first contribution to the Encyclopedie, in Fascicle 1, dated 1970, of the provisional edition with restricted diffusion. It was also his first scientific text, while he was still studying linguistics. He started publishing regularly entries in the provisional edition, then in the final edition from 1984. At the launch of the final edition, he officially became a scientific advisor for linguistics. When Camps retired in 1992, he asked him to ensure the succession of the Encyclopédie berbère in case of default. Salem Chaker has been in charge of the ''Encyclopédie'' since the death of G. Camps in September 2002.
Works
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*''Textes touaregs en prose'' de Charles de Foucauld..., Réédition critique avec traduction, Aix-en-Provence, Edisud, 1984, 359 p.
n collaboration avec H. Claudot et M. Gast
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaker, Salem
1950 births
Living people
Academic staff of Aix-Marseille University
Berberologists
Kabyle people
Paris Descartes University alumni
People from Nevers
University of Provence alumni