Language policy and planning of Amazigh languages in Morocco: a study of the language ideology of the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture (IRCAM)

Doctoral Thesis

This thesis examines how Amazigh (Berber) languages are planned in Morocco—the country with the largest Amazigh-speaking population—and investigates the considerations underlying these measures through the ideologies of the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture (IRCAM). It traces the historical development of the Amazigh cultural movement from its Kabylian origins in the colonial period to its Moroccan expression, showing how language planning—through the creation of the Neo-Tifinagh script and the introduction of neologisms—became central to Amazigh nationalism.
The study highlights the role of Mohamed Chafik, IRCAM’s founding rector, whose ideology redefined Amazighness as part of a unified Moroccan national identity. Through an analysis of IRCAM’s early initiatives—the adoption of the Neo-Tifinagh-IRCAM script and the Tifawin a Tamazight textbooks—it demonstrates how the pursuit of a homogeneous standard Moroccan Amazigh conflicts with the linguistic practices of the three...Show moreThis thesis examines how Amazigh (Berber) languages are planned in Morocco—the country with the largest Amazigh-speaking population—and investigates the considerations underlying these measures through the ideologies of the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture (IRCAM). It traces the historical development of the Amazigh cultural movement from its Kabylian origins in the colonial period to its Moroccan expression, showing how language planning—through the creation of the Neo-Tifinagh script and the introduction of neologisms—became central to Amazigh nationalism.
The study highlights the role of Mohamed Chafik, IRCAM’s founding rector, whose ideology redefined Amazighness as part of a unified Moroccan national identity. Through an analysis of IRCAM’s early initiatives—the adoption of the Neo-Tifinagh-IRCAM script and the Tifawin a Tamazight textbooks—it demonstrates how the pursuit of a homogeneous standard Moroccan Amazigh conflicts with the linguistic practices of the three main varieties in Morocco: Tarifiyt, Central Moroccan Amazigh, and Tashelhiyt.
The thesis further examines how IRCAM rector Ahmed Boukous’s ideology of “revitalization” and “attrition” legitimizes this standardization, and how IRCAM’s selective application of the “polynomic approach” mediates between language ideology and linguistic practice.
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Language policy and planning

Language ideology

Standard language ideology