Standard Moroccan Tamazight

How a standard was built from three languages

Amazigh activists began pressing for Tamazight in public life after independence in 1956, and cultural associations asked for a standard in the 1980s. The creation of IRCAM was announced in 2001, with a brief to teach the language in schools, which meant writing dictionaries, textbooks and a standard spelling. IRCAM worked from written sources in all three languages and added 3,584 verbs to the standard vocabulary. Where the languages used different words for one thing, both went in as synonyms, so taddart from Central Atlas Tamazight and tigammi from Tashelhit both mean house. Words missing from all three were borrowed from Amazigh languages outside Morocco or coined from existing roots.

When the milestones came

In 2003 Amazigh was taught in 120 schools and Tifinagh was adopted as the official script. IRCAM published a reference grammar in 2008, and an Amazigh television channel began broadcasting in 2009. The 2011 constitution made Tamazight official. A Wikipedia in Standard Moroccan Amazigh, code zgh, opened in November 2023.

Why the choice of Tifinagh was contested

Most Moroccan speakers of Amazigh languages do not use Tifinagh; they write in the Latin alphabet, which is also the script used for Amazigh outside Morocco. Activists called the choice impractical, and the linguist Salem Chaker described it as dangerous. A 2011 survey found 45.5% of respondents thought Tifinagh the most appropriate script, and most non-activists opposed a Latin alphabet. As of 2016 Tifinagh appeared mainly on public signs.

Critics also say that IRCAM's materials lean on Tashelhit, which leaves Tarifit in the north and smaller varieties such as Iznasen and Figuig outside the standard.