Berber studies

Facing charges of witchery, Apuleius defends himself by mentioning the name of the African village where one of his accusers, Sicinius Aemilianus, lives. The article begins with a summary of what should be known about the word (spelling, etymology, grammatical status) as well as the place it refers to.  It goes on to show how the utterance of the name is, in fact, used as a counterattack that aims to invalidate the charge of barbarism that faces the accused. The word, which is generally analyzed as a stroke of irony, covers though a complex game on the pronunciation of the accuser whose Punic accent is presented derisively, rather,  as a claim to the mastery of Attic Greek.This subtle game involves  making reference to authors brought back into fashion in the second century (Plautus, Catullus). In the end,  the paper  attempts to put into perspective this game on the  pronunciation of Sicinius Aemilianus in a reflection on the cultural identity of the sophist, who clearly rejects the Punic,  fetishizes Latin and carefully conceals his vernacular native language, the Libyan.

The Berber languages are relatively well-studied, and it is possible to explore their geographical extent today and in the past, and also to reconstruct basic and cultural vocabulary which can be attributed to speakers of proto-Berber. However, there is a major problem reconciling this with textual and archaeological evidence. The proto-Berber we can reconstruct seems to be far too recent to match what we know from other evidence; indeed it seems to reach back to period as late as 200 AD. Textual evidence (and Canarian inscriptions) point to a period prior to 400 BC, while the most credible archaeological correlate would be the spread of pastoralism across the Sahara, pointing to the period 5-4000 BP. The paper explores this disjunction and suggests the explanation must lie in massive language levelling in the period from 0 AD. In other words, the original speakers of Berber did indeed spread out westwards from the Nile Valley, 5-4000 years ago, but the diversity which evolved in this period was eliminated by processes which levelled divergent speech forms. Historical linguists have been wary of invoking such processes until recently, but evidence is mounting for their importance in many and varied cultures, including Madagascar. Hypotheses are evaluated to explain the Berber situation and it is suggested that a combination of the introduction of the camel and the establishment of the Roman limes were the key factors in creating this linguistic bottleneck.

This article presents a proposition to standardise the Amazigh (Berber) varieties of the Rif (Northern Morocco) on the basis of my geolinguistic study Atlas linguistique des variétés berbères du Rif which provides the data necessary to construct a representative linguistic koinè for the Rif region through computational dialectometry analyses. Dialectometry is a quantitative method to calculate distances between linguistic varieties and to group the latter following different parameters. 1 Le Rif connaît plusieurs sous-ensembles linguistiques qui se divisent en nombreuses variétés présentant chacune des spécificités sur tous les plans linguistiques. A ce propos, voir Atlas linguistique des variétés berbères du Rif de Lafkioui (2007a). afrika focus -Volume 21, Nr. 1 [ 98 ] m. lafkioui

Au cours des cinq dernières années, la codification graphique a été le sujet central des débats sur l'aménagement linguistique du rifain (berbère du Maroc du Nord). Le problème le plus ardu auquel les aménageurs (linguistes ou autres) étaient (et sont encore) confrontés est celui de la variation. Par cela, on entend généralement la variation dialectale, c'est-à-dire l'ensemble des réalisations phoniques variant en fonction de la localisation géographique. Elle peut être de telle sorte qu'elle arrive à entraver l'intercompréhension entre Rifains.

Win ur nelmid ara tamaziɣt, yettaru akken isusruy, akken yettmeslay. D ayen i t-yettaǧǧan ad yaru s waṭas n tuccḍiwin. Tuccḍiwin tunnimin yeggten ɣur yinelmaden d wid yettarun s tmaziɣt s umata rzant : tizdit (20%), tira n teɣra (17%), tamsertit (16%), tussda (10%), imataren udmawanen (8%), tazelɣa n wurmir (8%), addad amaruz (5%).
Win ara yegzin ladɣa tira n teɣra, tizdit, tamsertit… yezmer ad yesnerni aswir-ines n tira s waṭas. Win i innumen yettaru akken isusruy, akka : « Weqbel attegrem asurif, attezewrem nif. Ma wlac Tamazight, wlac wlac wlac… ». S teftart-a d cwiṭ n lebɣi d wussis, nesaram ad yesnerni aswir-ines deg tira. Ad yaru akka : « Uqbel ad tegrem asurif, ad tzewrem nnif. Ma ulac Tamaziɣt, ulac ulac ulac… ».
G.M. : Nɛemmed tira n uzwel n teftart-a s tuccḍiwin iwakken ad yedduqqes win ara t-yeɣren. Nessaram d ayen ara t-yeǧǧen ad iɣer taftart-a d ad yesseqdec ayen i d-yeddan deg-s.

A survey of the multiple participants involved in linguistic planning of the Berber language, both in North Africa and in the diaspora: speakers, cultural associations, notable individuals, States, universities, institutions (HCA in Algeria, IRCAM in Morocco), schools, parties and movements, opposants, migrants abroad and second generations, foreign institutions (e.g. Inalco, France), foreign States, Berber associations in the world (e.g. CMA), standard-setting organizations (e.g. Unicode).

Este artículo presenta pruebas documentales y evidencias encontradas en el patrimonio arquitectónico que certifican la existencia de una comunidad de musulmanes peninsulares (andalusíes) y magrebíes en la etapa de formación temprana de las sociedades americanas durante el siglo XVI y, más específicamente, en la isla Española, mostrando de manera fehaciente que el monumento principal de la etapa de construcción inicial de la ciudad de Santo Domingo de Guzmán, la catedral de Santa María la Menor, fue obra de alarifes musulmanes.

L'article porte sur des énoncés non déclaratifs, souvent reconnaissables à l'intonation, où la relation particulière de l'énonciateur à son énoncé, implicite, se déduit du choix des marques aspecto-modales et de l'emploi de particules spécifiques. En zénaga, il y a une distinction assez nette entre l'ordre et l'injonction d'une part, le souhait et les serments d'autre part. Les deux premiers types d'énoncé relèvent clairement du domaine modal, le verbe étant, soit à l'aoriste précédé de la particule ad, soit à l'impératif. Dans les deux autres types d'énoncé (de souhait et de serment), le choix de l'accompli donne à l'événement un caractère inéluctable. Le zénaga n'est pas le seul à faire cet usage modal de l'accompli, mais il est le seul à le faire aussi systématiquement. En ce qui concerne les particules de serment (ār, āš et āf) qui tendent à exprimer des différences aspecto-temporelles, nous avons mis à jour un faisceau de ressemblances, à la fois internes et externes au zénaga.

Il berbero e una lingua che difficilmente si puo definire “minore”, tanto in termini assoluti (15-20 milioni di parlanti) quanto in termini relativi (probabilmente in Marocco i berberofoni sono superiori al numero degli arabofoni). E’ tuttavia indubbio che nei paesi in cui viene parlata la lingua berbera si trova in un evidente stato di inferiorita, che risale a due tipi di cause: 1Una pesante censura di tipo ideologico da parte delle autorita statali (solo da poco si cominciano ad osservare parziali aperture e timidi “riconoscimenti”) 2Il ruolo oggettivamente “secondario” che essa ha come lingua scritta fin dai tempi di Massinissa, il che in qualche caso non appare imputabile a imposizione esterna ma sembra discendere da scelte volontarie dei locutori (quest’ultimo tipo di atteggiamento, pero, appare in netto regresso, soprattutto negli ultimi decenni). La enorme dispersione geografica (si pensi che il berbero e la lingua di un intero subcontinente, l’Africa mediterranea e saharian...

Dit boek is de vertaling in het Nederlands van Mohammed Chafik over de Imazighen in Marokko. Abdarrahman el Aissati en ik schreven het laatste hoofdstuk over de recente geschiedenis van de Imazighen. Het boek is uitverkocht. De vertaling was van de hand van Richard van Leeuwen. Voor ons hoofdstuk is dit de referentie:

(2004) Aissati, A. El & J.J. de Ruiter. De recente geschiedenis, in : M. Chafik, Imazighen. De Berbers en hun geschiedenis. Amsterdam: Bulaaq, pp. 113-138.

In this contribution, the author compares the Amazigh movement in Tunisia with that of Libya. It seems clear that the fall of Ben Ali’s regime allowed the emergence of Amazighity in Tunisia. On several occasions, the Amazigh have had to express the latter and remind the Tunisian political class that Tunisia is also Amazigh. The irruption of Libyan neighbours and the way in which they performed Amazighity was not without its influence on the awakening of the Amazigh in Tunisia. The author hypothesizes that the direct contact with the refugees in Tunisia could play an additional, important role for Libyan Amazigh.

This new series provides a forum for exchange on a myriad of alternative histories of marginalized communities and individuals in the Near and Middle East and Mediterranean, and those of Middle Eastern or Mediterranean heritage. It will highlight thematic issues relating to various native peoples and their narratives and – with particular contemporary relevance – explore encounters with the notion of ‘other’ within various societies. Often moving beyond the conventional state-centred and dominant monolithic approach, or reinterpreting previously accepted stories, books in the series examine and explain themes from inter-communal relations, environment, health and society, and will explore ethnic, communal, racial, linguistic and religious developments that go beyond geopolitical compositions.

Building on the foundations of scholarship within an interdisciplinary framework, this series spans the continuum of Near Eastern and Mediterranean traditions extending from the fourth millennium B.C. to the present – bridging previous fields which originally had little connection with each other. The aim is to enhance perspectives by applying various methodological approaches to dilemmas that have in the past been treated as the exclusive concern of a single given discipline.

Key Features

Creates a forum for marginalized and/or indigenous communities to engage with the ‘accepted past and present’ and to challenge previously accepted truths
Opens a dialogue for alternative intellectual histories/narratives
The first series to focus on indigenous and minoritized related narratives from the understudied and often marginal perspective
Covers cultural, linguistic, ethnic, gendered, political, numerical and economic communities in the Near and Middle East, the Mediterranean and its extended environs
Engages with all periods of history from the ancient world to the present day, especially in terms of continuity of culture, cultural heritage and heritage preservation
Communities studied may include Alawites, Alevis, Armenians, Assyrians, Christians, Copts, Druze, Jews, Mandaens, Maronites, Palestinians, Pontian/ Anatolian Greeks, Samaritans, Shabbaks, Yezidis and Zoroastrians among others

Que los antiguos habitantes de Gran Canaria sabían contar no es un secreto para los estudiosos del pasado isleño que desde hace tiempo manejan dos listas numerales distintas, ambas atribuidas a la antigua lengua de la isla 1 . A estas dos listas se las conoce como lista Recco y lista Cedeño.

This article presents a descriptive study of baby talk (BT) in the Maghreb (including its phonology, morphology, and syntax). The majority of data comes from Morocco and Algeria; additional examples from Libya and Egypt are provided. Both Arabic and Berber languages are discussed. Baby talk – a special speech register used when addressing babies – is common in North Africa, both among Arabs and Berbers. As in many languages, the structure of Maghrebian BT terms is simple, usually made up of two syllables consisting of a consonant and a vowel. Reduplication is also common in BT cross-linguistically. Gemination of C2 is frequent in Afro-Asiatic languages, including Arabic and Berber, e.g. Moroccan Arabic pappa ‘bread’, ninni ‘sleep’, fuffu ‘fire’. As is often the case around the world, Maghrebian BT is usually accompanied by an accented prosody. There are many similarities between BT terms throughout the Maghreb. Maghrebian BT lexicon is conventionalized and rich – the number of terms can reach 200 per dialect. Most typical semantic groups are: food, animals, body parts, basic actions and qualities, etc. BT terms are mostly nouns and verbs, but can often be used in different grammatical categories. Morphological markers are usually absent. Maghrebian BT differs radically from the standard (adult) speech on all language levels (phonology, morphosyntax, word roots). Hence, BT cannot be regarded as a distortion of adult speech. It is interesting to investigate, then, why adults teach infants a language so divergent from their own.

L a m q a d d a m | 6 Background I am one of those people that believe that social and economic development the way we know of today is not the most proper one. The economy-driven world we have inherited has taught us that concepts like profit, gain, and money, are to be the only dynamos for our human development. Yet, if it is evident that they are important components to welfare, it still can contribute to the ongoing oppression of some social groups, for example women. As reported by Vubo, "The expansion of capitalist interests has been at the basis of the marginalization and disempowerment of women in the periphery of the world capitalist system" . In parallel to these economies, we can, sometimes come across alternative approaches to development that engage all of the most vulnerable populations. These are new forms of development which can benefit women even in places like Morocco where half of the citizens cannot read nor write and where women still are targets of heavy gender segregation due to the weight of traditions. It is with that idea in mind that I got interested in the work of women cooperatives in Morocco, with the assumption that they could possibly channel women's empowerment through financially emancipating the women, educating them, and giving them the social visibility and networks they lack.

La diáspora amazige en Europa conoce, sobre todo desde los años 90 transformaciones socioculturales y políticas considerables. La confrontación con las estructuras organizacionales, sociales y políticas europeas tiene como efecto una adaptación progresiva de sus estrategias y medios de lucha para alcanzar el reconocimiento de su lengua y cultura también en el contexto de la inmigración europea, en este caso especialmente catalana.
Uno de los principales problemas a los cuales se enfrentan las poblaciones amaziges en Europa es su falta de visibilidad como tal. Lejos de ser conocidas como Bereberes o amaziges, su identidad se vio siempre fundada en conceptos más genéricos como "Musulmanes", árabes ", " norteafricanos " o "Moros". En el mejor caso, los amaziges están vistos como "marroquíes", "Argelinos" etc. una aspiración a cambiar las cosa que se transforma  pues en el motor de las reivindicaciones de este movimiento desde finales de los años 1980, primero en Francia, luego en Alemania y en los Países Bajos y más tarde en España y en Italia, siendo estos dos últimos países nuevos países de emigración para los norteafricanos.

The images of the Fish and of the Hamsa hand are two familiar sights that belong to the North-African culture. It is usually believed that they are a form of local amulets. The proposed analysis attempts to trace back these two symbols. The Hamsa hand also exists in the Levant. If the Phoenician cult of Tanit is an obvious link, it remains insufficient to account for its widespread legacy among other ethnic groups such as the Jews or the ancient Libyc population (the Berbers). It is clear that the sign reveals the existence of an underlying heritage shared among all the historic and religious groups. The past history of the Maghreb accounts for its diversity that somehow managed to blend into a melting-pot. On the other hand, the Fish symbol offers a specific connotation, more endemic to Tunisia. The Punic heritage of the country, as well as its geographical position, are at the core of the overall recognition. The fish always been a basic food in the country. A Tunisian-style Couscous with fish is after all a local trademark! Yet, there is more to say on this other widespread symbol. Holy Scriptures and common myths have played their part to turn the symbol into another example of a shared heritage. It may have begun at the times of the primordial waters of Nun according to the ancient Egyptian Ennead. In fact, both the Fish and the Hamsa hand present a common parallel that epitomizes a cultural blend. It is used not only as a protection for any kind of an ''evil-eye'' but also as a symbolic unity for the entire community. C.S. Les Symboles de la Main et du Poisson RÉSUMÉ Les signes de la Main Hamsa et du Poisson sont largement reconnus comme étant des éléments appartenant à la culture nord-africaine. Le plus souvent, on pense qu'il s'agit d'une forme d'amulette locale. L'analyse proposée ici tente de remonter aux origines de ces deux symboles. La main Hamsa se retrouve aussi au Levant. Or même si le culte phénicien de Tanit apparaît comme étant un lien vraisemblable, ceci n'est pas suffisant pour expliquer son utilisation généralisée parmi d'autres groupes ethniques tels que les Juifs ou les anciennes populations libyques (les Berbères). Il est clair que ce signe révèle également l'existence d'un legs sous-jacent appartenant à tous les groupes ancestraux et religieux. L'histoire du Maghreb témoigne d'une grande diversité qui a eu pour résultat de créer un véritable creuset culturel. Par ailleurs, le symbole du Poisson présente un aspect spécifique plus nettement tunisien. L'ascendance punique du pays, tout comme sa position géographique sont au coeur de cette reconnaissance généralisée. Le poisson demeure sans nul doute une base de l'alimentation tunisienne. Le couscous au poisson, n'est-il pas une marque identitaire ? Il reste pourtant beaucoup à dire sur la fréquence de ce symbole. Les Écritures et des mythes partagés s'ajoutent pour conférer au Poisson la marque d'un autre partage culturel. L'origine pourrait bien émaner du temps lointain des eaux primordiales de Nun, tel que cela est mentionné dans les récits de l'Ennéade d'Atoum, des anciens Égyptiens. De fait, le Poisson et la main Hamsa stigmatisent en parallèle une même convergence culturelle. Ce ne sont pas exclusivement des talismans destinés à éloigner le ''mauvais oeil'', ce sont aussi les témoins symboliques qui unissent les communautés existantes. C.S.

El conquistador Antonio Cedeño es el supuesto autor de una crónica de la conquista de Gran Canaria conservada en tres versiones distintas, denominadas A, B y C. Aunque la crónica es ampliamente conocida y ha sido publicada en distintas ocasiones, los graves problemas relacionados con la identificación de su autor y el origen de las tres versiones siguen sin resolverse a pesar de los estudios realizados hasta el momento. En este trabajo aportamos datos biográficos inéditos sobre su supuesto autor, describimos y datamos el primer manuscrito conservado de cada una de las tres versiones, establecemos la existencia de un texto base común a todas ellas producto de la refundición de dos textos distintos, y datamos la introducción a las versiones B y C. Por último, recopilamos todos los manuscritos, copias y ediciones que conocemos de las tres versiones y establecemos el esquema completo de su transmisión textual.

El Estrecho de Gibraltar, como definió Fernand Braudel, no es una barrera líquida que se levanta entre la masa continental del mundo ibérico y la del mundo norteafricano, sino un río que une más que separa, que hace del África del Norte y de la Península Ibérica un solo mundo.

Protagonistas desconocidos y silenciados por las fuentes oficiales, los beréberes (o amazigues, como ellos quieren que se les llame) son el conjunto de pueblos que ocupaba desde tiempos remotos la práctica totalidad del norte de África, desde el oasis de Siwa (oeste de Egipto) hasta el océano Atlántico, comprendiendo también las Islas Canarias, y desde el Mediterráneo hasta los límites meridionales del Sáhara. Han recibido numerosos nombres a lo largo de la historia (mauri, lebu, númidas, gétulos, garamantes…), lo que reflejan la gran pluralidad interna, geográfica y cultural de los mismos.

Los amazigues han sido testigos de innumerables migraciones, colonizaciones e invasiones como son las de los fenicios, romanos, vándalos, árabes y las colonizaciones europeas. Todas han ido enriqueciendo su identidad, pero al mismo tiempo, les han ido reduciendo en número a través de las políticas asimilacionistas. Y sin embargo, los beréberes existen. En la actualidad todavía se estima que superan los 35 millones de personas, de los que unos 20 millones residen en Marruecos, y varios millones en la diáspora europea y americana.

La/s identidad/es amazig/ues se plasma/n hoy, en primer lugar y, sobre todo, en la lengua el TAMAZIGT, en sus distintas variedades (tarifit, tašelḥit, tamāšeq…); seguidamente en la conciencia de pertenecer a un legado común (con unas tradiciones, fiestas y costumbres compartidas); y, finalmente, en la voluntad de asumirlo como propio.

He aquí una exposición sobre la Granada zirí y el universo beréber, única hasta el momento, que arranca de más lejos y que se propone ante todo ser una muestra de una cultura cuyos orígenes se pierden en la noche de los tiempos y que continúa hoy día pese a todos los avatares históricos. Combina historia con huellas arqueológicas, referencias etnográficas y antropológicas.

Les vestiges archéologiques exceptionnels de Sedrata sont ceux d’une ville médiévale enfouie sous les sables du Sahara algérien, près de Ouargla. Ce carrefour du commerce transsaharien alimentait la Méditerranée en or et en esclaves. Ce fut aussi un centre pour les ibadites, une minorité musulmane dont les héritiers visitent tous les ans les ruines de leur passé. Son destin fut lié à cette communauté, mais aussi à l’épuisement des ressources hydriques. L’enquête entrelace les disciplines et les temporalités pour offrir au lecteur la première image complète de cette cité, au cœur de l’histoire africaine. Cette redécouverte s’appuie sur les sources ibadites et sur les archives de fouilles inédites de Marguerite van Berchem (1950-1955). Le manuscrit inachevé, la riche collection de photographies, de dessins et de plans légués par son projet novateur nourrissent une étude historique et archéologique de l’établissement, dont les célèbres programmes décoratifs sont de nouveau interprétés et datés.

Le substrat et l'adstrat berbères sont très présents dans le dialecte Ḥassaniyya parlé au Sahara Occidental et en Mauritanie. Dans cet article nous étudions les principaux schèmes des emprunts du ḥassaniyya au berbère. Une grande partie du lexique de la faune, de la flore y compris les phytonymes, les toponymes, le vocabulaire agricole et l'élevage est empruntée soit au zénagua en Mauritanie, soit au tašelћit au Sahara Occidental. La morphologie de ces termes change selon les moules du dialecte et non selon la morphologie du berbère. Nous en concluons qu'il existe une osmose faite d'évolutions convergentes et de développements parallèles et qui doit être située dans un contexte socioculturel partagé Abstract The Berber substrate and adstratum are very present in the Hassaniyya dialect spoken in Western Sahara and Mauritania. In this paper we study the main patterns of the lexical borrowing of Hassaniyya from Berber. A large part of the lexicon of fauna, flora including phytonymes, place names, agricultural and livestock vocabulary is borrowed either from Zenagua dialect in Mauritania, either tašelћit in Western Sahara. The morphology of these terms varies depending of the patterns of dialect and not according to the morphology of the Berber. We conclude that there is a harmony made of converging trends and parallel developments and must be studied in a shared cultural context

KORMIKIARI, M.C.N. Norte da África na antiguidade: os reis berberes númidas e suas iconografias monetárias. Revista do Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia, São Paulo, 17: 251-292, 2007.

Resumo: Neste artigo apresentamos nossa interpretação da iconografia monetária dos reis berberes do Norte da África, em particular, dos reis númidas, entre os séculos III e I a.C., sua relação com a cunhagem anterior de Cartago e com a posterior dos romanos. Neste sentido, lidamos com os aspectos ideológicos e culturais que sustentaram essas monarquias norte- africanas da antiguidade.

Abstract: In this article we present our interpretation of the North African Berber kings’ monetary iconography, focusing on the Numidian kings. They coined money between the 3rd and the 1st centuries B.C.. We also deal with this coinage’s connection to the Carthaginian and the Roman ones, which constituted the main circulation coinage in the area. In this sense, we deal with the ideological and cultural aspects that sustained these North African monar- chies in antiquity.

The article underlines the importance of barley in the ancient North African diet, looking at a specific contemporary food, bsisa. This is made from green barley, toasted, ground, and mixed with spices and water and oil into a sort of porridge. It constituted an important resource for a time of year when stocks of other grains might be running low. The porridge is made by rubbing the ground grain against the side of the bowl while water is added in a thin stream. It is suggested that the ARS form 91, which had a long series of predecessors in North African ceramics, was an ideal form for the making and consumption of bsisa. Wear analysis of some specimens seems to support this conclusion.

The full article can be found by following this link:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13629387.2016.1150183
Below are some excerpts:

The start of the 1980s marks Djebar’s return—after a decade-long absence—both to writing in general and to the French language in particular. If the 1970s stand out in her bibliography as a conspicuous gap in productivity, the circumstances of this gap are well-documented. Djebar has written about this period in her work indicating that she thought that she could write in Arabic. Yet, Arabic written by her would never appear in print. In 1980, she published Femmes d’Alger dans leur appartement, soon followed by a series of novels, all in French. At first look, it seems as though Assia Djebar eventually forsakes her unfruitful Arabic experiment for a definitive return to publishing in French. However, her Arabic experiment did bear fruit, and her output in that language did see the light of day, only it was on screen, rather than on the page. Those familiar with the Algerian author’s oeuvre know that the 1970s’ gap in her bibliography corresponds to her foray into filmmaking, which yielded two films. These films will also remain her only works that are not in French.
If Djebar did not write in Arabic but made a film instead, then how is filmmaking, in her case, a more suitable medium for Arabic expression than writing?
In order to begin answering this question, I focus on the first of her two films, The Nouba of the Women of Mount Chenoua (1978), and articulate my analysis of both the film and its circumstances around the interrelated notions of aphasia, diglossia, and what I call arabophonie in Algeria. The last of these notions merits qualification straight away. The term arabophone is generally used in the objective sense of speaking Arabic. However, I intend it to convey the same connotation that francophone carries. Just as postcolonial implications of margin and centre result in francophone signifying not quite French, the Maghreb can be arabophone also in the sense of not quite Arabic. As to diglossia, while commonly addressed in the discipline of linguistics, and central to studies of Arabic within that field, it is, in this case, also relevant from a literary perspective. Nevertheless, it is necessary to start by considering the role of Nouba in Djebar’s work, and the role of speaking for the main character, or, as it happens, not speaking, which I designate as aphasia. This choice of word is not innovative by any means. Djebar herself used it as part of a chapter title in L’Amour, la fantasia (1985). By asking how is film a better suited medium than writing for Arabic expression in Djebar’s case, what I submit is that aphasia became essential to Djebar’s work specifically in its ties to Arabic, and the language’s position in Algeria at the intersections of French, Tamazight, and a broader Arabic-speaking region.
APHASIA
Nouba is a traditional form of urban music in the Maghreb, with its roots in Arab Spain, which is why it is sometimes also called Andalusian. The word nouba has entered French in its musical sense to mean a loud, carnivalesque revelry. However, it carries another meaning, still prevalent in the original Arabic, signifying ‘turn’ or ‘opportunity’ (as in take a turn, or get an ‘opportunity’ or a ‘chance’). This double meaning is intentional, and the women’s nouba in the title carries both senses of ‘women’s song’ (implying their song in their own voice), and ‘women’s turn’ (implying their turn to speak). The connection between the sense of ‘turn’ and the musical form is based on the trilateral root ن.و.ب, meaning representing (or acting as representative), it is also etymologically related to substitution and deputation or proxy. 
The titular nouba suggests that it is literally their turn to speak after they were overlooked by history, and their voices silenced, which is consistent with Djebar’s role as a historian. However, it is not enough to get a turn to speak, one needs a voice to speak with. In the other sense, of nouba, Lila substitutes the women of the Cherchell area’s voice for her own. With their turn to speak, they give Lila a voice as much as they are given one, and they represent her as much as the film represents them. Nouba is the facto the porte-parole of these women.
DIGLOSSIA
It is important to stress the difference between the two varieties of language that constitute Diglossia. Because these varieties are situational and socially-governed, they can easily be mistaken for tone or register, and diglossia can be misunderstood when the focus is only on the social factors that regulate the situations in which H or L is used. However, the differences between the two can be very pronounced, resulting in what may seem like two different languages, each with its own grammar, lexicon, and phonology. The implications of likening varieties of a language to separate languages can be highly inflammatory and politically laden. My purpose, however, is merely to indicate the apparent difference between H and L Arabic. Most importantly, however, it is essential to keep in mind that speakers of a diglossic language are not necessarily proficient in both varieties. While the L variety is acquired the way any language is acquired, namely through speaking to children, H is achieved through formal education.
This difference in acquisition is crucial. Using H or L is not necessarily a social choice, but a privilege of the literate. The first implications of this privilege for Nouba should be immediately apparent when taking into account the literacy rates of Algeria in the 1970s. According to UNESCO, and based on a 1971 census, the illiteracy rate in Algeria was 73.6% for segments of the population aged fifteen and over, and illiteracy among rural women specifically for that age group was 94.0% (1978, 42). While the literacy of the women in the film is unverifiable, the illiteracy rates among women in rural Algeria at the time were high by any standard. These women, speaking L Arabic only as a result of illiteracy, literally and very tangibly do not have a say in situations where the use of H is required. Consider, for instance, that parliament and political speeches are examples of some of these situations where H is used.
ARABOPHONIE
When taking into account the perceived superiority of certain varieties of Arabic, arabophonie, in this context, is analogous to what the term francophonie connotes, which is precisely not quite French. Arabophone, then, suggests a perceived inferiority in comparison to other varieties of Arabic. To clarify this analogy, I propose to focus on one crucial feature of francophonie, which is that it always entails the significant existence of at least one other language alongside French. Whether it is Wolof or the many other languages of West Africa, a Créole in the Caribbean, English in North America, Dutch or German in Europe. Naturally, the situation in each of these regions is considerably more complex than I am sketching here. However, the consistent feature that differentiates France from francophone countries or regions, is that in France only French is imagined to exist, regardless of the factual existence of other languages. In contrast, when French-speaking societies are francophone rather than French, the existence—officially acknowledged or not—of some other idiom is essential.
Similarly, arabophonie is demarcated by the apparent presence of one or more other languages in the region or society. It is the appearance of a presence of another language that is the significant feature here, rather than its actual presence. Defining Arabophonie as the fact of speaking Arabic in a bi- or multilingual context acknowledges the alleged inferiority of certain varieties of Arabic based on the belief that the presence of other languages in the region is corruptive, whether this belief and the hierarchy that it implies are adhered to or not. As such, it is different from a rivalry between regions (each claiming their variety of Spoken Arabic being closer to Fussha for example), but acknowledges without necessarily condoning the dynamic between an Arabic centre and a periphery, and the ensuing discrimination against, and/or paternalist attitudes towards, literary and cultural production in certain varieties of Arabic over others. In this sense, when one does not adhere to the language attitude that arabophonie describes, it remains possible to condemn and reject its hierarchical implications, or denounce the marginalization, silencing, or snubbing of the other languages that make it arabophone rather than Arabic.
Algeria is arabophone in that at least one other language is perceived to exist alongside Arabic. This is a fundamental difference between the Maghreb and other Arabic-speaking regions. In the Maghreb, the presence of French is obvious. In fact, often what defines the Maghreb as a region, is precisely that it is the three former French colonies of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. This makes it francophone, but, consequently, arabophone also. However, if The Maghreb is obviously arabophone given the existence of French as a result of colonialism, Tamazight (the Amazigh language also known as Berber) compounds the complexity of the diglossic situation in Algeria, and plays an even more important role in making the region arabophone rather than strictly Arabic. Although the women of the Cherchell area speak in Dardja with Lila, they are also Amazigh, making Dardja presumably their second language, and Tamazight their first.

Losing our language diversity • The death of Zoroastrian Dari in Kerman • The Modern South Arabian languages • Korandje from the 12 th to the 21 st century • The case of Siwi • The language of the 'Middle Eastern Gypsies' • What if, 100 years on, school is not enough? • PLUS Reviews and events in London About the London Middle East Institute (LMEI)

The term “Moor”and its variants have long been used throughout Europe as synonyms for Nigri or Negro and to denote various black-skinned and nearly black peoples. In the last century or so, it has been presumed that ancient “Moorish” Muslims in the Iberian peninsula were erroneously thought of as black by medieval Europeans. It has also been presupposed that the term “Moro” in the Iberian peninsula originally denoted Saracens and Berber-speakers that were distinct from modern “blacks” of Africa in phenotype and biological origin. It has been concluded that early “Berber” populations in North Africa were descendants of ancient  “Caucasoids“ who have absorbed different black African populations in recent times. Similarly it is believed that the Arab populations of North Africa a thousand years ago were mainly “Caucasoid” groups affiliated with present populations of the Levant.

Historical documents, physical anthropology, linguistics, archeology and traditional record in Muslim Africa and Asia, however, support the view that early “Berber” clans entering Europe were not only “blacks” and “near blacks” in the literal sense, but affiliated with early and current black populations of the Fezzan, Mzab, Syrtica, the Moroccan Riff, Sudan, Sahara and Sahel designated Garawa, Masmuda, Jarawa or Wangara, and Zaghawa, Zaghai or Songhai.

The Tuwarek or Tuareg were also one of the originally "Ethiopic" peoples of coastal regions of North Africa once  designated Lewathes, Mauri, Austuriani,  Nasamones and Mazikes or "Mazazeces"  from which comes the nationalist term  "Amazigh" of modern Berber-speakers.  The Tuareg peoples in combination with the original Beriberi or "Berbers" were the populations first referred to as Mauri or Moors, a designation which was utilized for them as late as the early Medieval period.

Ville libyco-punique, Saldae reçut vers 25 avant notre ère, une déduction de vétérans de la Legio Septima (de même que Rusazus et Tubusuptu dans la même région). Elle se trouvait dans un dangereux voisinage, celui de montagnards libyques, au sud-ouest les Quinquegenatenei qui occupaient le Djurdura, et au sud-est les Bavares qui ont donné leur nom aux Babors. Il en résulta de nombreuses péripéties.

Before the Arabs conquered northwest Africa in the seventh century, Ramzi Rouighi asserts, there were no Berbers. There were Moors (Mauri), Mauretanians, Africans, and many tribes and tribal federations such as the Leuathae or Musulami; and before the Arabs, no one thought that these groups shared a common ancestry, culture, or language. Certainly, there were groups considered barbarians by the Romans, but "Barbarian," or its cognate, "Berber" was not an ethnonym, nor was it exclusive to North Africa. Yet today, it is common to see studies of the Christianization or Romanization of the Berbers, or of their resistance to foreign conquerors like the Carthaginians, Vandals, or Arabs. Archaeologists and linguists routinely describe proto-Berber groups and languages in even more ancient times, while biologists look for Berber DNA markers that go back thousands of years. Taking the pervasiveness of such anachronisms as a point of departure, Inventing the Berbers examines the emergence of the Berbers as a distinct category in early Arabic texts and probes the ways in which later Arabic sources, shaped by contemporary events, imagined the Berbers as a people and the Maghrib as their home.

Key both to Rouighi's understanding of the medieval phenomenon of the "berberization" of North Africa and its reverberations in the modern world is the Kitāb al-'ibar of Ibn Khaldūn (d. 1406), the third book of which purports to provide the history of the Berbers and the dynasties that ruled in the Maghrib. As translated into French in 1858, Rouighi argues, the book served to establish a racialized conception of Berber indigenousness for the French colonial powers who erected a fundamental opposition between the two groups thought to constitute the native populations of North Africa, Arabs and Berbers. Inventing the Berbers thus demonstrates the ways in which the nineteenth-century interpretation of a medieval text has not only served as the basis for modern historical scholarship but also has had an effect on colonial and postcolonial policies and communal identities throughout Europe and North Africa.

RESUMEN
Presentamos la traducción al español y el estudio comparado de un cuento oral, Hamu el pícaro y la bruja, que fue registrado por Abdelhak Konaydi en 2016. La narradora, del pueblo de Laazzanen, en la comarca de Beni-Ansar (Nador), en Marruecos, se expresa en una variedad de la lengua rifeña (bereber) del nordeste del país. El cuento está protagonizado por un personaje burlador, tramposo o trickster, que vence a una bruja caníbal. Muestra paralelismos con los relatos de Pedro Urdemalas o Pedro de Malasartes, que es el trickster típico en muchos cuentos folclóricos españoles. El relato rifeño es una secuencia de los tipos narrativos internacionales ATU 1563, ATU 175 y ATU 327C. Y contiene, además, una gran cantidad de motivos folclóricos migratorios.

ABSTRACT
We present the translation into Spanish and the comparative study of an oral tale, that of Hamu the trickster and the witch, which was registered by Abdelhak Konaydi in 2016. The narrator, from the town of Laazzanen, in the Beni-Ansar region (Nador), in Morocco, speaks in a variety of the Riffian language (Rif Berber) in the northeast of the country. The story features a trickster protagonist who defeats a cannibal witch. It shows parallelisms with the stories of Pedro Urdemalas or Pedro de Malasartes, who is the typical trickster in many Spanish folk tales. The story from the Riff is a sequence of the international narrative types ATU 1563, ATU 175 and ATU 327C. In addition, it contains a large number of migratory folkloric motifs.

The archaeoastronomical studies developed until moment in Gran Canaria have revealed the high level reached by the astronomical practices of the ancient Canarians. Responding to these studies, the Cabildo of the island has developed an important labor, protecting and promoting various places with archaeoastronomical interest. The aim of our work is precisely to reflect on the protection policies developed in two specific cases: Cuatro Puertas (Telde) and Risco Caído (Artenara). After analyzing the available evidence and evaluating the degree of importance of each of them, the results show a total and disturbing lack of balance in the protection of both sites, probably due to a profound misunderstanding of the current state of research. On this basis, I argue that the Cabildo of Gran Canaria should undertake a thorough reassessment of its protection policies to the archaeoastronomical sites of the island.

En 1951, quelques années avant l’indépendance du Maroc, le capitaine Jean Vaugien, officier des affaires indigènes, rédige un mémoire sur la tribu berbère dont il a la charge. Ce qui n’aurait pu être qu’un rapport administratif destiné à guider la politique coloniale française devient, grâce à la grande curiosité et la familiarité avec les tribus berbères de Jean Vaugien, un véritable travail d'ethnologue, d’historien et de géographe. C’est sur le terrain, en écoutant les anciens autour d’un plateau de thé, qu’il a recueilli les faits de guerre et les traditions des Aït Ouirra. En les observant dans leur milieu il a pu les comprendre et les voir évoluer. Sous l’influence de la colonisation française et du monde moderne les Aït Ouirra abandonnent leur vie de pasteur et guerrier semi-nomade, se sédentarisent, s’instruisent, s’arabisent, s’ouvrent au communisme, au nationalisme et à l’Islam.
Un document précieux tant par ce qu’il nous apprend sur une tribu berbère au début du XXe siècle que parce qu’il nous apprend du regard et du travail de l’administration coloniale française.