Indigenous Languages and Sustainable Language Maintenance: The Case of Tamazight in Morocco

Abstract

Language and culture are two sides of the same coin. On the one hand, language is considered the most vital component in maintaining an ethnic group’s identity; on the other hand, languages provide access to speech communities’ invisible past and ancestral homeland. In the case of Tamazight in Morocco, this language variety has become a major focus within the Moroccan linguistic landscape. The latter has witnessed a significant series of innovative societal and institutional measures that actively contribute to the process of language sustainability. This paper examines the interrelatedness of language policy and language sustainability, taking Tamazight in Morocco as a case study. It also seeks to shed light on the comprehensive strategies employed by the country to ensure the revitalization and maintenance of indigenous varieties, particularly Tamazight. This investigation is based on concrete data represented in a collection of Amazigh oral narratives gathered by the author. The project involves documenting and transliterating these narratives into five foreign languages to make this oral heritage accessible to international audiences and transmissible across generations. The case of Tamazight demonstrates that language sustainability requires a holistic approach combining linguistic and political measures. From a political perspective, this includes legal recognition, expansion of language-use domains, and educational integration. At the linguistic level, maximizing public visibility requires systematic documentation of oral traditions accompanied by written transcription. Together, these initiatives can support the legitimization and standardization of indigenous languages and facilitate their integration into public, educational, and official domains. Such a situation is expected to create a healthy and enduring relationship between the Amazigh population and their mother-tongue.