The Endangered Tamahaq Language and the Importance of Language Documentation for its Revival.

Abstract

This dissertation is a case study which explores the contribution of language documentation to Tamahaq revitalization. The study examines first the level of Tamahaq endangerment with reference to three basic criteria of UNESCO Language Vitality and Endangerment Framework. It then investigates the exploitation of data archives of Tamahaq in the revitalization activities, be it school-based or community-based. The study thus aims to investigate whether linguists’ intervention throughout language documentation can work as a solution to preserve Tamahaq from further endangerment as long as the Tuareg are still partially unconscious and indifferent towards their language turning endangered. Furthermore, given the fact that the literature on linguistic and cultural diversity endangerment in Algeria is poorly documented, the present study aims to gather more primary reliable information on the situation of Tamahaq and circumstances of endangerment. For its framework for analysis, the study draws on a case study approach wherein questionnaire interviews and observation are utilized to gather data in relation with the posed research question. The study reveals that Tamahaq is undergoing a gradual kind of loss where speakers, particularly children, shift to Dialectal Arabic use in informal domains and Standard Arabic in formal contexts. Foreign languages mainly French and English are also gaining more grounds at the expense of Tamahaq. The reasons for this are several, but undoubtedly, economic, social and political pressures are mostly to blame. So far as Tamahaq revitalization is concerned, language documentation contributes indeed to the revival of Tamahaq. Data archives facilitate the implementation of Tamahaq in schools in the sense that such data archives can be used to produce textbooks. Owing to the stark absence of teachers’ resource books drafted in Tamahaq, such data remain also references for teachers to consult to help conduct their courses. In the same spirit as teachers, community members also make use of data archives to enhance Tamahaq usage among the Tuareg. Local associations, thanks to available data archives, have managed to give community-based education to members of the speech community. Last but not least, the mass media, mainly Tamanrasset local radio, provides a promising opportunity for the use of data archives for revitalization purposes.