Standard Moroccan Berber

Standard Moroccan Amazigh (; ), also known as Standard Moroccan Tamazight, is a standardized language developed by the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture (IRCAM) in Morocco by combining features of Tashelhit, Central Atlas Tamazight, and Tarifit, the three major Amazigh languages in Morocco. It has been an official language of Morocco since 2011.

Standard Moroccan Amazigh is typically referred to as Tamazight, Amazigh, or Berber, although these terms can also be used to refer to any other Amazigh language, or to Amazigh languages as a whole, including those outside Morocco.

History

As of 1993, about 40-60 percent of Moroccans spoke Tamazight, referring to either Tashelhit, Central Atlas Tamazight, or Tarifit, as a native language. Following the independence of Morocco in 1956, Amazigh activists began calling for greater inclusion of Tamazight in official and public contexts. Cultural associations also began demanding the standardization of Tamazight in the 1980s.

In 2001, the creation of IRCAM, and its role in teaching Tamazight in the classroom, was announced. This development required the standardization of Tamazight writing and the creation of dictionaries, textbooks, and teaching materials.

In 2011, the Moroccan constitution was amended to include Tamazight as an official language.

Development

To develop Standard Moroccan Amazigh, IRCAM analyzed written sources of Tashelhit, Central Atlas Tamazight, and Tarifit. In this process, 3584 verbs were added to the standardized vocabulary. Words and syntactic structures with identical meanings across languages were added as synonyms; for example, both ''taddart'', the Central Atlas Tamazight word for house, and ''tigammi'', the Tashelhit word for house, mean "house" in Standard Moroccan Amazigh.

To add words not found in any of Tashelhit, Central Atlas Tamazight, or Tarifit, IRCAM borrowed from Amazigh languages from outside Morocco when possible, and otherwise derived a new word from the existing Tamazight lexicon.

Orthography

Tamazight has typically been written in the Arabic script, the Berber Latin alphabet, or Tifinagh. As part of the standardization process, in 2003, IRCAM chose Tifinagh, referring to Neo-Tifinagh, as Standard Moroccan Amazigh's orthography. The decision was controversial both inside and outside the deciding committee, having been made for political, rather than practical, reasons; most Moroccan speakers of Tamazight do not use Tifinagh.

The version of Neo-Tifinagh used by IRCAM is slightly different from other versions. As of 2016, the use of Tifinagh has been restricted primarily to public signage and other culturally conspicuous uses; it is not widely used in education or media.

Criticism

The 2003 adoption of Tifinagh was met with widespread criticism, particularly among Amazigh activists, who find the choice impractical and limiting in the promotion of Tamazight. Most Moroccan speakers of Tamazight use the Latin alphabet, rather than Tifinagh, and the Latin alphabet is the official script used for Amazigh languages outside of Morocco. As a result, the adoption of Tifinagh is seen as limiting both within Morocco, and in connecting Morocco with broader Amazigh culture in North Africa, with the decision's harshest critics viewing it as an intentional ploy by the government. Linguist Salem Chaker argued that the decision was "dangerous" and intended to " rivethis transitional period of Amazigh writing and teaching into a sure dead end." However, most non-activists opposed the official adoption of the Latin alphabet for Tamazight, and a 2011 survey found that 45.5% of respondents agreed that Tifinagh was the most appropriate script for writing Tamazight.

In practice, while all three dialects are used in primary school textbooks, Tashelhit otherwise appears to be the main basis of the language used in Amazigh-language materials produced by the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture, supplemented by numerous puristic neologisms. This has led some critics to argue that Morocco's official "language policy" is marginalizing the northern and eastern Berber dialects of Morocco, and tacitly making all the Berber dialects of Morocco 'non-standard', particularly those whose speakers do not identify with any of the three major dialects used by IRCAM, such as "Iznasen Tamazight" in the far northeast, " Senhaja-Ktama Tamazight" in the north, Eastern Atlas Tamazight in central Morocco, Figuig Tamazight, and Southeastern Berber.Criticism against Morocco's Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture
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See also

*Libyco-Berber alphabet
*2011 Moroccan constitutional referendum

Notes

References

Northern Berber languages
Standard languages

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