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Home , Latin script, Official script, Tifinagh

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Introduction Recent research in sociolinguistics and lin- or : guistic anthropology has focused on lan- Language Contact and guage choice and oral contact between spoken languages (Garrett 20; Blom and Practices Gumperz 421; Zentella 87; Makihara 49-54). Less focus has been placed on scripts in contact and the social dimen- sions of script selections. Scripts or orthog- raphies1 are not simple codification of language sounds. They are shaped less by the phonological fact of language than by social and cultural factors (Sebba, Contact languages 249). The development of a particular script for a spoken language has been neither a neutral activity nor a simple search to represent the sounds of a spe- cific language (Schieffelin and Doucet 285).

Dris Soulaimani Previous work on scripts has demon- strated the ways in which systems This study discusses the social aspects of both Arabic and Amazigh. This study are connected to social constructions script reforms and the hierarchies argues that, besides practicality, prefer- (Sebba, “Sociolinguistic Approaches”; attached to languages and scripts in con- ence for the in is Spelling and Society, and Unseth, “The tact. In Morocco, Arabic, French, and ideologically connected to the status of Sociolinguistics of Script Choice”). Amazigh/Berber compete for similar French as a language that indexes power, Drawing on this theoretical framework, social domains. In recent years, intense modernity, and social prestige. this study discusses the social and ideo- debates have taken place surrounding logical dimensions of script reforms. It the official adoption of to codify Keywords: Writing systems, Language considers script reforms as a social phe- Amazigh; however, less focus has been contact, Language ideologies, French, nomenon embedded within different placed on the unofficial selection of the Arabic, Amazigh/Berber ideological practices that index both - French-based Latin characters to write nic identity and political orientation

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(Unseth 24). This is illustrated by examples Kreyòl: either phonemically, pro-etymo- script instead of the Latin script. The most from the official Amazigh/Berber codifica- logically (.., reflecting its French origins), recent change took place after indepen- tion in Morocco. In recent years, political or a combination of the two options dence in 1991, when the Azeris chose and ideological debates have taken place (Schieffelin and Doucet 186-187). Selecting again the Latin script, which, as Hatcher regarding the official adoption of Tifinagh2 a unified for Haitian Kreyòl writes, conforms to the script used in other to codify Amazigh; however, less focus has has been a divisive issue in the country. Turkic republics and in and consti- been placed on the unofficial selection of This divide, as Schieffelin and Doucet tutes “an essential step in building their the French-based Latin characters to write (249) note, is motivated by multiple ide- identity” (107). Thus Azeris, with their both Arabic and Amazigh. This study also ologies, which inhibit the promotion of the choice of an nearly identical to gauges different language and script uses language in key areas such as literacy and the one used by Anatolian Turks, seem to and preferences in Morocco in daily tech- . be aligning themselves with Turkey and nology-related communication, including the West and away from both and in emails and text messages. The quantita- Other languages have witnessed compa- their Soviet past. tive part of the study aims at exploring the rable debates. In , for example, extent to which script preferences are the Azeri script underwent multiple Scripts also embody the struggle against determined by utility and practicality or changes, depending on the sociopolitical colonial powers. In West , a Guinean culture and ideology. conditions in the country and the influ- trader and self-taught Muslim educator ence exerted by neighboring nations. created a new script named ’ko in the Script Reforms Hence, backed the , while 1940s to transcribe the Maninka and The post-colonial era has witnessed the Turkey supported the . Mande languages (Oyler 87-90). The N’ko creation of new states as well as new lan- Soviet Russia pushed for adopting first the script, as Wyrod (31-35) notes, developed guages (Philips 486-487). Countries that Latin and then the . For during the French colonial period as a are subject to occupation often witness a Hatcher (106), the shift from Arabic to Latin form of resistance to the French power forced contact between different lan- script was enforced by the Soviets’ attempt that promoted the use of guages, which results in code reorganiza- to cut the cultural and religious ties and supported the Latin script in codifying tion. Some forms of language become between Azerbaijan and Muslim Iran. African languages. The script was created highly valued (Bourdieu 38), while other Similarly, in Wertheim’ view, the Soviets’ to be independent, indexing West African forms, such as language mixing, become goal was to “reorient… nationalities away populations’ aspirations for freedom. devalued (Kroskrity 108). A clear example from outside influences, in particular of this forced contact is post-colonial , [from] Muslims in the rest of the world, Scripts in Morocco which has seen the emergence of a new who were still using Arabic orthography” Morocco is a land with linguistic complex- language, namely Haitian Kreyòl. Different (112). A subsequent reform took place ity, in which a number of languages and options were available for writing Haitian when Azerbaijan adopted the Cyrillic varieties are in contact. Standard Arabic

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(SA) is the language of education, news, newspapers, and formal speech. (MA), also referred to as darija, meaning a , is the mother tongue for arabophone Moroccans. The French language entered Morocco offi- cially in 1912 when first colonized the country, and it continued to expand even after Morocco’s 1956 independence. Fig. 1: Tifinagh Script3 (Source: written by the author) Additionally, multiple varieties of Amazigh are in contact with Arabic in the country. regularly been used as written languages” more political and ideological than merely Amazigh refers to a number of related (112), noting, however, that some “Berber linguistic (Soulaimani 5-7). Berber varieties in the Hamito-Semitic texts written in Arabic script are known sub-family of Afro-Asiatic languages. from the 12th century .E. on” (115) and The Amazigh script debate These varieties are spoken in discontinu- that these are mostly religious texts. Morocco has witnessed a debate between ous areas along the southern different groups over the selection of a Mediterranean, from Siwa in to As for scripts, three writing systems are single script to codify Amazigh. The choice Morocco, as well as in parts of sub-Saha- now in use in Morocco, namely the Arabic was between the Arabic script, the Latin ran African countries like and . script, the Latin script, and Tifinagh. The script, or Tifinagh, an ancient script Different Amazigh groups include the Arabic script is used in literacy and the dif- believed to have been used by in Kabyles, Mozabetes, and Chaouis in ferent formal domains occupied by the past. However, as Cline notes, “If and the Tuareg in the and Standard Arabic. The French-based Latin Libyan writing [Tifinagh] was ever used in sub-Saharan regions. In Morocco, at least script covers areas in which the French long documents, trace of them three Amazigh varieties are spoken. The language is utilized, including technology remains” (273). In the script debate, lin- first is , a variety in the northern and science. Tifinagh, which has been guistic and historical factors have not mountainous area. Heading south, a sec- adopted recently as the for been separated from political and ideo- ond variety named Tamazight stretches Amazigh, is used in a very limited way, logical conflicts. While each group claims along the middle Atlas and the southeast. thus struggling in a competitive sociolin- that their choice is logical, their selections Further south and west is the domain of guistic landscape of writing systems in the were actually motivated by different ideo- the third variety, Tashelhit. Amazigh with country. Adoption of this script followed logical, cultural, or political viewpoints. In its variants has been mainly an oral lan- intense debates between different groups addition, the selection process certainly guage. In describing Amazigh, ’Connor with complex affiliations. As will be dis- involved questions of identity and linguis- states, “the have never cussed below, the debates proved to be tic differentiation.

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that their script is a significant component Analysis of the Amazigh social identity and their The status of Latin script is intertwined linguistic specificity. In the end, the gov- with the status structure of the French lan- ernment selected Tifinagh as an official guage in Morocco. Today, French plays an script, perhaps to avoid an imminent clash important socio-polical role in the country. between Arabic supporters and Latin sup- It is the primary language in some govern- porters. ment departments, including the Ministries of Tourism and Finance. Road Beyond the official signs are primarily in Arabic and French, To contextualize the script situation in while documents such as bank statements Morocco, this study incorporates ques- are exclusively in French. There is an inex- tionnaire results based on a larger data set tricable connection between the French that was gathered in Morocco in 2011. The language and technology and science. data included 460 surveys with college French is the language in which scientific students in both arabophone and berber- courses are taught at universities. This usu- Fig. 2 Government sign in Arabic, Amazigh, and phone areas. The study gauges partici- ally puts at a disadvantage most students French (Source: photo taken by the author) pants’ views, proficiency, preferences, and who use Arabic in studying these subjects attitudes toward the different scripts in during their pre-college education. The debate over script embodies the contact in Morocco. The surveys provide Recently, heated debates have intensified political struggle between two main quantifiable information that shows the between supporters of French and sup- groups: francophones who supported extent to which scripts are used in daily porters of Arabic over the use of French as Latin script and Nationalists and Islamists written communication. The original sur- a medium of instruction. In July 2019, how- who favored Arabic script (Soulaimani 10). vey comprised 60 wide-ranging ques- ever, the Moroccan parliament passed a Tifinagh was not an option in the begin- tions, including demographic information controversial that requires teaching ning. Supporters of Latin script saw their like gender, age, residence, and language science- and technology-related courses selection as a tool for facilitating commu- and script use, proficiency, and prefer- in a foreign language (i.e., French) at all nication with the outside world and an ences, as well as sections for additional levels (Aqdim). Thus, French, once seen as opportunity to easily access global infor- comments. The analysis below focuses on the language of the occupier, still pos- mation, including the latest technologies. the following survey items: 1) the sesses power in the country, providing Those who supported Arabic script language(s) used in personal emails, 2) access to economic and educational priv- focused on the cultural and linguistic the language(s) used in SMS, 3) the ileges. properties shared by Arabic and Amazigh. script(s) used in personal emails, 4) the Supporters of Tifinagh, however, argue script(s) used in SMS.

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These results can be contextualized, tak- The language(s) I use French MA SA Amazigh ing into account the close connection Personal Email 61.6% 55.4% 21.3% 13.7% between the French language and tech- SMS 56.1% 62.2% 11.3% 15.7% nology in the country. The high score of French can also be attributed to the ideo- Fig. 3: Language Use (Source: Surveys distributed by the author in 2011) logical association between French and highly valued social properties, such as The script(s) I use Latin Script Arabic Script Tifinagh Script modernity and prestige. The high rate of Personal Email 65.5% 29.1% 3% use of Moroccan Arabic especially in tex- ting can be explained considering the dia- SMS 68.9% 21.7% 11.5% glossic nature of Arabic, where Standard Fig. 4: Script Use (Source: Surveys distributed by the author in 2011) Arabic is a written form used in formal domains, while the dialect, Moroccan Moreover, French is considered the lan- (SA), or Amazigh, and one or more of the Arabic, is mainly oral, informal, and con- guage of social status and modernity following scripts: Latin script, Arabic script, nected with daily conversations. Texting, (Bentahila 98 and Chakrani 218). Locally, it or Tifinagh script. then, as a form of daily communication, is viewed as “linguistic capital” that pro- can be a domain of the dialect. Amazigh duces “a profit of distinction,” indexing With regard to the language used to write scored low, although, like Moroccan social value and privilege (Bourdieu 55). personal emails, the data shows that Arabic, it is a mainly oral language. This Hence, preference for French most likely French comes first with 61.6%, followed by score might derive from its generally low symbolizes alignment with a higher social Moroccan Arabic with 55.4%, then status in the country. This view, however, class, modernity, and prestige (Chakrani Standard Arabic with 21.3%, and finally has been changing with the initiation of its 218 and Soulaimani 9-13). Amazigh with 13.7%. This ranking changes codification in 2003 and its inclusion in the slightly for text messages, with an increase Moroccan as an official lan- This view of French and its Latin script is to 62.2 percent in the number of partici- guage in 2011. reflected in the questionnaire results pre- pants who use Moroccan Arabic. Here, sented below. In the questionnaires, the French comes second with 56.1%, fol- Scripts show usage hierarchies compara- participants were asked about the lan- lowed by Amazigh with 15.7% and ble to those of languages. According to guages and scripts they use in their per- Standard Arabic with 11.3%. These num- the survey, the French-based Latin script is sonal emails and text messages. The bers indicate that both French and used more frequently than Arabic script or answer options included one or more of Moroccan Arabic are generally used more Tifinagh script. Hence, in writing personal the following languages: French, frequently than Standard Arabic or emails, Latin script comes first with 65.5%, Moroccan Arabic (MA), Standard Arabic Amazigh in emailing and texting. followed by Arabic script with 29.1% and

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Dris Soulaimani Tifinagh with only 3%. The data also indi- context displays the work of ideology and cates that Arabic content, whether MA or the complexities of identity. Tifinagh is is Assistant Professor of Arabic and SA, in texting and emailing is transcribed seen by many as a political decision for a Linguistics at San Diego State University. more in Latin script than in Arabic script. linguistic issue. This is one of the semiotic received his Ph.. in Applied The high score of the Latin alphabet can processes that attest that linguistic struc- Linguistics from UCLA. His research be attributed to an earlier shortage of ture and real-life language use are con- interests include discourse analysis, technological equipment, such as key- nected. All examples of script selections language ideologies, and sociolinguistic boards or keypads, with Arabic script on discussed in this paper, although from issues of identity. His recent publications them and the scarcity of similar technol- geographically diverse areas, are remark- include “Becoming Amazigh: ogy that facilitates the use of Tifinagh ably comparable. This is because the Standardization, purity and questions script. For example, pre-smartphone cell- macro-social circumstances often lead to of identity” (2016, The Journal of North phone devices in Morocco mostly lacked similar micro-social effects. The represen- ) and “Embodiment in Arabic script. The increasing use of Latin tation of scripts is usually intertwined with Moroccan Arabic storytelling: Language, script can also be linked to the ideological other social, political, and cultural dimen- stance and discourse analysis” (2017, representation of French-based Latin sions. Beyond the official decisions, prac- Text & Talk). He is book review editor of script, a writing that indexes ticality also plays a role in language or Al-‘Arabiyya Journal (http://aataweb.org/ modernity, openness, and social prestige, script selections. Participants (college stu- alarabiyya). among other things. dents) in this study seem to use the French email: [email protected] language and Latin script more frequently Conclusion in their emails and text messages. In con- The languages discussed in this paper trast, Tifinagh script and the Amazigh lan- show that a is not merely a sign that guage seem to be the least-preferred represents a certain sound; it is also a sign options for writing. This indicates hierar- that represents identity and a particular chical social relations between the Arabic, ideology. N’ko script came as a reaction to French, and Amazigh languages, on the French occupation and was employed to one hand, and Arabic, Latin, and Tifinagh counter the French presence in West scripts, on the other. Africa. In Azerbaijan, selection of the Latin alphabet points to the significance of orthography as a way of showing affilia- tion with, or differentiation from, a certain group, community, or nation. Similarly, the case of Tifinagh script in the Moroccan

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Notes Works Cited Southwestern Journal of Oyler, Dianne White. The ---. “Sociolinguistic Anthropology, vol. 9, no. 3, History of the N’ko Alphabet Approaches to Writing 1 The terms script, Aqdim, Mohamed. Mashrūʿ 1953, pp. 268-276. and its Role in Mande Systems Research.” Writing orthography, and writing qānūn iṭār 51-17 wa iʿādat Transnational Identity: Systems Research, vol.1, no. 1, system will be used in this farnasat al-taʿlīm bi--maghrib Garrett, Peter. Attitudes to Words as Weapons. Africana 2009, pp. 35-49. paper to refer to any written ("Framework Law" Project: Language. Cambridge UP, Homestead Legacy Pb, 2005. representation of a spoken Re-Frenchifying Education in 2010. Soulaimani, Dris. “Writing and language. Morocco). https://lakome2. Philips, Susan. “Language rewriting Amazigh/Berber com/opinion/128000. Hatcher, Lynley. “Script and Social Inequality.” A identity: and 2 Tifinagh is a script based Acessed 28 Sept. 2019. Change in Azerbaijan: Acts Companion to Linguistic language ideologies.” Writing on ancient signs discovered of identity.” International Anthropology, edited Systems Research, vol. 8, no. in various historical sites in Bentahila, Abdelali. Journal of the Sociology of by Allessandro Duranti. 1, 2016, pp. 1-16. North Africa (Prasse). Language Attitudes Among Language, vol. 2008, no. 192, Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Arabic-French Bilinguals in 2008, pp. 105–116. 2004, pp. 474-494. Unseth, Peter. “Sociolinguistic 3 Tifinagh script standardized Morocco. Short Run P, 1983. Parallels between Choosing by IRCAM (the Royal Institute Kroskrity, Paul. “Arizona Prasse, Karl-. Manuel de Scripts and Languages.” for Amazigh Culture) in Blom, Jan-Petter, and John Tewa Kiva Speech as a grammaire Touaregue. Written Language and Morocco. Joseph Gumperz. “Social Manifestation of a Dominant Copenhagen, vol.1-3, Literacy, vol. 8 no. 1, 2005, pp. Meaning in Linguistic Language Ideology.” Akademisk Forlag, 1972. 19-42. Structure: Code-switching Language Ideologies: in .” Directions in Practice and Theory, edited Schieffelin, Bambi ., ---. “The Sociolinguistics Sociolinguistics, edited by by Bambi B. Schieffelin et al., and Doucet Rachelle. of Script Choice: An John Joseph Gumperz, and Oxford UP, 1998, pp. 103-122. “The ‘real’ : Introduction.” International Dell Hymes. Rinehard and Ideology, Metalinguistics, Journal of the Sociology of Winston, 1972, pp. 407-434. Makihara, Miki. “Rapa and Orthographic Choice.” Language, vol.192 (special Nui ways of speaking American Ethnologist, vol. 21, issue), 2008, pp. 1-4. Bourdieu, Pierre. Language Spanish: Language shift no 1, 1994, pp.176- 200. and Symbolic Power. Harvard and socialization on Easter Wertheim, Suzanne. Linguistic UP, 1991. Island.” Language in Society, Sebba, Mark. Contact Purism, Language Shift and vol. 34, no. 5, 2005, pp. 727- Languages: Pidgins and Contact-induced Change in Chakrani, Brahim. “Between 762. creoles. Macmillan, 1997. Tatar (Doctoral dissertation). Profit and Identity: Analyzing U of California, 2003, the effect of language of O’Connor, Michael. “The ---. Spelling and Society: https://escholarship.org/uc/ instruction in predicting Berber Scripts.” The World’s The culture and politics of item/3x61t12t. Accessed 16 overt language attitudes Writing Systems, edited by orthography around the Sept. 2019. in Morocco.” Applied William Bright, and Peter world. Cambridge UP, 2007. Linguistics, vol. 3, no. 2, 2015, Daniels. Oxford UP, 1996, pp. ––› pp. 215-233. 112–116.

Cline, Walter. “Berber and Berber Script.”

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––› Wyrod, Christopher. “A Social Orthography of Identity: The N’ko literacy movement in West Africa.” International Journal of the Sociology of Language, vol. 2008, no. 192, 2008, pp. 27-44.

Zentella, Ana Celia. Growing up Bilingual. Blackwell, 1997.

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ISSN: 2196-629X https://doi.org/10.17192/ meta.2019.13.8080

Middle East – Topics & Arguments # 13 –2019