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<div class="gmail-full-story-article-title">Draft law paves way for Amazigh language academy</div>
<div class="gmail-full-story-info"><br><span class="gmail-full-story-writer">Wagdy Sawahel</span><span class="gmail-full-story-date">22 June 2018</span> <span class="gmail-full-story-issueno">Issue No:222</span></div>
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Algeria has approved a draft law paving the way for the creation
of an Amazigh language academy dedicated to the teaching and promotion
of research on Tamazight, as well as its standardisation.<br>
<br>
"This is a historic decision and breakthrough which completes the
Tamazight rehabilitation process, opening up considerable prospects for
work in multiple fields for the promotion and development of the
language,” Secretary of the High Commission for Amazigh, Si El Hachemi,
was <a href="https://www.dzbreaking.com/2018/06/07/hca-hails-adoption-draft-organic-law-algerian-academy-tamazight-language/" class="gmail-bluelink">quoted</a> as saying. <br>
<br>
The draft law, presented by the minister of higher education and
scientific research, on the creation of the Algerian Academy for
Tamazight Language was adopted at a 5 June meeting of the Algerian
Council of Ministers, chaired by Algerian President Abdelaziz
Bouteflika, according to a <a href="http://www.premier-ministre.gov.dz/ar/gouvernement/reunions-et-conseils/communique-integral-conseil-des-ministre-05-06-2018-ar.html" class="gmail-bluelink">communiqué</a> of the council.<br>
<br>
Amazigh is the main language used by the Amazigh people, formerly known
as Berbers, who live in the Kabylie region of Algeria, which includes
several provinces east of the capital along with other regions across
the country, especially the Aures (south of Constantine). <br>
<br>
Amazighs are the indigenous inhabitants of North African countries
including Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania, and Northern
Mali, Northern Niger, and part of western Egypt, according to the
historical records of the region.<br>
<br>
While there are no reliable statistics, the Amazigh-speaking populations
are unlikely to constitute as much as a third of Algeria's 42 million
people; 20-25% would be more plausible, according to Lameen Souag, a
researcher at LACITO – a laboratory of the French National Center for
Scientific Research.<br>
<br>
The Amazigh language became the second official language of Algeria
after Modern Standard Arabic, in accordance with a constitutional
amendment effected in early 2016. <br>
<br>
<b>Academy</b><br>
<br>
The new draft law defines the missions, composition, organisation and
the functioning of the Algerian Academy for Tamazight Language (AATL)
envisaged by Article 4 of the Constitution, amended in 2016, according
to the <a href="http://www.premier-ministre.gov.dz/ar/gouvernement/reunions-et-conseils/communique-integral-conseil-des-ministre-05-06-2018-ar.html" class="gmail-bluelink">Council of Ministers</a>.
The academy will have a council, president, bureau and specialised
commissions along with about 50 experts with proven skills in the field
of language science.<br>
<br>
The academy will be responsible for creating a standard form of the
language that will guarantee mutual understanding among all the Amazigh
communities and facilitate its use as an official language at all
levels. This will also involve the codification of the language through
the development of grammar books and dictionaries.<br>
<br>
"The academy will also have to address the issue of the script to be
adopted when it comes to writing the Tamazight language," according to <a href="http://amasproject.org/yamina-el-kirat-el-allame/" class="gmail-bluelink">Yamina El Kirat El Allame</a>,
international adviser and consultant in the field of higher education
and vice dean for research and cooperation at the faculty of letters and
human sciences of Mohammed V University of Rabat, Morocco.<br>
<br>
"Given the non-official status of Tamazight in Algeria, the language is
being written in different scripts, namely, Arabic, Latin and Tifinagh.
Indeed, the officialisation of the language will require the adoption of
one unique script," El Allame said.<br>
<br>
The academy will have to draw on experts in the fields of linguistics
and language policy, pedagogy and didactics, anthropology, history and
computer science as well as experts in the Amazigh language, El Allame
said.<br>
<br>
<b>Cultural value</b><br>
<br>
El Allame said the AATL will help to change attitudes towards the
Amazigh language, culture and identity and contribute to their
visibility at national and international levels, particularly if the
language is introduced to schools. The latter would also motivate
universities to invest in research programmes.<br>
<br>
Currently, several Algerian universities including Tizi-Ouzou, Bejaia
and Bouira have Amazigh language and culture departments which offers
courses in Tamazight literature, according to the <a href="https://www.temehu.com/imazighen/education.htm" class="gmail-bluelink">Temehu</a> website. <br>
<br>
Hana Saada, a researcher at the Higher Arab Institute for Translation,
an Algiers-based academic body of the Arab League of states, told <i>University World News</i>
that the value of the Tamazight language was not limited to
communication. “It can contribute to the development of knowledge and
provide added value to research in all fields as well as enhance group
identity and solidarity."<br>
<br>
"Besides, the standardisation of Tamazight and the formulation of a
referential dictionary, AATL may help to convey life experiences,
traditions, culture, tips and literature," Saada said.<br>
<br>
"This would play a crucial role in the formation and development of new
concepts and perspectives that may further boost collective learning and
collaboration as diversity means new visions and ideas.” <br>
<br>
Observers have also commented on the political motivations behind the move. Algerian author Azraj Umar wrote in the <a href="https://alarab.co.uk/%D8%A3%D9%83%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D8%BA%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%BA%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%B1%D9%8A" class="gmail-bluelink"><i>Al-Arab</i></a>
newspaper as follows: "The Algerian regime is betting on the Amazigh
language for political purposes and not as a cultural issue of relevance
to the processes of building national identity away from the
pretensions of power struggles." <br>
<br>
<b>Political motivations</b><br>
<br>
Asked whether establishing AATL was a sincere educational project for
promoting teaching and research programmes at universities and
educational institutions in Algeria or simply a political tactic to get
more votes in the 2019 presidential election, Souag told <i>University World News</i>: "That's a false dichotomy."<br>
<br>
"Politically, it's more than a short-term tactic for the next 2019
presidential elections. It's just the latest stage in a long-term effort
by the government to present itself as the legitimate guardian of the
Amazigh identity, and thus to coopt one long-standing rallying point of
its opponents,” he said. <br>
<br>
However, Souag cautiously welcomed the academy, saying it would help to
promote research with practical applications in education. "Once its
membership has been announced, its prospects will become clearer,” he
said.<br>
<br>
"The principal problem AATL will face is the question of how to
reconcile the desire for a single national standard Amazigh, suitable
for use by a highly centralised government, with the reality of the
substantial linguistic differences between the Amazigh varieties of
different regions and the Constitution's explicit endorsement of this
diversity," Souag said.<br>
<br>
El Allame suggested that for AATL to succeed it should try to establish
as an independent institution “with no political agenda”.<br>
<br>
"There is a lot to learn from the experience of the Morocco-based <a href="http://www.ircam.ma/" class="gmail-bluelink">Royal Institute of the Amazigh Culture</a>
which is an academic institute devoted to the safeguarding and
promotion of the Amazigh culture and languages," El Allame said.</div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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