Becoming Amazigh: standardisation, purity, and questions of identity

Abstract

The status of Amazigh/Berber language and identity in Morocco has provoked multiple debates in recent years, including a debate on unifying the three main Amazigh varieties (Tashelhit, Tamazight, and Tarifit) into one standard language. This study discusses how the Amazigh language standardisation is socially constructed and profoundly connected to notions of identity, differentiation, and a pan-Amazigh imaginary. Few studies have analysed these sociolinguistic underpinnings within the framework of language ideologies. Most of these studies focus on activists working on Amazigh language issues. Drawing on theories of language ideologies and discourse analysis, this study investigates the process of Amazigh standardisation based on the views of both activists and non-activists, and discusses the social implications of this process. Informed by onsite fieldwork including questionnaire surveys and interviews, the study reveals a wide opinion divide, based on practicalities and...