Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Taect Tamazit
Isallen
15
rad n Y ugurten
21
Tidak n Nna Fa
(Asusen/ Promotion)
28
Editorial
by
Arezki Boudif
As usual, while working on a new issue
of Amazigh Voice, I try to keep an eye on
the debated topics on Amazigh-net list.
And, a couple of months ago, one of the
members posted a contribution to the ongoing debate on the current situation of
Tamazight and Amazigh communities
claiming that: Our intellectuals have
done their job. They have created organizations. The problem is that the rest of
the society does not follow suit.
I wish this statement were true!
I believe, it is legitimate to show our intellectuals and activists some disapproval,
anger or disappointment when they fail to
exert the expected leadership, when they
fail to achieve the necessary consensus
that would boost the moral of our communities in their struggle for their culture
and language, when they give up their
previous commitment for some material advantages. But lets not lose hope
and acknowledge the contribution of our
scholars in their respective domains. Indeed, there is a noticeable trend among
Amazigh intellectuals expressing the desire to write their own history, ours! to
tell their own mythology, to celebrate
their own heroes and to introduce the
modern tools of technology to our language.
Therefore, to those who chose to continue our struggle, I have this to say: let
us do it in our language whenever it is
possible, let us do it together so that
younger generations can benefit from
your knowledge, let us be as authentic as
possible so that Humanity will discover
our culture with its true meaning.
.
In this issue, Mohammed Chafiq has been
kind enough to let us reproduce his address to a European conference on Mediterranean cultures and in which he eloquently summarized the Amazigh contribution to the cultures of the Mediterranean Basin. Ali Khadaoui, a Moroccan
poet and scholar, took us back to the
times when Imazighen of Morocco were
trying to preserve their freedom against
the European colonialists. Persuasively,
he advocates the use of the oral literature,
poetry, as a possible documentary source
to history of Tamazgha. You will also
find the third part of the translation into
Tamazight of Jugurthine war or Trad
n Yugurten written by Salluste and
translated to Tamazight (Taqbaylit) by
Karim Achab. The art of ahellil has fascinated
late Mouloud Mammeri.
Amazigh Voice is honored to reproduce
in this issue one of his numerous contributions to this subject.
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Isallen
www.frankrussellphotography.com
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Mouloud Mammeri
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Lastly, one can go back even further in the past and that
is where my hypotheses become really hazardous. This
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Abraham in Mecca.
9
Last Muslim kingdom in Spain that collapsed in 1492.
10
A breakfast that is eaten before dawn during the Muslim
fasting month of Ramadan.
11
Irrigation canals.
12
In general, in the Amazigh tradition, some animals are
symbols of qualities or physical appearance. In this case, a
gazelle would symbolize beauty and freedom.
*Transcription of the notes by Nadia MECHERI-SAADA.
*in CRAPE, oral literature Acts of the Round Table. OPU
(1982).
Footnotes:
1
Quranic Schools.
Movement that was created by the first Amazigh people who
learned the Quran and their descendants who form a class
different from the ordinary Amazighs, this phenomenon exists
only in Tamazgha.
3
Inhabitants of Gourara
4
People who claim to be descendants of Prophet Mohammed.
5
People who belong to a family/village that practice
maraboutism.
6
Type of cannabis
7
Dialect currently spoken in Mauritania.
2
Region of
Gourara
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Amazigh Spring.
In 1982, he founded in Paris, France, the Centre for
Amazigh Studies and Research (French acronym,
CERAM) and the journal Awal, a scientific journal
dedicated to Amazigh studies. In 1988 Mouloud
Mammeri received the title of honorary doctor from the
prestigious University of Sorbonne in Paris, France.
Mouloud Mammeri died in the evening of February 26th,
1989 in a car accident, near An Defla (west of Algeria),
as he was on his way back from Oujda, Morocco, where
he participated in a colloqium on the Amazigh Issues.
Dda Lmulud was buried in his native village in Kabylia.
Over 20 000 people attended his funeral.
In the course of his life, Mouloud Mammeri wrote various
novels and short stories. Two of his novels, La colline
oubliee (The forgotten hill) and Lopium et le
baton (The opium and the stick), have been turned into
popular movies. He was one of the most popular authors
in Algeria. His first novel, La colline oublie, although
a fiction, carries a historical value in that not only does it
describe the customs and the way of life in Kabylia, but
also relates the significant events that marked the era of
the forties such as the Second World War and epidemics
that claimed more lives than the war itself.
Mouloud Mammeri was also a playwright for he wrote a
few plays among which the much acclaimed Le
banquet (The Banquet) or La cite du soleil (The city of
the sun).
He also compiled the poems of a nineteenth century
illustrious bard Si Muhand U Mhand, whose poems are
still popular today, and those of another renowned poet of
an earlier era Yusef U Qasi, thus saving from oblivion
valuable pieces of Kabyl literature that was, until recent
years, essentially oral. He published two books in which
he collected as many folk tales as possible from the
region of Kabylia.
Finally, it is impossible to write about Mouloud Mammeri
without evoking the extensive work he accomplished on
the grammar of Tamazight, which serves, even today, as
the reference for most writings in Tamazight, especially
in Kabylia.
Convinced that any oral culture is bound to disappear,
Mouloud Mammeri dedicated his adult life to save his
own, by documenting what he could of the rich heritage
left by his ancestors on paper.
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Imazighen
Their contribution to the development of the Mediterranean cultures
By Mohamed Chafik
Part I (Excerpts)
The people designated by the word
Imazighen to feel, to reflect, and
Berbers never refer to themselves
sometimes to want to be Arab against
by this name. Until the beginning of
all odds. This fragmentation is
the 19 th Century, Europeans
therefore due to the fact that French
colonialism defined the majority of the
generally used the term Barbaria
borders of the neighboring African
when referring to North Africa. This
states
word is inherited from the Catholic
of the Sahara, without considering
Church, known for its linguistic
ethnic differences. As a result, the
conservatism. Later , the French
Mohamed Chafik
Berber speakers belong to different
formed Berber from the irregular
nationalities, mainly Moroccans and Algerians, but also
plural form Brber as pronounced in Arabic spoken in
Libyans, Tunisians, Mauritanians, Malians, Nigeriens,
North Africa. And, towards the end of the 18th Century,
Burkinabes, or even Chadians (Abrous and Claudotthe form Berber started to replace the form
Hawad). In addition, as emigration to other continents
Barbare . The same reason explains the Italian and
played a role, there currently exists an important,
Spanish form Berbero . But why have only the North
sizeable, and well-settled Amazigh Diaspora in Spain,
Africans, among all ancient people of the north and the
France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium.
south of the Mediterranean basin, continued to be
Recently Canada and the United States of America have
somehow called barbarians? The reason is that Arab
invaders of what we call today the Maghreb borrowed
attracted Amazigh immigrants.
the term Barbarus in the seventh century from the
Inside each country of origin, the Berber identity, in fact
Byzantines who considered us enemies from a political
linguistic, inevitably does not form one block from a
and religious point of view. However no Berber ever felt
geographical point of view, except in Morocco where it
any kind of barbarity, since each one always saw
almost occupies the total national territory from the
himself as an Amazigh, which etymologically means
northeast to the southwest, and in a more or less
both a free and noble man. Their language is Tamazight.
diagonal direction depending on the areas. In Algeria,
It is the ancient Greeks who created in their language
Mali, and Niger, it certainly occupies zones naturally or
the word barbaros, to designate all the other peoples,
artificially separated from each other, yet sufficiently
including the Romans, whom they saw as rough and
large enough to suitably feel able to fully claim itself as
badly trimmed beings. But the Greeks would not have
an ethnic identity. In addition, because of the rural
imagined that this qualifier would befall as an
migration, several cities in Algeria and Morocco are
unclaimed heritage on the descendants of people with
demographically becoming more Berber, little by little,
whom they felt a kind of filial respect. And, thus, this
year by year. Algiers, already a Kabyl city at the time of
article sometimes uses the word Amazigh and its plural
the French rule, became more Kabyl after 1962. At
Imazighen, or sometimes the word Berber.
precisely the same time, the Berber-speaking population
of Casablanca was estimated by a researcher to be
But before we focus on the ancient Berbers, it would be
approximately 23% (Adam, I, p.273). This percentage
advisable to initially describe those of present times,
could only grow, but for political and ideological
that is those represented here today. And here, we must
reasons that are easy to guess, in Morocco at least, the
immediately recognize the painful reality of the
many censuses, which followed one another since 1960
geographical fragmentation of the Amazigh World. Its
systematically overlooked the figures concerning the
main cause is historical: with deep effects on the souls,
spoken languages. This did not prevent an interesting
Islam involved the Arabization of entire Berber
phenomenon to occur in a spectacular way in Arabic
communities, leading successive generations of
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best health,
outclassing
t
h
e
Egyptians
and
the
G r e e k s
themselves
(Hrodote, L
II parag. 77
p. 199). He
also added
that
The
costume and
the
aegis
which
are
visible
on
Juba II
A t h e n a
statues in Greece are inspired by clothing of the Libyan
women..... Harness for four horses was learned from the
Libyans by the Greeks. (Hrodote, L IV, parag. 189, p.
444). The Latin writer, Pline the Elder (23 79 BC)
indicated that the Greeks attributed the foundation of
Tangier (Tingis) to their mythology giant of Antaios
(Pline, L V, parag. 2, p. 45), and that Greeks and
Libyans of Cyrene went together in pilgrimage to the
temple of Amun in Siwa (Pline, L.V, parag. 31, p.60
and comment p. 351). Athena, the Virgin, Athena, the
Goddess of War, Athena the Goddess of Wisdom, is
herself born in Libya near Lake Triton (Rossi, p. 82).
Hellenes believe that the Berbers Garamantes were
descendants of the God Apollo (Gaffiot, p. 703). Plato,
the philosopher, could never have founded his academy,
if it had not been repurchased and freed by a Libyan
when he was imprisoned and sold as a slave (Rossi, p.
119). Finally, it is well attested that Alexander the Great
had to travel 600 kilometers of desert, with all his army
and his escort, to be crowned as the King of Egypt by
the priests of Ammon in his temple in Siwa (in current
Egypt). The inhabitants of Siwa continue until today to
speak Tamazight.
Considering these data, one can assume that the Greeks
knew that their civilization was a result of that of Egypt
and Libya. The French historians Jean Servier and
Pierre Rossi developed this subject, the former focusing
on the Berbers, and the latter on the influence of Egypt
on Greece. Later, this article will reconsider the question
of the bonds between Imazighen and Egyptians.
It was also on the Libyan coast of the Mediterranean Sea
that Imazighen cohabited or simply were neighbors with
the Phoenicians sailors. With agreements, obtained with
good words from the North African natives, the
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Portrait of Terence
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ABROUS Dahbia, Universit de Bjaa et CLAUDOTHAWAD Hlne, CNRS-IREMAM, Article dans lAnnuaire
de lAfrique du Nord, 1999, 91-113 (Paris CNRS Editions)
sous le titre : Imazighen du nord au sud .
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Ali Khadaoui
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the same time. When he (she) dies, and by eternal recognition for his (her) merit and services, a bigger than ordinary grave will be built for him (her) to distinguish
him (her) from the common people. This way of honoring the outstanding members of the Amazigh communities is not different from funeral traditions in other civilizations, such as France where the pantheon is reserved
for the most illustrious citizens.
In the traditional Amazigh culture, the concept of death
does not establish a solid border between the living and
the next world (the visible and the invisible) so, the
most illustrious among the dead continue to advise, to
help living individuals to resolve their daily difficulties,
to cure their diseases, to help them reach important
status such as that of poets, weavers or other prestigious
professions.
In fact, what the trainee-poet is seeking from the saint
is a sort of legitimacy, that only the ancestors can grant.
Consequently, every poet has his own mentor-saint,
whom he would invoke at the beginning of his (or her)
performance in order to seek blessing and help from
him, and from God as well, the saint being the intermediate.
However, if the blessing of a saint is an important prerequisite to become a poet, this blessing is insufficient
because training with a confirmed poet is necessary, just
as it is for students from qualified professors. To enter
the circles of poets, the curriculum is quite heavy, with
frequent examinations, where the public has his say:
because the Amazigh poetry until today is declaimed
with the public all around, especially during the poetic
jousts where the improvisation is the most difficult examination challenge. Little by little, the young poet
takes his place in the hierarchy of poets, because there
is one! The audience of certain poets is larger than the
tribe, the region and sometimes even the country.
As a result of the advent of writing within the Amazigh
society whose tradition had thus far been exclusively
oral, the Amazigh poet has become aware of the fact
that two ways of expression are competing: the oral one,
which is his own, and the written one, which is that of
scholars.
These two ways of expression are in fact reflections of
two distinct social structures: the society of oral tradition and that of written tradition. However, these terms
raise some definition issues. In societies where writing
has been introduced by outsiders , the notions of
"illiterate" and uneducated have negative meanings.
On one side, they emphasize the existence of knowledge
(from books), on the other side, lack of the former is
seen as absolute ignorance. Even worse, the concept of
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For he who knows well the Amazigh language and culture, these verses represent a picture full of information.
First of all, we see there are bodies all over the battle
ground, but they are from the enemy side, which delights
the poet (feasts). Then, we learn that these bodies are
black (do not eat the blacks) and with "red", the allusion
is to those we call here " lalijou " or the legion. On the
other hand, we learn the name of the hero who signed this
memorable victory and prepared this feast: Azayi, allusion to Moha Ouhammou Azayi.
Footnotes:
1
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rad n Y ugurten
(aric w is sin)
Sur Karim Achab
Wagi d aric wis sin si tsuqilt n rad n Yugurten. rad n Yugurten d yiwen n wedlis i yura Salust di lewahi n
useggwass - 40 (weqbel Aaysa) ef lgirra i yedan ger um d Yugurten deg iseggwassen -111 d -105
(weqbel aaysa). Maca Salust d ajinini n laaske n um, ittekka di lgirra-nni. Amezruy n lgirra-agi yura-t akken yeba ad t-walin medden. Nekkwni mar a ne ayen yura, ilaq ad nerr di lbal-nne belli tamacahutt-a tettunefk-a-d kan si yiwet n liha. D win i tt-ixedmen, i tt-ireben, i tt-yuran.
Tasuqilt-a yerra-tt-id K. Achab si tefensist La Guerre de Jugurtha, akken i tt-id-yerra Franois Richard, si
tlainit, di GF-Flammarion, Paris, 1968.
Adlis akken i t-yura Salust s tlainit isem-is Bellum Jugurthinum
ixelle.
wla
Sipyu
unejli
tigullelt
akwed
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yedlisen n Qeraj
la qqaren yura-ten
ugellid
sal
asent.
17
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qqaren-asen mapalia.
i ef ri ad d-mmeslaye.
ad
ekkmen
awnen-ten
imezda
iqdimen
Di lweqt-nni n lgirra n Yugurten amur ameqwran si temnain tifniqin akwed wakal n Qeraj i -diaen yufa-d lal ekkmen-tent ineflas42 Iumyen
maca si melmi kan. Igettulen akwed Inumidyen
awed akken llan alamma d asif n Muluca43 d ifedsan44 n Yugurten. Ma yella d Imuiyen (Maures), nitni
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: deg uqerru-yis tagelda n Uderbal akkw ines. Yerna daen abrid-a mai s ieggwasen46 i d-yebges s
Page 26
T h e A ma z ig h V o i c e
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(partisans)
ceren imeqwranen: yewwi-yasen-d ad rren leslansen di erf, ad ebsen imeni, wad tt-frun s wis
tlata, akka kan i yecbe ama fell-asen, ama ef
um.
voted for...)
9
10
51
11
12
-yellan deg ugraw n um i w akken ad kksen C. G raccus d wid yeddan yid-s acku adabu-ines yaadda tilas.
Opimius yena azal n 3.0 0 0 n iermanen (citoyens) n
um,
yerna yessaw e
13
14
Ssfa = Loyalty
15
Iuken-is = Lbaimat-is
16
Taferka = Africa
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
mmi-s n Massensen.
24
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25
38
26
(mediterranean sea)
39
Empire
Imuriten = (The Maures)
Imeqsa = D imdanen ur nefhim timsal n ddunit
27
40
28
41
29
(Barbarians)
30
42
43
(Empire)
31
utaram n Lzzayer.
32
44
33
tagrigit (Grce).
(subjets)
45
46
47
48
49
36
50
37
51
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Tidak n Nna Fa
The first play in Tamazight (Taqbaylit)
produced in North America
Acu i d-tewwi tceqquft-a Tidak n Nna
Fa i umezgun Amazip
Summary
Nna Fadma, a Kabyle old woman is going to visit her
doctor. Casual day, isnt-it? However, when particular
circumstances turn a physician into a confidant, Nna Fa
unwinds the thread of a whole life made up of a lot of
love and self-abnegation but also frustration and revolt.
She speaks her mind on issues that relate to the social
life in Kabylia, mens but especially womens lives, as
well as the "current times".
In a whirlwind of replies where laughter and tears are
mixed together, Nna Fa guides us on a whole range of
emotions. From affection to the nostalgia of those years
when respect was a value, from admiration to a little
regret for not having spend enough time with our moms
and grandmas, aunties and other old relatives. With an
irreproachable politeness, using an authentic and exquisite speech, Nna Fa makes us realize that our grandmothers have a much more lucid glance on life than we
think. She reconciles us with a generation whose wisdom and lucidity have not been valued enough.
Ur ;ettbet ara Tidak n Nna Fa d rwaya n ta,sa i yebnan pef wesmeger n yiwen wudem (Character) Nna Fa.
Xe\sum Arab Sekhi ur yeyli ara di tcerkett nni am
akken i t,erru atas di tceqqufin n umezgun. Udmawen
n tcequft-a d wid n tidett d wid n tillawt d igmawiyen
(natural characters) ttwasknen-d s udem n yisep akwed
d win n ddpel d zzel.. I tidett-nni i-deg llan zemren
ad d-rsen seg usayes ad xel,en d lpaci fi;el ma bedlen
kra deg iselsa nsen wa ad kecmen di tmeddurt n tidett.
Ihi taceqquft agi ad as-yegg wemdan am akken kan