Berber writing system adaptable to the modern age
2007-03-30
An international colloquium organized by the High Commission for Amazigh discussed the origins of the Tifinagh alphabet and the best ways to bring it back into modern usage.
By Lyes Aflou for Magharebia in Algiers – 30/03/07
 [File] Tifinagh characters |
An international colloquium on Tifinagh, the earliest alphabet used to transcribe the Amazigh language, took place on Thursday (March 22nd) in Algiers. Organized by the High Commission for Amazigh (HCA), the conference was attended by distinguished social science experts from Niger, Morocco, Tunisia and France. Those in attendance deliberated the alphabet's use and how best to preserve it as a part of the Berber people's cultural heritage.
The event was part of a programme run by the HCA to rehabilitate the Tamazight language in Algeria. For two days, the participants presented papers on the origins and history of the Libyco-Berber language and shared their ideas on the use of the Tifinagh script.
Prehistorian Malika Hachid argued for a re-adaptation of Lybic characters, which she described as being "of native origin and the earliest historic evidence we have" of writing in the region. She added that they "are fully capable of being adapted to the modern age" and that to stop using them "would erase one of the most beautiful aspects of our cultural heritage."
Historian Karima Ouazar Merzouk expounded a new theory on the local origins of the Lybic alphabet, which rejects the idea that it was a variant of the Phoenician alphabet. "If this theory were to be proven, it would change all current thinking on the origins of writing, not only in North Africa but also in the world as a whole."
In support of the previous speaker, socio-linguist Said Toudji expanded on the theory of the origins of Libyco-Berber writings and their recent developments, commenting that the most ancient inscriptions "date to the 6th century BC." In his view, this shows that the Berber alphabet survived in North Africa at least until the end of the ancient world.
Jean-Pierre Laporte, a French archaeologist, argued that surviving documents should be used effectively so that scholars can gain an in-depth knowledge of the Lybic languages. He spoke of the various methods which have been implemented to gain knowledge of them through linguistic study. "Sadly, this study has told us little and this means there are gaps in our knowledge of the exact origin of these languages," he concluded.
Hacene Halouene, an Amazigh researcher and linguist, spoke about the use of Tifinagh in the public sector in Kabylia. Giving his views on the opportunity to reinforce Berber cultural identity through the use of its language, he deplored the fact that the teaching of the Tifinagh alphabet "has not been adopted by any official institution to date."
Fatima Boukhris, the director of the Centre for Language Development in Morocco, reported on the work carried out by the Royal Institute for Amazigh Culture to develop the Tifinagh script as the official alphabet of the Tamazight language in Morocco. She highlighted the fact that for several years now, Tifinagh has been the accepted system for the writing and publishing of Amazigh textbooks and other literature.
Modi Issouf of the Ministry of Primary Education and Literacy in Niger raised the issue of Tifinagh characters in the Unicode Standard. He said that "the adaptation of national languages for use in IT requires compatibility with regard to encoding methods." He added that in 1992 the Unicode Consortium created a universal character table intended to include the characters of all world languages.
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mohammad Posted 2007-03-31
Thank you for standing by the Amazigh culture from this perspective.
Adrar Amellal Posted 2007-04-01
Encoding the Tifinagh script is already considered by Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character Set at the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
رحال الشعراوي Posted 2007-04-02
In fact there are many differences in Amazigh writings which makes its regulation and learning difficult. That's why I suggest that Amazigh writings be standardized in the Maghreb so that we can regulate its concepts and use it with flexibility. Thank you.
فاتي أمازغية Posted 2007-04-02
I want to know if there is a book for learning the Amazigh language or not. I hope that there's an easy book to learn the Amazigh alphabet, thank you.
sara Posted 2007-04-07
Salam, I'm Sara from Morocco I want to thank you for this topic about Amazigh language as I'm Amazigh and despite the fact that I'm Berber I find difficulty in writing in tifinagh, thanks.
hassan Posted 2007-04-11
I'm from the south of Morocco. Thank you for the subject. My proposition is to harmonise the Tamazight writing system across all countries (Morocco, Algeria, Libya, etc.) The same thing for the terms.
Massinissa Oznay Amazigh Posted 2007-04-20
I am an Amazigh from Morocco. I would like to thank you very much for the subject. I pray for you. I suggest that the letters of Amazighi language are standardised so that it becomes easy to learn. Thank you.
anir Posted 2007-04-23
I'm in Tiznit the home of Amazigh people my warmest greetings to you
izem Posted 2007-06-05
Greetings to you, thanks for every word written on this topic. Given its great importance, for us to know our language which was buried under the slogan of Arab Nationalism, if possible send me an email about the Amazigh calendar as we ignore its writing.
haddou Posted 2007-06-22
Thank you for everything you have done for our language, Amazigh. The thing I am wishing for is that Tifinaghes will be the sole language for the countries of Tamazgha.
Anonymous Posted 2007-07-10
I am Amazigh. I live in Batna, Algeria in the Aures. I speak the Chawi diealect fluently and I would like to learn Tamazight, the common language of all Amazigh in Africa. Dis you know that our people stretch all the way to Burkina Faso? ☺
Anonymous Posted 2007-11-06
Greetings to you, my brothers and sisters- wishing you wellness and a warm greeting too. I just have one question: Is Tamazight one? I mean how it is spoken? Is it ours which is spoken or what, because some say it is Tarifit while others say it is Mazight. I checked in the book abc for learning Tamazight language, but I don’t know, where there be not tumult even if the Amazigh people is a democratic nation, the nation of free people. Hamid from Marrakech. A warm greeting, Amazigh forever.
abdellah Posted 2007-11-29
What is Tifinagh?
لويزة Posted 2008-01-13
I’m an Algerian woman. I live in Algeria. I speak fluently Kabyle but I don’t know how to write it, I mean the letters. I hope to find help from anyone who knows Tamazight. Thank you.
مسعود السيد Posted 2008-01-14
I'm an Amazigh man from Casablanca. My greetings to all Amazighs in Tamzgha the big land of Amazighs. I propose making a keyboard of Tifinagh. It will certainly find a big demand to profit and make others profit. Greetings.
نبيل Posted 2008-02-01
I’m from the west, I speak Tamazight “Chelha” in Morocco. There’s a great interest in that language and alphabet by young people namely for its beauty. A special greeting to all Amazighs in the world. May God grant you peace of mind.
بوجمعة Posted 2008-02-15
Warm greetings to the Amazigh people.
خالد جمال Posted 2008-03-19
Special thanks to the author of these nice words.
AMAZIGH,THFUCHT,THERALLI Posted 2008-04-17
As an Amazigh, I am absolutely proud of my linguistic roots, for which Tifinagh is the only form of writing capable of expressing the tones of Amazigh in the notebooks of our student, the future generation of the renaissance of the written Amazigh culture. The question to ask, then, is: are all Amazigh, withstanding those who write in Tifinagh, illiterate??? This is a challenge for us Arabicised Amazigh.
فضيلة Posted 2008-05-07
I am an Amazigh woman from Raghaia. Here I speak Tamazight very well and I also write it. I want to disseminate it in Algeria and the world.
عبد الله Posted 2008-05-21
Praise be to God. One nation, one race and one religion from Tangier to Timbuktu. The problem is that we don’t have one language, but two sister languages. We shouldn’t be the cause of dissent and dispute. I hope that Tifinagh will spread to all Tamzgha the great Maghreb so that the people become bilingual, every individual speaking two languages Arabic and Tamazight compulsorily in order to preserve the ties and harmony and why not unite the region of Tamzgha in a federal country whose official language is both Tamazight and Arabic. We won’t be an innovation because Belgium did this first. Oh Lord preserve for us the grace of Islam and safety, don’t separate us oh merciful and benefactor.
ايار Posted 2008-06-26
Peace, mercy and blessings of God be upon you.
اتري Posted 2008-07-03
I am from Morocco from Atlas mountains. I hope that there will be an agreement about Tifinagh alphabet, the standardisation of Tamazight language, adopt is as an official language of the country and teach it in schools so that we can implement it in governmental institutes. I am concerned about the wave of Arabisation which is unfortunately sweeping Morocco. Warm greetings. I am fluent in both writing and reading.
حميد Posted 2008-07-03
We are proud of the Amazigh language.
Ahmed Posted 2008-07-05
azul or asol ,salam salut ..... Be honest with you is very good to use arabic Arabic alphabet cause they will help our brothers arabas to learn Tamazight like Persian Urdo kurds..... .........
nabillllll Posted 2008-07-08
Thank you my brothers. I am an Amazigh and proud of my origins. This is not all, I am also proud of the Amazigh civilization. In the class where I study, I faced the opposition of one of the philosophy teachers because I am Amazigh. He doesn’t even recognize the existence of the Amazigh language. By the way we are 5 in the class which don’t speak Amazigh language. So what is the solution?
المشرقي المسلم Posted 2008-07-09
Peace, mercy and blessings of God be upon you. I wanted to know the future of Amazigh language in North Africa in the light of the interest of Amazigh intellectuals to speak French and neglect of their mother tongue.
khadija Posted 2008-09-19
Hi. Everything is nice.
محمد الصالح Posted 2008-09-29
Long live Arabic.
عربية امازيغية Posted 2008-10-02
Reviving Amazigh language shouldn’t be a war against Arabic. Our Amazigh grandfathers have welcomed our Arab grandfathers and lived as brothers beginning from Driss and Kenza. Both Amazigh and Arabic should remain. Arabs and Amazighs have become one flesh which cannot be easily broken. Our religion is one. Our traditions are one. Our blood is one. Everything is one. So are we going to fight Islam as well to fight Arabic? Not all Amazighs are Amazigh. There are some Amazighs of Arab origins. Not all Arabs are Arab. There are some Arabs of Amazigh origins just like the Christians and Muslims of Egypt. They have one blood. So are the Africans of Morocco who speak Tachlhit Amazigh? There are thousands of them. Curse Satan, put your hands together and let Tamazight embrace Arabic. Let us remain in Morocco our land. When the area is bigger, there will be more problems. The idea of the Arab Maghreb is the best example. Let’s all learn Tamazight step by step. May God protect us from the flames of strife. Ask people of knowledge.
bilal Posted 2008-10-13
I thank everyone who contributed to reviving the Amazigh language. As an Amazigh man, I like to defend it but without fighting the Arabic language. It is the language of Islam. I think as well that there should a reconsideration of the Amazigh language in terms of teachers because most of them aren’t fluent in it. There should be a standardization of Tifinagh alphabet and publish new simplified books to teach Amazigh language and avoid a deep study of its grammar or standardize it because some of them teach grammar rules different from those taught by others.
بلال Posted 2008-10-14
I have a question about the issue of Amazigh origins. I have heard and read many things about this issue. But up to now, I haven’t reached the solution. So please, what is the Amazigh origin? And why all these intricate statements which drive people to drop the idea of looking for their origins?
said beni melall Posted 2008-10-30
Greetings. I am Said from Beni Mellal. I wish progress to Tamazight. I also wish so much development to Tamazight. I live in Spain but I want to know how to write our language. I thank those who contribute to the development of Tamazight. Long live Berber. I always say it. I wish to write in Tamazight but I hope that associations will work for this. Thank you.
سيد احمد Posted 2008-11-13
Greetings to you. I thank all participants, both young and old. In reality, I respect all comments. I am a Sahraoui Mauritanian Amazigh, in other words, Tinzroufte Ou Azaouad, it is the desert in Tamazight. I liked your contribution. I say that in North Africa or the so called Tamzgha Imazighen (Land of Amazigh) Iboudraren in mountains, Izagharen in plains and Izaouaden in the desert like me. Many greetings to you.
achraf Posted 2008-11-15
I think that marginalisation of the Amazigh language by some officials put it in a dark tunnel bearing the name of Arabisation and loss of the Amazigh identity.
عادل سلطاني Posted 2008-12-05
Peace, mercy and blessings of God be upon you. Greetings to all Amazigh people. Firstly. we thank those who offered us this opportunity to express our opinions through this forum. Concerning the ancient alphabet of Tifinagh which honestly reflect the authenticity of North Africa (Tamzgha)….Therefore, there should be an academic work attempting in fact to standardise this ancient alphabet in an attempt which would unite the wide Tamzgha afterwards in order to remove the geographic exclusion from which our Amazigh language has suffered for centuries. Your brother Adil Soltani from Bir Al Atir, province of Tibessa. Algeria.
بن بلقار Posted 2008-12-25
I had the honour to visit all the Arab Maghreb countries as I have families in these countries. In Morocco, my attention was attracted by the Amazigh Alphabet or Tifinagh school books as it is very similar to Al Hamiria or Mosnad scripts which were dominant in the south of the Arab Peninsula. This similarity with Ethiopian language alphabets which were transferred to the south of the Peninsula with the foundation of Axom state after the trip of Belkis of Yemen to Ethiopia. But I didn’t found a reply as to the origins of this similarity between Amazigh alphabet, Hamiria language and letters of Mosnad.
ider Posted 2008-12-28
Greetings my brothers and sisters. I am an Amazigh from the Netherlands. I hope that we unify our language in writing and make it the language of North African people. Greetings Amazigh people of Tamzgha.
ALI Posted 2009-01-21
Salam. I am Ali from Agadir. I thank you very much for this news. OK. I hope that the Moroccan government will give some importance to these native people, Amazigh people.
massinissa Posted 2009-02-07
we have to make an Organization calling for the demarcation of the Tamazight language in Algeria and recognized. Berber culture and the dissemination of democracy and trading power and freedom.
jam3 Posted 2009-02-09
Azul. I am Jamaa from Agadir. A greeting to Amazighs and Arabs. Thank you very much. Tanmirt.
mohmed Posted 2009-03-24
Peace and mercy of God be upon you. I am Berber and I am proud of my Berber heritage, but we still need writing its letters, even if everything is planned. Anyway, I am proud of Berber, ahead. There are some people who don’t like Tamazight but racism will not succeed in these times. Salam alikum.
abdulla448 Posted 2009-04-01
I want to learn the alphabets, its spelling and pronunciation.
nadou Posted 2009-04-03
(I will continue my text because I ran out of space to fully express what I had to tell you.) The Provençaux in the south of France knew how to diversify and to offer something to others who were curious to see, think, laugh, sing and eat like them. Now, we see Parisians and people from the north of France and even other countries going to visit and to vacation in Provence. They sell their pottery, postcards and everything you can imagine having anything to do with Provence at the ports. People buy souvenirs and this has brought the commerce and the people to life. Moreover, all the regions of France have their own heritage. Look at the Bretons: they are happy! They speak French like everyone else but also their own language! It is the same in Marseille and Toulon and so on. During summer, everyone of them has a little festival with everything there is to offer to the spectators. We need to understand the “fashion” in which things are done nowadays. This is a return to our origin, our nature, our simplicity. Personally, I was born of a Berber father from the region of Nador called “Campo”. I devoted a lot of time to finding out where my father came from, his birthplace, his parents, his origins and the answers to all the questions I had been asking since my childhood. Personally, now that I have the opportunity, I am going to return to the native land of my father, who is now 78 years old. He still lives in France, but I need to know from where I come and who I am. Last year, I went alone to Campo on the Rif Mountains near Nador and I saw all that I could in seven days. This year I went for four days with my father and sisters to my father’s land. I can assure you that I thought it was beautiful. It spoke to me, sung to me. I know that these first steps will not be...
massin Posted 2009-05-04
I hope that our language will be unified and show the history to all the people of Tamazgha and victims of arabisation. Greetings to you. I am an Amazigh from the Rif.
itri Posted 2009-05-10
Amazigh to blood. Amazigh forever.
سارة الشروى Posted 2009-05-13
Salam alikum. I am Sara Cheroua. I am the daughter of an Amazigh militant Ali Cheroua Ben Taleb. I am very happy with this nice Amazigh gathering. May God guide us all to unity.
صالح الشاوي Posted 2009-07-08
I am a Chaoui from Batna, Labiare. I speak Chaoui, a little Kabile and know Amazigh alphabet and Amazigh history. I am very proud of belonging to the Amazigh people. I am concerned about Amazigh language and Amazigh people. My hope is to marry an Amazigh girl, have Amazigh friends. Long live Amazigh people wherever they are.
moha rodani Posted 2009-09-10
To my Amazigh brothers and to everyone who witnesses there is no other God but Allah, Mohamed is the messenger of God, nice greetings. Wish you all the good for what you did for Tamazight to be widespread in the country, to be spoken by everyone, young and old, Arabs and foreigners. Bye.
مراد من اولاد يعيش Posted 2009-09-26
Peace, mercy and blessings of God be upon you. Happy Eid to all the Umma of Mohamed (peace be upon him). I address my deepest thanks to all Amazigh people. I wish them more progress and work. I want to mention something. Why there are no Amazigh channels in Morocco? By the way there are in Morocco many channels. But unfortunately, there is no Amazigh channel. As Moroccan Amazighs, we ask officials to establish an Amazigh channel. Salam Alikum. Azul Amazigh people. Blessed Eid.
mohamade Posted 2009-10-09
By God, I liked to the topic so much. I say Azul to you Muslims. Everyone will die. There is no other God but Allah, Mohamed is the messenger of God. Nice warm greetings to you. I want you to help me with the alphabet, I want to learn them. Bye.
anir afolki Posted 2009-10-14
Azul. I tell you greetings. I invite you to visit my hometown, Lakhssas, Tiznit, Morocco. I speak Tachlhit. There are many dialects in Morocco including Tarifit and Tamazighit. I want Amazigh people to be united so that we will understand what they say. I am an artist painter. I have many paintings about the writings of Tamazight, Tifinagh. I hope there will be an exposition of Amzigh painters in which we will show paintings of Amazigh artist painters.
مميس ن ليبيا Posted 3 days ago
Hello to Amazigh people. First of all, the expression "Arab Maghreb" should be removed from the world dictionary. Secondly, there is no relationship between Yemen and North Africa. If anyone asks about the origins of the Amazigh, I will ask him first about his origins. Greetings.
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