Names of the Berber people explained

The indigenous population of the Maghreb region of North Africa encompass a diverse grouping of several heterogenous ethnic groups who predate the arrival of Arabs in the Arab migration to the Maghreb.[1] [2] [3] They are collectively known as Berbers or Amazigh in English.[4] The native plural form Imazighen is sometimes also used in English.[5] [6] While "Berber" is more widely known among English-speakers, its usage is a subject of debate, due to its historical background as an exonym and present equivalence with the Arabic word for "barbarian."[7] When speaking English, indigenous North Africans typically refer to themselves as "Amazigh."[8]

Historically, these groups of people did not refer to themselves as "Berbers" but had their own terms to refer to themselves. For example, the Kabyles use the term "Leqbayel" to refer to their own people, while the Chaouis identified themselves as "Ishawiyen" instead of Berber/Amazigh.[9]

The Numidian, Mauri and Libu populations of antiquity are typically understood to refer to approximately the same population as modern Amazigh or Berbers.[10]

Today

Berber

In Archaic Greece, βάρβαροι (barbaroi) 'barbarians' was an onomatopoeic word to describe languages perceived as defective, as well as their speakers; bar-bar was an imitation of these languages.[11] Around the beginning of Classical Greece, the term had come to be used for all foreigners and non-Greek speakers.[12] [13] [14] Greeks referred to North African tribes as barbaroi, along with other generalized terms, such as "Numidians," and tribal designations.[15] Among the oldest written attestations of the word Berber is its use as an ethnonym in a document from the 1st century AD Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.[16]

The Greek barbaroi was borrowed as the Arabic word بربرة (barbara) 'to babble noisily, to jabber', which was used by conquering Arabs to describe indigenous North African peoples, due to the perceived oddness of their (non-Semitic) language. This usage was the first recorded to refer to indigenous North Africans as the "Berber" collective.[17] Though "Berber" had been used in reference to East Africans as well, it was mostly applied to Maghreb tribes in conquest narratives, and this became the dominant usage of the term.

Following a period of Islamization, the highly-influential Arab mediaeval writer Ibn Khaldun considered "Berbers" to be their own "race" or "great nation." This idea fell out of use as indigenous North Africans were increasingly marginalized, but was revived by French colonists in the nineteenth century in hopes of dividing the population.[18]

The English term "Berber" is derived from the Arabic word barbar, which means both "Berber" and "barbarian."[19] [20] Due to this shared meaning, as well as its historical background as an exonym, the term "Berber" is commonly viewed as a pejorative by indigenous North Africans today.[21] [22]

Amazigh

Amazigh (fem. Tamazight, pl. Imazighen) is an endonym for indigenous North Africans otherwise known as "Berber." "Amazigh" is also used in English; the native language plural "Imazighen" is sometimes but not always used as well. There have been efforts by self-identified Amazigh to popularize the term over "Berber," including in English, due to the perceived derogatory nature of the latter. The use of "Amazigh" is particularly common in Morocco, especially among Central Atlas Tamazight, Tarifit and Shilha speakers since 1980.[23] Its usage does not replace that for more specific ethnic groups, such as Kabyle or Chaoui.[24]

Relatedly, the endonym of Berber languages is typically Tamazight, and in English, "Tamazight" and "Berber languages" are often used interchangeably.[25] [26] [27] "Tamazight" may also be used to a specific language, such as Central Atlas Tamazight or Standard Moroccan Amazigh, depending on the context of its usage.[28] [29] [30] [31]

Although Amazigh as a term had been used throughout history, its use as a claim on collective indigenous North African identity is more recent. Many scholars suggest that the 1945 poem “Kker a mmis umazigh” (“Rise up Son of Amazigh”) by Mohand Idir Aït Amrane to be its first use as a cultural claim.[32]

Etymology

Some scholars suggest that the root word Latin: maziġ in the name Amazigh may be related to early Libyco-Berber tribes, which had been referred to as Mazices in some sources.[33] [34] According to Ibn Khaldun, the name Berber languages: Mazîgh is derived from one of the early ancestors of the Berbers.[35]

According to the Berber author Leo Africanus, Berber languages: Amazigh meant 'free man'; some argued that there is no root of Berber languages: M-Z-Ɣ meaning 'free' in the modern Berber languages. However, Berber languages: mmuzeɣ ('to be noble', 'generous') exists among the Imazighen of Central Morocco and Berber languages: tmuzeɣ ('to free oneself', 'revolt') exists among the Kabyles of Ouadhia.[36] Further, Amazigh also has a cognate in the Tuareg word Berber languages: Amajegh, meaning 'noble'.[37] [38]

Historical

Libu

See main article: Libu.

Numidians

See main article: Numidians.

Moors

See main article: Mauri and Moors.

Romans referred to the indigenous tribes of Mauretania as Mauri, or "Moors."[39]

Indigenous North African tribes, along with other populations, were referred to as "Moors" by medieval Europeans.[40]

The historical interchangeability between "Berbers" and "Moors" is a subject of academic inquiry.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Andrews, Jonathan . The Missiology behind the Story: Voices from the Arab World . 2019-04-30 . Langham Publishing . 978-1-78368-599-8 . en . Berber: A collective term for the indigenous peoples of North Africa who predate the arrival of Arabs during the expansion of the Arab empire in the seventeenth century..
  2. Book: Skutsch, Carl . Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities . 2013-11-07 . Routledge . 978-1-135-19388-1 . 211 . en . Berber is a generic name given to numerous heterogenous ethnic groups that share similar cultural, political, and economic practices..
  3. Book: Fields, Nic . Roman Conquests: North Africa . 2011-01-26 . Casemate Publishers . 978-1-84884-704-0 . en . It must be said that modern Berbers are a very diverse group of peoples whose main connections are linguistic..
  4. Web site: Berber Definition, People, Languages, & Facts Britannica . 2022-12-13 . www.britannica.com . en.
  5. Book: Aïtel, Fazia . We are Imazigen : the development of Algerian Berber identity in twentieth-century literature and culture . 2014 . 978-0-8130-4895-6 . Gainesville, FL . 895334326.
  6. Book: Ilahiane, Hsain . Historical dictionary of the Berbers (Imazighen) . 2017 . 978-1-4422-8182-0 . 2nd . Lanham, Maryland . 966314885.
  7. Book: Oxford Arabic dictionary : Arabic-English · English-Arabic . 2014 . Tressy Arts . 978-0-19-958033-0 . First . Oxford . 979,990 . 881018992.
  8. Book: Language Diversity Endangered . 2015 . Matthias Brenzinger . 978-3-11-090569-4 . Berlin . 124 . 979749010.
  9. Book: Goodman, Jane E. . Berber Culture on the World Stage: From Village to Video . 2005-11-03 . Indiana University Press . 978-0-253-21784-4 . 7 . en.
  10. Encyclopedia: 2008. Lebou/Libou. Encyclopédie berbère. Edisud. Zimmermann. K.. Aix-en-Provence. 28-29 Kirtēsii – Lutte. 28–29 . 4361–4363. 10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.319 . free.
  11. Book: Maddy-Weitzman, Bruce . Amazigh politics in the wake of the Arab Spring . 2022 . 978-1-4773-2482-0 . Austin . 1255524815.
  12. Book: Gibbon, Edward . The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire . 5 . 162.
  13. Web site: The term barbaros, "A Greek-English Lexicon" (Liddell & Scott), on Perseus . Perseus.tufts.edu . 2018-07-12.
  14. Book: Delante Bravo, Chrostopher. Chirping like the swallows: Aristophanes' portrayals of the barbarian "other". 2012. 978-1-248-96599-3. 9.
  15. Book: Maddy-Weitzman, Bruce . The Berber Identity Movement and the Challenge to North African States . University of Texas Press . 2011 . 9780292745056 . 14–17.
  16. Book: Schoff . Wilfred Harvey . The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: Travel and Trade in the Indian Ocean by a Merchant of the First Century . 1912 . Longmans, Green . 56 . 29 March 2018.
  17. Book: Rouighi, Ramzi . Inventing the Berbers: History and Ideology in the Maghrib . 2019 . University of Pennsylvania Press . 978-0-8122-5130-2 . 19. j.ctv16t6h7b .
  18. Soulaimani . Dris . Writing and rewriting Amazigh/Berber identity: Orthographies and language ideologies . Writing Systems Research . 2016 . 8 . 1 . 1–16 . 10.1080/17586801.2015.1023176. 144700140 .
  19. Book: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology . Oxford University Press . 2003 . 9780191727153 . Hoad . T.F. . Berber . "XIX. — Arab. barbar." . 1996.
  20. Web site: berber Etymology, origin and meaning of the name berber by etymonline . 2023-03-15 . www.etymonline.com . en.
  21. News: Vourlias . Christopher . January 25, 2010 . Moroccan minority's net gain . 417 . Variety . Penske Business Media, LLC . 10.
  22. Web site: 2019-09-23 . "Respecting Identity: Amazigh Versus Berber" . 2022-10-25 . Society for Linguistic Anthropology . en-US.
  23. Web site: INALCO report on Central Morocco Tamazight: maps, extension, dialectology, name . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100727120243/http://www.inalco.fr/crb/crb_2/fiches_dialectes/tamazight.htm . July 27, 2010 . October 2, 2012 . fr.
  24. Book: Mohand Akli Haddadou . Le guide de la culture berbère . Paris Méditerranée . 2000 . 13–14.
  25. Heggoy . Willy N. . The Mozabites of Algeria . July 1947 . The Muslim World . 37 . 3 . 192–208 . 10.1111/j.1478-1913.1947.tb02488.x . 0027-4909.
  26. Web site: Tamazight language Britannica . 2023-02-13 . www.britannica.com . en.
  27. Book: The encyclopaedia of Islam. . 1960–2009 . Brill . H. A. R. Gibb, P. J. Bearman . 90-04-16121-X . New . Leiden . 399624.
  28. Web site: Archived copy . dead . http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160522160159/http://www.aps.dz/images/doc/PROJET-DE%20REVISION-DE-LA-CONSTITUTION-28-DECEMBRE-2015.pdf . 2016-05-22 . 2016-01-06.
  29. Sanga . Oumar . Mackie . Chris . October 31, 2022 . Education in Morocco . World Education News & Reviews.
  30. Gross . Joan E. . 1993 . The Politics of Unofficial Language Use: Walloon in Belgium, Tamazight in Morocco . Critique of Anthropology . en . 13 . 2 . 181 . 10.1177/0308275X9301300204 . 0308-275X . "Tamazight in Morocco is divided by linguists into three major dialect areas usually referred to as: Taselhit in the south, Tamazight in the Middle Atlas mountains, and Tarifit in the north." . 145058398.
  31. Alalou . Ali . 2018-04-03 . The question of languages and the medium of instruction in Morocco . Current Issues in Language Planning . en . 19 . 2 . 136–160 . 10.1080/14664208.2017.1353329 . 1466-4208 . 149159548.
  32. Book: Aïtel, Fazia . We are Imazighen: the development of Algerian Berber identity in twentieth-century literature and culture . 2014 . 978-0-8130-4895-6 . Gainesville, FL . 7 . 895334326.
  33. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/03/16/MN145053.DTL Morocco's Berbers Battle to Keep From Losing Their Culture
  34. Book: Lipiński, Edward . Semitic Languages: Outline of a Comparative Grammar . Peeters Publishers . 2001 . 978-90-429-0815-4 . Leuven . 38.
  35. Book: Ibn Khaldun . Histoire des Berbères et des dynasties musulmanes de l'Afrique septentrionale . P. Geuthner . 1925 . 1 . Paris . 176 . fr . de Slane . William MacGuckin . 556514510 . Ibn Khaldun . Baron de Slane.
  36. Brugnatelli . Vermondo . 16–18 June 2012 . À propos de la valeur sémantique d' amaziɣ et tamaziɣt dans l'histoire du berbère . About the semantic value of amaziɣ and tamaziɣt in Berber history . BaFraLe . fr . 30 March 2022.
  37. Book: Brett . Michael . The Berbers . Fentress . E. W. B. . Blackwell Publishing . 1996 . 5–6.
  38. Maddy-Weitzman . Bruce . 2006 . Ethno-politics and globalisation in North Africa: The Berber culture movement . The Journal of North African Studies . 11 . 1 . 71–84 . 10.1080/13629380500409917 . 143883949.
  39. Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: οἰκοῦσι δ᾽ ἐνταῦθα Μαυρούσιοι μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων λεγόμενοι, Μαῦροι δ᾽ ὑπὸ τῶν Ῥωμαίων καὶ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων "Here dwell a people called by the Greeks Maurusii, and by the Romans and the natives Mauri" Strabo, Geographica 17.3.2. Lewis and Short, Latin Dictionary, 1879 s.v. "Mauri"
  40. Book: Blackmore, Josiah. Josiah Blackmore. Moorings: Portuguese Expansion and the Writing of Africa. 2009. U of Minnesota Press. 978-0-8166-4832-0. xvi, 18.

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