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Standard Moroccan Amazigh
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Standard Moroccan Amazigh
Standard Moroccan Amazigh (ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ ⵜⴰⵏⴰⵡⴰⵢⵜ; Arabic: الأمازيغية المعيارية المغربية), also known as Standard Moroccan Tamazight or Standard Moroccan Berber, 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.
As of 2024, 24.8 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.
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.
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.
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Standard Moroccan Amazigh
Standard Moroccan Amazigh (ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ ⵜⴰⵏⴰⵡⴰⵢⵜ; Arabic: الأمازيغية المعيارية المغربية), also known as Standard Moroccan Tamazight or Standard Moroccan Berber, 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.
As of 2024, 24.8 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.
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.
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.