- AfroaAsiatic linguistics, Languages and Linguistics, Africanistics, Berber sociolinguistics, Sociolinguistics, Berber linguistics, and 60 moreBerber studies, Area Studies, Research Methodology, Berber, Amazigh culture, Mediterranean Studies, Berber Lexicography, Berber Languages, Libyco-Berber Linguistics, mouvement Amazigh Maroc, Berbers. Amazighs. History of Berbers. Cultural and Political Claims. Cultural and Berber Movement. North of Africa. Algeria. Morocco., Linguistics, Evolutionary Linguistics, Functional Linguistics, Romance Linguistics, Linguistic Politeness, Linguistic ethnography, Linguistic Impoliteness, Linguistic Typology, Linguistic landscapes, Linguistic Geography, Kabyle culture, Ethnographic Methods, Oral literature, Berber literature, Amazigh, Standardisation Du Berbère, Language Planning, Afroasiatic linguistics, Comparative Semitics, Cushitic, Egyptian, Chadic, Arabic Dialectology, Amazigh Medical System, Rif, Berbère, Linguistique, Arabic Maghrebi dialectology, Arabic language and dialects, Andalusi Arabic, Cognitive Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, Computational Linguistics, Comparative Linguistics, Contact Linguistics, Arabic Language and Linguistics, Corpus Linguistics, Diachronic Linguistics (Or Historical Linguistics), Biblical Hebrew (Languages And Linguistics), Text Linguistics, Theoretical Linguistics, Philosophy Of Language, Languages, African Studies, Africana Studies, Afro-Asiatic Linguistics, Hamito-Semitic Linguistics, Hamito-Semitic and Indoeuropean Comparison, and Grammaticalizationedit
- Mena B. Lafkioui is both Full Professor (Directeur d'études) at the Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales in P... moreMena B. Lafkioui is both Full Professor (Directeur d'études) at the Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris, where she holds the Chair of Berber linguistics, and Research Director (Directeur de recherche) at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) - LIER-FYT (UMR 8065). Her research interests and projects involve 1) the Typology and dynamics of Information Structure and its interface with prosody, 2) Negation: typology and evolution, 3) Tamazight linguistics, geolinguistics, and sociolinguistics, 4) Arabic dialectology with a special focus on African Arabic, 5) the Linguistic geography of Africa, 6) Multilingualism and language contact, 7) Grammaticalization, 8) Sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology, 9) Computational linguisticsedit
Research Interests:
The history of the Berber languages has always been linked to that of other languages and cultures. It is a fact that, throughout history, the Berber peoples have handed down very few written documents in their own language. Even in... more
The history of the Berber languages has always been linked to that of other languages and cultures. It is a fact that, throughout history, the Berber peoples have handed down very few written documents in their own language. Even in ancient times, despite the widespread use of the Berber
alphabet in North Africa, the Numidian kings preferred to employ in their inscriptions the language and script of the Phoenician settlers of Carthage alongside their own. Consequently, in those times and thereafter, the main historical sources regarding Berber have been written in the languages of
those foreign peoples who have shared this area with the natives. As Mouloud Mammeri (1989) has pointed out, ‘‘in Roman times, Latin was the language used by Tertullian, Cyprian, Augustine, Fronto,
Arnobius, and Apuleius, even though the books of these writers provide clear evidence of their Berber origins. […] Since then and to this day, the situation has not changed. In all the countries where it has been spoken […] Berber has always remained hidden behind the scenes. […]
For over three thousand years, Phoenician, Latin, Greek, Arabic, and French have been used in writing, but nobody has written in Berber.’’ If on the one hand this situation is cause for much regret among those contemporary Berber people who would prefer a ‘national’ history less influenced by external narratives, it renders on the other hand Berber languages particularly interesting to linguists and sociolinguists because of their multifaceted
nature due to contact. This volume includes most of the papers that were presented at the international conference Berber in contact. Linguistic and sociolinguistic perspectives held in Milan / Italy on 28-29 January 2008.
It comprises a series of studies on different forms of language contact involving Berber both in North Africa and among the Berber diaspora. The fifteen articles are grouped into two main sections according to the perspective from which the theme of contact is approached. The linguistic perspective focuses mainly on the analysis of contact effects on linguistic features and systems, while the sociolinguistic viewpoint primarily investigates the contexts of use of the different linguistic systems in contact.
alphabet in North Africa, the Numidian kings preferred to employ in their inscriptions the language and script of the Phoenician settlers of Carthage alongside their own. Consequently, in those times and thereafter, the main historical sources regarding Berber have been written in the languages of
those foreign peoples who have shared this area with the natives. As Mouloud Mammeri (1989) has pointed out, ‘‘in Roman times, Latin was the language used by Tertullian, Cyprian, Augustine, Fronto,
Arnobius, and Apuleius, even though the books of these writers provide clear evidence of their Berber origins. […] Since then and to this day, the situation has not changed. In all the countries where it has been spoken […] Berber has always remained hidden behind the scenes. […]
For over three thousand years, Phoenician, Latin, Greek, Arabic, and French have been used in writing, but nobody has written in Berber.’’ If on the one hand this situation is cause for much regret among those contemporary Berber people who would prefer a ‘national’ history less influenced by external narratives, it renders on the other hand Berber languages particularly interesting to linguists and sociolinguists because of their multifaceted
nature due to contact. This volume includes most of the papers that were presented at the international conference Berber in contact. Linguistic and sociolinguistic perspectives held in Milan / Italy on 28-29 January 2008.
It comprises a series of studies on different forms of language contact involving Berber both in North Africa and among the Berber diaspora. The fifteen articles are grouped into two main sections according to the perspective from which the theme of contact is approached. The linguistic perspective focuses mainly on the analysis of contact effects on linguistic features and systems, while the sociolinguistic viewpoint primarily investigates the contexts of use of the different linguistic systems in contact.
Research Interests:
Les articles réunis dans cet ouvrage examineront les formes variées de l'oralité africaine en Afrique et dans la diaspora, et ce dans des contextes dans lesquels la communication et la création littéraire sont marquées par la diffusion de... more
Les articles réunis dans cet ouvrage examineront les
formes variées de l'oralité africaine en Afrique et dans la
diaspora, et ce dans des contextes dans lesquels la
communication et la création littéraire sont marquées par la
diffusion de la presse écrite, la radio, la télévision et, plus
récemment, Internet. L'oralité - par sa nature, à la fois, flexible
et persistante - est imprégnée par le changement autant que par
la continuité. Ce sont précisément ces changements et ces
continuités qui seront analysées dans cette collection.
Certaines contributions étudieront les nouvelles dimensions
que la communication orale a prises dans les langues africaines
en raison du passage à l'écrit et de la présence des médias
techniques. D'autres contributions traiteront des échanges
entre formes écrites et formes orales dans des contextes
multilingues. D'autres encore mettront en lumière la continuité
frappante des formes et fonctions des genres oraux actuels.
formes variées de l'oralité africaine en Afrique et dans la
diaspora, et ce dans des contextes dans lesquels la
communication et la création littéraire sont marquées par la
diffusion de la presse écrite, la radio, la télévision et, plus
récemment, Internet. L'oralité - par sa nature, à la fois, flexible
et persistante - est imprégnée par le changement autant que par
la continuité. Ce sont précisément ces changements et ces
continuités qui seront analysées dans cette collection.
Certaines contributions étudieront les nouvelles dimensions
que la communication orale a prises dans les langues africaines
en raison du passage à l'écrit et de la présence des médias
techniques. D'autres contributions traiteront des échanges
entre formes écrites et formes orales dans des contextes
multilingues. D'autres encore mettront en lumière la continuité
frappante des formes et fonctions des genres oraux actuels.
Research Interests:
SEE ALSO: https://atlasrif.wordpress.com/
Research Interests:
Research Interests: African Studies, Languages and Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, Language Variation and Change, Linguistic Anthropology, and 10 moreAfro-Asiatic Linguistics, Corpus Linguistics, Linguistics, Structural Analysis, Linguistic Variation, Berber studies, Berber, Berber literature, Berber Languages, and Variationist Linguistics
Research Interests:
The present volume is dedicated to the study of written sources about Africa and aims at bringing together various disciplines. The research results presented here take into account the specific features of the texts examined regarding... more
The present volume is dedicated to the study of written sources about Africa and aims at bringing together various disciplines. The research results presented here take into account the specific features of the texts examined regarding both form and content, along with the different historical periods in which the texts have been produced (i.e. antiquity, medieval, modern and contemporary period) and the diverse geographic areas to which the texts relate, which are North Africa, including Egypt and the Sahara, East Africa and West Africa. In doing so, the findings of thes studies could benefit diverse scientific domains working on Africa, and particularly those of humanities and social sciences.
Research Interests: African Studies, Ethiopian Studies, African History, History of West Africa, West Africa, and 14 moreAfrican Literature, Manuscript Studies, Coptic Studies, Coptic (Languages And Linguistics), Africana Studies, Berber studies, Arabic Manuscripts, Coptic Monasteries, Berber, Ethiopian History, Berber Manuscrits, Ethiopian Christianity, Ibadites, and Coptic Manuscripts
"This present book studies from a dialectological perspective various African Arabic varieties, such as Maghreb Arabic, Bongor Arabic, Juba Arabic and Logorí Arabic. On the one hand, different specific linguistic aspects related to... more
"This present book studies from a dialectological perspective various African Arabic varieties, such as Maghreb Arabic, Bongor Arabic, Juba Arabic and Logorí Arabic. On the one hand, different specific linguistic aspects related to phonetics and phonology as well as to morphology, syntax and lexicology are discussed in this volume; e.g. the Arabic loanwords in Somali with regard to the strata in South Arabian, the structural features of Logorì Arabic and its use as Lingua Franca or native language, the contact-induced innovation processes in North African Arabic negation by analogy with Berber negation. On the other hand, the African Arabic theme is approached from a more general perspective analysing the contact effects on linguistic features and systems from a broader comparative, typological and universal viewpoint, e.g. a general typology of Arabic in Africa, the question of possible universal features of pidginization and creolization drawn on evidence from Arabic-based pidgins and creoles. Its outcomes offer important insights for all linguistic studies and approaches, and directly connect with other research fields such as sociolinguistics, ethnolinguistics and language acquisition.
"
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In the present study, I argue that post-posed topic specification (PTS) across the Sahara is an areal phenomenon and that in the case of Southern Tamazight (i.e., Tuareg and Zenaga) it is an innovation generated by pattern replication. On... more
In the present study, I argue that post-posed topic specification (PTS) across the Sahara is an areal phenomenon and that in the case of Southern Tamazight (i.e., Tuareg and Zenaga) it is an innovation generated by pattern replication. On the other hand, the required matter for PTS formation in Southern Tamazight is generally provided by Tamazight itself by means of system-internal developments involving the following predominant grammaticalisation track, that is, [*modality markers > topic specifiers]. I also show that full convergence has taken place in these Southern Tamazight languages, which has affected their linguistic typology on the morphological, syntactic, and pragmatic level. Moreover, the study accounts for the significance of the functional parameter of contrast in the development of these topic specifiers and hence confirms the importance of system-based factors in language change.
Research Interests: Languages, African Studies, Languages and Linguistics, Contact Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, and 13 morePragmatics, Arabic Language and Linguistics, Saharan Archaeology, Linguistics, Africa Nilo-Saharan Linguistics, Africana Studies, Linguistique, Areal linguistics, Dialectology and Geolinguistics, Amazigh culture, Languages in Contact, Afroasiatic linguistics, and Berbère
Deze studie licht het belang van taal voor de Amazighclaim toe. Via taal kunnen de Imazighen hun millennia oud en rijk taalkundig en cultureel erfgoed begrijpen en er volop van genieten. Daarnaast kan taal als belangrijk symbool en... more
Deze studie licht het belang van taal voor de Amazighclaim toe. Via taal kunnen de Imazighen hun millennia oud en rijk taalkundig en cultureel erfgoed begrijpen en er volop van genieten. Daarnaast kan taal als belangrijk symbool en machtsmiddel functioneren. Als de Imazighen hun Amazighiteit – d.w.z. hun transnationale collectieve Amazighidentiteit – willen behouden en verder ontwikkelen, dan is Tamazight spreken en schrijven een must!
Research Interests:
The present article addresses the rich and complex morphosyntax of cleft constructions in Kirundi (Bantu, JD62) and the role they play in its information structure. Although clefts are one of the main focus marking devices in this and... more
The present article addresses the rich and complex morphosyntax of cleft constructions in Kirundi (Bantu, JD62) and the role they play in its information structure. Although clefts are one of the main focus marking devices in this and other Bantu languages (Demuth 1984; Demuth 1987b; Suzman 1991), especially in conversation, they have received little attention. Some Burundian grammarians took a certain interest in Kirundi clefting (Sabimana 1986: 189-222; Bukuru 2003: 295), but only in a subsidiary way, for instance as part of interrogative strategies. No systematic and thorough study on the matter exists. This study aims at filling this gap by means of a detailed analysis of Kirundi cleft constructions based on a text corpus of 196,000 oral and 2,033,000 written tokens.
Research Interests: Sociology, African Studies, Bantu Linguistics, Pragmatics, Semantics, and 13 moreMorphosyntax, Semantics/Pragmatics interface, Information Structure, African Linguistics, Cleft Sentence, Focus, Bantu, African Languages and linguistics, Focalization, Clefting, Syntax Semantics Interface, Kirundi, and languages And Literatures
This article addresses the phenomenon of topicalization from a typological perspective, both at the level of the Berber phylum and at the crosslinguistic level. It aims at providing Berber's principal linguistic properties and... more
This article addresses the phenomenon of topicalization from a typological perspective, both at the level of the Berber phylum and at the crosslinguistic level. It aims at providing Berber's principal linguistic properties and mechanisms of topicalization in comparison with cross-linguistic accounts so as to better understand the connection between syntax and information structure, which in Berber is subject to variation and to a complex interplay with prosody.
Research Interests:
Viewed from an interactional sociolinguistic perspective, this research addresses multilingual codeswitching practices of youngsters with North African roots from the super-diverse Flemish city of Ghent. Particular attention is paid here... more
Viewed from an interactional sociolinguistic perspective, this research addresses multilingual codeswitching practices of youngsters with North African roots from the super-diverse Flemish city of Ghent. Particular attention is paid here to their artistic – mainly interethnic – performances, as these play a vital role in constructing ethnic and social belonging by voicing “glocal” identities. In so doing, the study provides evidence of the importance of multilingualism and codeswitching in the accommodation, socialization, and emancipation of these youngsters.
Research Interests: Sociology, Anthropology, Anthropological Linguistics, Multiculturalism, Languages and Linguistics, and 15 moreMultilingualism, Sociolinguistics, Linguistic Anthropology, Arabic Language and Linguistics, Urban Anthropology, Identity (Culture), Youth Culture, Linguistics, Bilingualism and Multilingualism, Bilingualism, Berber studies, Berber, Codeswitching, Tamazight, and Code switching and code mixing
HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or... more
HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. Rif: la langue (rifain/tarifit) Mena B. Lafkioui
Research Interests:
... Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: Record Details. Record ID, 444497. Record Type, misc. Author, Mena Lafkioui [801001354320] - Ghent UniversityMena.Lafkioui@UGent.be. Title, De l'art de la narration... more
... Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: Record Details. Record ID, 444497. Record Type, misc. Author, Mena Lafkioui [801001354320] - Ghent UniversityMena.Lafkioui@UGent.be. Title, De l'art de la narration tamazight (berbère). ...
Research Interests:
... Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: Record Details. Record ID, 444490. Record Type, conference. Author, Mena Lafkioui [801001354320] - Ghent University Mena.Lafkioui@ UGent.be. Title, Syntaxe intégrée de... more
... Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: Record Details. Record ID, 444490. Record Type, conference. Author, Mena Lafkioui [801001354320] - Ghent University Mena.Lafkioui@ UGent.be. Title, Syntaxe intégrée de l'énoncé non-verbal berbère. ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
... Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: Record Details. Record ID, 378861. Record Type, journalArticle. Author, Mena Lafkioui [801001354320] - Ghent University Mena.Lafkioui@ UGent.be. Title, Propositions pour la... more
... Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: Record Details. Record ID, 378861. Record Type, journalArticle. Author, Mena Lafkioui [801001354320] - Ghent University Mena.Lafkioui@ UGent.be. Title, Propositions pour la notation usuelle à base latine du rifain. ...
Research Interests:
Double and triple negation marking is an ancient and deep-rooted feature that is attested in almost the entire Berber-speaking area (North Africa and diaspora), regardless of the type of negators in use; i. e., discontinuous markers... more
Double and triple negation marking is an ancient and deep-rooted feature that is attested in almost the entire Berber-speaking area (North Africa and diaspora), regardless of the type of negators in use; i. e., discontinuous markers (preverbal and postverbal negators) and dedicated negative verb stem alternations. In this article, we deal with the main stages that have led to the present Berber negation patterns and we argue, from a typological viewpoint, that certain morphophonetic mechanisms are to be regarded as a hitherto overlooked source for new negators. Moreover, we present a number of motivations that account for the hypothesis that, in Berber, those languages with both a preverbal and a postverbal negator belong to a diachronic stage prior to the attested languages with a preverbal negator only. Consequently, the study demonstrates that the Jespersen Cycle is back to the beginning in certain Berber languages. In doing so, we also show that Berber is to be regarded as a sub...
Research Interests:
The research presented in this article deals with the complex pronominal system of Rif Berber (North, Northwest, and Northeast Morocco), considered from a perspective that integrates qualitative (synchrony and diachrony) and quantitative... more
The research presented in this article deals with the complex pronominal system of Rif Berber (North, Northwest, and Northeast Morocco), considered from a perspective that integrates qualitative (synchrony and diachrony) and quantitative (algorithmic) viewpoints. It includes both independent and clitic pronouns. The findings of this research account for the crucial role that play combinatorial and distributional properties (morphosyntax) along with geolinguistic diffusion in the diversification and evolution of the variants attested.
Key words: Rif Berber (including Senhaja and Iznasen), pronoun, qualitative and quantitative classification, language continuum
Key words: Rif Berber (including Senhaja and Iznasen), pronoun, qualitative and quantitative classification, language continuum
Research Interests: African Studies, Diachronic Linguistics (Or Historical Linguistics), Languages and Linguistics, Dialectology, Clustering and Classification Methods, and 10 moreComparative Linguistics, Corpus Linguistics, Morphology, Pronouns, Linguistics, Morphology and Syntax, Berber studies, Berber, Classification, and Afroasiatic linguistics
By combining qualitative (synchronic and diachronic) and quantitative (algorithmic) approaches, this study examines the nature, structure, and dynamics of the linguistic variation attested in Berber of the Rif area (North, Northwest, and... more
By combining qualitative (synchronic and diachronic) and quantitative (algorithmic) approaches, this study examines the nature, structure, and dynamics of the linguistic variation attested in Berber of the Rif area (North, Northwest, and Northeast Morocco). Based on a cross-level corpus of data obtained from the Atlas linguistique des varieties berbères du Rif (Lafkioui 2007) and from numerous linguistic, sociolinguistic, and ethnographic fieldwork investigations in the area since 1992, this study shows
that these Berber varieties form a language continuum with the following five stable core aggregates, which cut across administrative and political borders: Western Rif Berber, West-Central Rif Berber, Central Rif Berber, East-Central Rif Berber, and Eastern Rif Berber. Furthermore, data mining studies made it possible to objectively identify the principal aggregate discriminators of the Rif Berber continuum, which are dealt with in the study. A special focus in the article is put on the interplay between system-internal and system-external parameters for the selection, diffusion, and transformation of variants in Rif Berber.
that these Berber varieties form a language continuum with the following five stable core aggregates, which cut across administrative and political borders: Western Rif Berber, West-Central Rif Berber, Central Rif Berber, East-Central Rif Berber, and Eastern Rif Berber. Furthermore, data mining studies made it possible to objectively identify the principal aggregate discriminators of the Rif Berber continuum, which are dealt with in the study. A special focus in the article is put on the interplay between system-internal and system-external parameters for the selection, diffusion, and transformation of variants in Rif Berber.
Research Interests: African Studies, Diachronic Linguistics (Or Historical Linguistics), Historical Linguistics, North Africa Studies, Sociolinguistics, and 14 moreComputational Linguistics, Clustering and Classification Methods, Syntax, Corpus Linguistics, Morphology, Linguistics, Lexicography and Corpus Studies, Linguistic Typology, Berber studies, Phonetics and Phonology, Classification, Linguistics. Word-formation. Morphology. Lexicology. Semantics., Berber Languages, and Afroasiatic linguistics
The present study investigates the grammatical origin of the postverbal negator ḇu in Rif Berber (Afroasiatic, Berber; North, Northeast, and Northwest Morocco) and in Moroccan Arabic of Oujda (Afroasiatic, Semitic; Northeast Morocco), the... more
The present study investigates the grammatical origin of the postverbal negator ḇu in Rif Berber (Afroasiatic, Berber; North, Northeast, and Northwest Morocco) and in Moroccan Arabic of Oujda (Afroasiatic, Semitic; Northeast Morocco), the only languages in which it is commonly attested up till now. Based on new data obtained from recent fieldwork in Morocco, the study will demonstrate that this negator is most probably of Berber origin and has been construed out of an existential by system-internal grammaticalization. The study will also provide evidence for quadruple negation marking in Rif Berber, relating to a reduplication of the ḇu-negator. Moreover, it will show how Berber constantly innovates its cyclical negation system, in which, in this case, different Jespersen Cycles and a Negative Existential Cycle are interlaced. Accordingly, the study will prove that ḇu in Moroccan Arabic is an innovation phenomenon induced by contact with Rif Berber and instantiated through the processes of pattern replication and matter borrowing.
Keywords: Negative Existential Cycle ; Berber ; interlaced negation cycles ; quadruple negation ; Jespersen Cycle ; Arabic ; system-internal and contact-induced grammaticalization
Keywords: Negative Existential Cycle ; Berber ; interlaced negation cycles ; quadruple negation ; Jespersen Cycle ; Arabic ; system-internal and contact-induced grammaticalization
Research Interests: African Studies, Diachronic Linguistics (Or Historical Linguistics), Languages and Linguistics, Contact Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, and 10 moreArabic Language and Linguistics, Syntax, Afro-Asiatic Linguistics, Comparative Linguistics, Grammaticalization, Linguistics, Berber studies, Negation, Jespersen cycle, and Negative Existential Propositions
This chapter examines from a user-based perspective the different formal and structural connections between language use and representation, social inscription and spatial anchoring of the "old" French-speaking bourgeoisie with Flemish... more
This chapter examines from a user-based perspective the different formal and structural connections between language use and representation, social inscription and spatial anchoring of the "old" French-speaking bourgeoisie with Flemish roots in contrast to "newer" French speakers of Ghent, whose globalised French in the context of super-diversity contributes to the construction and consolidation of collective "minority" identities, which are marked by what I call conventionalised heteroglossia.
Research Interests:
Double and triple negation marking is an ancient and deep-rooted feature that is attested in almost the entire Berber-speaking area (North Africa and diaspora), regardless of the type of negators in use; i.e. discontinuous markers... more
Double and triple negation marking is an ancient and deep-rooted feature that is attested in almost the entire Berber-speaking area (North Africa and diaspora), regardless of the type of negators in use; i.e. discontinuous markers (preverbal and postverbal negators) and dedicated negative verb stem alternations. In this article, we deal with the main stages that have led to the present Berber negation patterns and we argue, from a typological viewpoint, that certain morphophonetic mechanisms are to be regarded as a hitherto overlooked source for new negators. Moreover, we present a number of motivations that account for the hypothesis that, in Berber, those languages with both a preverbal and a postverbal negator belong to a diachronic stage prior to the attested languages with a preverbal negator only. Consequently, the study demonstrates that the Jespersen Cycle is back to the beginning in certain Berber languages. In doing so, we also show that Berber is to be regarded as a substrate in the development of double negation in North African Arabic. In addition, the study accounts for the asymmetric nature of Berber negation, although some new developments towards more symmetrical negation configurations are also attested.
Research Interests: Diachronic Linguistics (Or Historical Linguistics), Languages and Linguistics, Typology, Syntax, Morphology, and 12 moreLinguistics, Morphology (Languages And Linguistics), Language Typology, Linguistic Typology, Berber studies, Diachronic Syntax, Berber, Negation, Diachronic linguistics, Berber Languages, Berbère, and Jespersen cycle
The present article discusses how the combination of structural (qualitative) and al-gorithmic (quantitative) perspectives provides valuable insights into geolinguistic patterning and variability, and hence testifies to the importance of... more
The present article discusses how the combination of structural (qualitative) and al-gorithmic (quantitative) perspectives provides valuable insights into geolinguistic patterning and variability, and hence testifies to the importance of the integrating approach in addressing geolinguistic complexity. In doing so, it shows how language is constantly modulated in the form of innovations that emerge in structurally layered and causal formations, dictated by a subtle interplay between system-based and system external properties. A case that accounts for this kind of geolinguistic complexity is provided by this data-driven study on Berber (Afro-asiatic), which shows how certain phonological and morphological innovation processes triggered by the vocalisa-tion of the liquids /r/, /ṛ/, /rr/ and /ṛṛ/ in Rif Berber (North, Northeast, and Northwest Morocco) create language variation and change. Furthermore, the Berber data examined demonstrate the significant role of certain system-internal factors, such as economy and code conformity, in the diffusion of new phonetic, phonological, and morphological items. In order to better understand the intricacy of the various vocalisation phenomena addressed in the study, the results of the qualitative analysis (synchrony and diachrony) are also contrasted with the algorithmic results ensuing from computing geolinguistic distances by means of the Levenshtein distance calculating method with phone strings tokenised in pair-wise alignments (pondered variables).
Research Interests: African Studies, Languages and Linguistics, Phonology, Dialectology, Sociolinguistics, and 13 moreLanguage Variation and Change, Complexity Theory, Complexity, Corpus Linguistics, Morphology, Linguistics, Geolinguistics, Morphophonology, Berber studies, Phonetics and Phonology, Berber Languages, Afroasiatic linguistics, and Dialectología
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This article deals with preposed topic specification in Berber and demonstrates how this pragmatic phenomenon was engendered by contact with Arabic by means of two grammaticalisation processes: replica grammaticalisation (Heine and Kuteva... more
This article deals with preposed topic specification in Berber and demonstrates how this pragmatic phenomenon was engendered by contact with Arabic by means of two grammaticalisation processes: replica grammaticalisation (Heine and Kuteva 2003), which led to the Type-1 topic specifier, whose borrowed matter has undergone light or heavy processing, and (ordinary) contact-induced grammaticalisation (Heine and Kuteva 2003), which led to the Type-2 topic specifier, whose matter was provided by Berber itself by means of system-internal developments. Furthermore, the article accounts for the functional parameter of contrast as being the probable trigger of the whole innovation process and hence corroborates Matras' hypothesis (1998) regarding contrast as a motivating factor for borrowing.
Research Interests: Languages, Languages and Linguistics, Contact Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, Pragmatics, and 11 moreAfro-Asiatic Linguistics, Grammaticalization, Linguistics, Interlanguage Pragmatics, Berber studies, Language contact, Berber, Berbere, Berber Linguistic, Pragmaticalization and Grammaticalization, and Berbère
The study presented in this article examines from an algorithmic geolinguistic perspective a corpus of lexical material of Rif Berber, which forms a language continuum covering the Rif area, which is located in North, Northwest and... more
The study presented in this article examines from an algorithmic geolinguistic perspective a corpus of lexical material of Rif Berber, which forms a language continuum covering the Rif area, which is located in North, Northwest and Northeast Morocco. In doing so, the study offers quantitative classifications of the Berber varieties of the Rif area and hence verifies the numerous qualitative classifications provided in the Atlas linguistique des varieties berbères du Rif (Lafkioui 2007), the ALR henceforth. This study builds further on the methods and results obtained from the algorithmic classifications of Rif Berber’s lexis discussed in Lafkioui (2008, 2009), which provide evidence for the validity of the Levenshtein distance calculating method, also called edit distance, especially when the phone strings are
tokenised in pair-wise alignments. Furthermore, among the many techniques to analyse and visualise aggregate distances, Multi Dimensional Scaling – MDS henceforth – was proven to be the best suited for studying language continua, which is the case of Rif Berber (Lafkioui 2007, 2008).
tokenised in pair-wise alignments. Furthermore, among the many techniques to analyse and visualise aggregate distances, Multi Dimensional Scaling – MDS henceforth – was proven to be the best suited for studying language continua, which is the case of Rif Berber (Lafkioui 2007, 2008).
Research Interests: Languages and Linguistics, Lexicology, Dialectology, Computational Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, and 12 moreAfro-Asiatic Linguistics, Corpus Linguistics, Linguistics, Geolinguistics, Berber studies, Berber, Linguistique, Linguistique appliquée, Dialects, Berber Languages, Hamito-Semitic Linguistics, and Berbère
This article analyzes the morphological oppositions and the semantic distinctions that originate from transformation processes of which the imperfective in Berber has been the subject. The synchronic and diachronic phenomena studied in... more
This article analyzes the morphological oppositions and the semantic distinctions that originate from transformation processes of which the imperfective in Berber has been the subject. The synchronic and diachronic phenomena studied in this contribution offer examples of how language is continually modulated through innovations that emerge in structurally layered and causal formations dictated by system-based properties.
Research Interests: Semantics, Morphosyntax, Morphology, Libyco-Berber Linguistics, Morphology and Syntax, and 10 moreBerber studies, Berber, AfroAsiatic, Linguistics. Word-formation. Morphology. Lexicology. Semantics., Derivational Morphology, Berber Languages, Berbers, Berber Linguistic, Berber linguistics, and Afroasiatic linguistics
Research Interests: Area Studies, African Studies, Synchronic Linguistics (Or Descriptive Linguistics), Diachronic Linguistics (Or Historical Linguistics), Languages and Linguistics, and 12 moreHistorical Linguistics, Afro-Asiatic Linguistics, Corpus Linguistics, Linguistics, Berber studies, Language contact, Berber, Berber; Rif-Region, Berber Languages, Hamito-Semitic Linguistics, Berber Linguistic, and Berbère
In: G. Arcodia et al. (éds.), Tilelli. Scritti in onore di Vermondo Brugnatelli, Cesena/Roma, Caissa Italia, 2013: 113-130
Research Interests: Contact Linguistics, Dialectology, Language Variation and Change, Arabic Language and Linguistics, Arabic Dialects, and 10 moreLanguage Change, Berber studies, Arabic Language, Arabic Dialectology, Language contact, Berber, Negation, Negation (pragmatics), Languages in Contact, and Berber linguistics
In: M. Lafkioui (ed.), African Arabic: Approaches to Dialectology, 2013: 51-94
Research Interests: Contact Linguistics, Dialectology, Language Variation and Change, Arabic Language and Linguistics, Arabic Sociolinguistics, and 15 moreArabic Dialects, Geolinguistics, Language Change, Berber studies, Arabic Language, Arabic Dialectology, Language contact, Negation, Negation (pragmatics), Contact Linguistics Language Contact and Sociolinguistic Variation, Berber Linguistic, Arabic Linguistics and Dialectology, Arabic Maghrebi dialectology, Berbère, and Double Negation
Introduction to African Arabic: Approaches to Dialectology. In: M. Lafkioui (ed.), African Arabic: Approaches to Dialectology, 2013: 1-12
Research Interests: African Studies, Contact Linguistics, Language Variation and Change, Arabic Language and Linguistics, Arabic Sociolinguistics, and 10 moreArabic Dialects, Geolinguistics, Language Variation, Berber studies, Arabic Dialectology, Language contact, Dialectology and Geolinguistics, Languages in Contact, Sociolinguistics, language variation and change, cross-dialect variation, and Arabic Language and Literature
AION Linguistica 5, 2016: 39-66
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AFRICANA LINGUISTICA 22, 2016: 71–106
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CORPUS, 2015, 14: 139-164
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Research Interests: Languages and Linguistics, Social Networks, Language and Social Interaction, French Studies, Sociolinguistics, and 16 moreDigital Media, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Applied Linguistics, Social Media, Minority Studies, Interactive and Digital Media, Multimodal Interaction, Language and Identity, Minority Languages, Francophonie, Berber studies, Applied Lingustics, French and Francophone Studies, Berber Languages, Berbère, and Symbolic Interactionist Theory
Research Interests: Languages and Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, Linguistic Anthropology, Minority Studies, Minority Languages, and 13 moreCritical sociolinguistics, Minority Rights, Berber studies, Minorities, Berber, Berber literature, Berber Languages, Berbers, Berbers. Amazighs. History of Berbers. Cultural and Political Claims. Cultural and Berber Movement. North of Africa. Algeria. Morocco., Berbère, Langues Berbères, Standardisation Du Berbère, and Islam and Berber Claims
Research Interests: Sociology, Sociolinguistics, Linguistic Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Minority Studies, and 6 moreMinority Languages, Berber studies, Berber, Etnicity, Berber Languages, and Berbers. Amazighs. History of Berbers. Cultural and Political Claims. Cultural and Berber Movement. North of Africa. Algeria. Morocco.
Research Interests: Languages and Linguistics, Social Sciences, Sociolinguistics, Migration Studies, Linguistics, and 9 moreMinority Languages, Minority Rights, Berber studies, Minorities, Berber, Berber Languages, Berbers. Amazighs. History of Berbers. Cultural and Political Claims. Cultural and Berber Movement. North of Africa. Algeria. Morocco., Berbère, and Langues Berbères
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Research Interests: African Studies, Languages and Linguistics, Dialectology, Arabic Language and Linguistics, Arabic, and 18 moreBible Translation, Comparative Linguistics, World Literature, Loanwords, Language contact & change, Comparative Semitics, Berber studies, Language Teaching, Arabic Dialectology, Language contact, Berber, Chadic, Negation, Egyptian, Cushitic, Inter-civilization contact and conflict, Afroasiatic linguistics, Inter-faith Contact and Theology, and Islam (Philosophy and History, critical issues, renaissance, principles of jurisprudence)
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African Arabic: Approaches to Dialectology May 26-27, 2011 Università di Milano-Bicocca Dipartimento di Scienze Umane per la Formazione "Riccardo Massa" This conference addresses African varieties of Arabic, focusing especially... more
African Arabic: Approaches to Dialectology
May 26-27, 2011
Università di Milano-Bicocca
Dipartimento di Scienze Umane per la Formazione "Riccardo Massa"
This conference addresses African varieties of Arabic, focusing especially on topics dealing with language contact, the development of Arabic-based pidgins and creoles, synchronic language variation and diachronic language reconstruction.
May 26-27, 2011
Università di Milano-Bicocca
Dipartimento di Scienze Umane per la Formazione "Riccardo Massa"
This conference addresses African varieties of Arabic, focusing especially on topics dealing with language contact, the development of Arabic-based pidgins and creoles, synchronic language variation and diachronic language reconstruction.
Research Interests:
[AAM] Double and triple negation marking is an ancient and deep-rooted feature that is attested in almost the entire Berber-speaking area (North Africa and diaspora), regardless of the type of negators in use; i.e. discontinuous markers... more
[AAM] Double and triple negation marking is an ancient and deep-rooted feature that is attested in almost the entire Berber-speaking area (North Africa and diaspora), regardless of the type of negators in use; i.e. discontinuous markers (preverbal and postverbal negators) and dedicated negative verb stem alternations. In this article, we deal with the main stages that have led to the present Berber negation patterns and we argue, from a typological viewpoint, that certain morphophonetic mechanisms are to be regarded as a hitherto overlooked source for new negators. Moreover, we present a number of motivations that account for the hypothesis that, in Berber, those languages with both a preverbal and a postverbal negator belong to a diachronic stage prior to the attested languages with a preverbal negator only. Consequently, the study demonstrates that the Jespersen Cycle is back to the beginning in certain Berber languages. In doing so, we also show that Berber is to be regarded as a substrate in the development of double negation in North African Arabic. In addition, the study accounts for the asymmetric nature of Berber negation, although some new developments towards more symmetrical negation configurations are also attested.