“Purement Amazigh”: investigating embodied ideologies and linguistic practices in Morocco
-
Dris Soulaimani
Abstract
This research discusses language ideologies in Amazigh/Berber in Morocco. It analyzes Amazigh activists’ views on the process of Amazigh standardization, including dialect unification, script selection and reclaiming of Amazigh identity. Drawing on findings in the study of language ideologies and discourse analysis, this paper examines interviews with activists and demonstrates a connectedness between participants’ conceptions about language and their embodied actions. It also reveals ideological assemblages, in which conflicting language beliefs and practices are bound together. Through examination of the ideological divide on Amazigh language and script, the study shows how verbal and nonverbal actions iconically index aspects of Amazigh language ideologies, including linguistic purism, manifested through intricate forms of recontextualized lexical items, embodied gestures and voice features. The participants’ linguistic and non-linguistic practices provide insight into particular identity dimensions and complex social relations. The indexicalities of their utterances, which will be analyzed discursively, are better understood not only through consideration of the various semiotic resources such as embodiment, but also through discussion of specific histories of political and linguistic conflicts. The study as a whole relies on an interdisciplinary method to emphasize the political nature of language standardization and demonstrate the significant role of embodiment in language ideological research.
Transcription conventions
The transcription is based on prior analysis developed by Sacks (1992). See also Schegloff (1997) and Jefferson (1978). A concise explanation of this system is provided by M. Goodwin (1990: 25–26). Additional symbols are added to represent specific Arabic sounds such as (‘) which stands for the pharyngeal fricative (ع)
. Falling intonation
, Continuing intonation
((words)) Non-verbal activity
(0.1)1. Silence in tenths of a second
[ Overlap
= Latched or contiguous utterances (no pause between the previous utterance and the next)
wo: Vowel lengthening
? Rising intonation
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- Authorities at play in Indigenous language reclamation: tensions and possibilities in the Yucatan Peninsula
- “Purement Amazigh”: investigating embodied ideologies and linguistic practices in Morocco
- The representation of multilingualism in dubbing and subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing (SDH)
- The role of social networks in academic discourse socialization: insights from degree-seeking multilingual international students in China
- Attention-consuming or attention-saving: an eye tracking study on punctuation in Chinese subtitling of English trailers
- “I’ll be there for you”: affective production of a “hyper-real” cultural-consumption space
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- Authorities at play in Indigenous language reclamation: tensions and possibilities in the Yucatan Peninsula
- “Purement Amazigh”: investigating embodied ideologies and linguistic practices in Morocco
- The representation of multilingualism in dubbing and subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing (SDH)
- The role of social networks in academic discourse socialization: insights from degree-seeking multilingual international students in China
- Attention-consuming or attention-saving: an eye tracking study on punctuation in Chinese subtitling of English trailers
- “I’ll be there for you”: affective production of a “hyper-real” cultural-consumption space
