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80-494: The Kabyle people ( / k ə ˈ b aɪ l / , Kabyle : Izwawen or Leqbayel or Iqbayliyen , pronounced [iqβæjlijən] , Arabic : القبائل , romanized :  al-qabā'il ) are a Berber ethnic group indigenous to Kabylia in the north of Algeria , spread across the Atlas Mountains , 160 kilometres (100 mi) east of Algiers . They represent the largest Berber population of Algeria and

160-466: A 'national language' in the 2002 Algerian Constitution, but not as an 'official language' until 2016 after a long campaign by activists. French is not recognized in any legal document of Algeria but enjoys a de facto position of an official language as it is used in every Algerian official administration or institution, at all levels of the government, sometimes much more than Arabic. The Berber (Amazigh) language faces an unfavourable environment, despite

240-517: A 2002 constitutional amendment. In February 2016, the Algerian constitution passed a resolution that made Berber an official language alongside Arabic. The phonemes below reflect the pronunciation of Kabyle. Kabyle has three phonemic vowels : ⟨e⟩ is used to write the epenthetic schwa vowel [ə] which occurs frequently in Kabyle. Historically, it is thought to be the result of

320-694: A Berber language. Since the Berber Spring of 1980, they have been at the forefront of the fight for the official recognition of Berber languages in Algeria . The word 'Kabyle' (Kabyle: Iqbayliyen) is an exonym , and a distortion of the Arabic word qaba'il (قبائل), which means 'tribes', or 'to accept', which after the Muslim conquest was used for people who accepted the word of the Quran . The term qaba'il

400-826: A campaign to restore Fatimid control over the central and western parts of North Africa . In this campaign, Jawhar first gave proof of his exceptional military talents. He first led the Fatimid armies to victory over the Zenata , a Berber tribe that had allied with the Fatimids' rivals, the Arab Umayyads of the Caliphate of Córdoba , defeating and killing their leader, Ya'la ibn Muhammad al-Yafrani . He then turned southeast towards Sijilmasa , capturing and killing its ruler Muhammad ibn al-Fath ibn Maymun ibn Midrar . It

480-655: A coalition of Ikhshidid soldiers and Arab tribesmen led by the Qarmatians of Bahrain. Egypt was left defenceless and was invaded by the coalition in September. Jawhar had few troops at hand so he mobilised the entire population of Fustat to build a defensive line consisting of a wall and a ditch at a bottleneck north of the city. As the coalition army stalled in the Nile Delta Jawhar managed to finish his preparations in time. The invaders' attempt to take Fustat

560-536: A consequence, the insurrection was a failure in 1965 because it was hugely repressed by the forces of the ALN, under Houari Boumédiène. In 1965 Aït Ahmed was sentenced to death, but later pardoned by Ben Bella. Approximately 400 deaths were counted amongst the maquis. In 1980, protesters mounted several months of demonstrations in Kabylie demanding the recognition of Berber as an official language; this period has been called

640-535: A corresponding agent noun . In English it could be translated into verb+er. It is obtained by prefixing the verb with « am- » or with « an- » if the first letter is b / f / m / w (there are exceptions, however). Verbal nouns are derived differently from different classes of verbal stems (including 'quality verbs'). Often a- or t(u)- is prefixed: Pronouns may either occur as standalone words or bound to nouns or verbs. Example: « Ula d nekk. » – "Me too." Possessive pronouns are bound to

720-640: A fortified camp, and began a siege that lasted for several months, punctuated by skirmishes. As Alptakin had gathered the entire harvest of the region into the city, the Fatimid army suffered from hunger with the onset of winter. When news of a Qarmatian army under al-Hasan al-A'sam approaching the city, Jawhar decided to lift the siege and withdrew from Damascus in December/January, as the Fatimids were now outnumbered by their opponents. Jawhar retreated south, first to Tiberias and then towards Ramla, closely followed by his enemies, who were now joined by

800-494: A humiliating capitulation: the surviving Fatimid troops marched out of Ascalon passing under Alptakin's sword, which had been slung at the city gate. Jawhar agreed to abandon all Fatimid claims to rule lands north of Gaza , while Alptakin retained rule of the rest of Syria; whether he accepted a Fatimid suzerainty, as reported by Yahya of Antioch , or not, he was de facto independent. The capitulation at Ascalon put an end to Jawhar's military career. He died on 28 April 992. He

880-651: A number of oases that were the termini of trans-Saharan trade routes. These two Kabyle Kingdoms managed to maintain their independence and participated in notable battles alongside the Regency of Algiers , such as the campaign of Tlemcen and the conquest of Fez . In the early 16th century Sultan Abdelaziz of the Beni Abbes managed to defeat the Ottomans several times, notably in the First Battle of Kalaa of

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960-406: A pan-Berber reduction or merger of three other vowels. The phonetic realization of the vowels, especially /a/ , is influenced by the character of the surrounding consonants; emphatic consonants invite a more open realization of the vowel, e.g. aẓru = [azˤru] 'stone' vs. amud = [æmud] 'seed'. Often /a, i, u/ are realized as [æ, ɪ, ʊ] . In the Kabyle language there are various accents which are

1040-489: A public radio in Algeria (Channel II, which dates back to 1925 ), as well as a public TV channel in Morocco (Channel IV or Tamazight TV). Since private ownership of TV channels is illegal in Algeria, Kabyles have launched a private Kabyle speaking TV channel, called Berbère Television , that broadcasts from France. There is no Kabyle newspaper. Some Algerian newspapers such as La Dépêche de Kabylie  [ fr ] offer

1120-574: A share of power but the ALN (National Liberation Army) directed by Houari Boumédiène , joined by Ahmed Ben Bella , had the upper hand because of their military forces. In 1963 the FFS party of Hocine Aït Ahmed contested the authority of the FLN , which had promoted itself as the only party in the nation. Aït Ahmed and others considered the central government led by Ben Bella authoritarian, and on September 3, 1963,

1200-521: A significant Kabyle population, where they make up more than half of the capital's population. The Kabyle region is referred to as Al Qabayel ("tribes") by the Arabic-speaking population and as Kabylie in French. Its indigenous inhabitants call it Tamurt Idurar ("Land of Mountains") or Tamurt n Iqbayliyen / Tamurt n Iqbayliyen ("Land of the Kabyle"). It is part of the Atlas Mountains and

1280-464: A small Kabyle section. In 1994, Kabyle pupils and students boycotted Algerian schools for a year, demanding the officialization of Berber, leading to the symbolic creation of the " Haut commissariat à l'amazighité " (HCA) in 1995. Berber was subsequently taught as a non-compulsory language in Berber speaking areas. The course being optional, few people attend. The Kabyle school boycott also resulted in

1360-568: A small part of their number to join Alptakin at Tiberias . From Ramla , Jawhar sent a letter to Alptakin promising pardon, as well as a robe of honour and money—effectively an offer to enter the Fatimid service, which the Turk refused. Nevertheless, Alptakin too was forced to withdraw to Damascus before the numerically stronger Fatimid army. Jawhar's army arrived before Damascus in July 976, erected

1440-463: A strong following throughout France and Algeria in the 1930s. They developed militants who became vital to the fighting for an independent Algeria. This became widespread after World War II. Since Algeria gained independence in 1962, tensions have arisen between Kabylie and the central government on several occasions. In July 1962, the FLN (National Liberation Front) was split rather than united. Indeed, many actors who contributed to independence wanted

1520-455: Is expressed by «  ur  » before the verb and the particle «  ara  » after the verb: Other negative words (acemma... etc.) are used in combination with ur to express more complex types of negation. This system developed via Jespersen's cycle . Verb derivation is performed by adding affixes. There are three types of derivation forms: causative , reflexive and passive . Two prefixes can cancel each other: Every verb has

1600-636: Is located at the edge of the Mediterranean. The Kabyle ethnic group speak Kabyle , a Berber language of the Afro-Asiatic family. It is the largest Berber language in Algeria. It was spoken by 3 million people in 2004 and has significant Arabic , French , Latin , Greek , Phoenician and Punic substratum, with Arabic loanwords representing 22.7% to 46% of the total Kabyle vocabulary, with many estimates putting it at about 35%. Many Kabyles also speak Algerian Arabic and French . During

1680-744: Is mainly spoken in the provinces of Boumerdès , and as well as in Bordj Bou Arréridj , Jijel , and in Algiers where it coexists with Algerian Arabic . Kabyle Berber is also spoken as a native language among the Algerian Kabyle-descended diaspora in European and North American cities (mainly France). It is estimated that half of Kabyles live outside the Kabylian region. Estimates on the number of Kabyle speakers in

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1760-512: Is more than 5 million Kabyle speakers in Kabylie. Linguist Asya Pereltsvaig gives 5.6 million Kabyle speakers worldwide in 2020, mostly in Algeria. In 2021, Amina Mettouchi, professor of Berber linguistics, estimated the number of speakers at five million worldwide and more than three million in Algeria. In 2022, according to Ethnologue there were 7.5 million speakers worldwide, including 6.4 million in Algeria. Many identify two dialects: Greater Kabylie (west) and Lesser Kabylie (east), but

1840-491: Is mostly composed of fricatives, phonemes which are originally stops in other Berber languages, but in writing there is no difference between fricatives and stops. Below is a list of fricatives vs. stops and when they are pronounced (note that gemination turns fricatives into stops ). The most ancient Berber writings were written in the Libyco-Berber script , mostly from Numidian and Roman times. This script

1920-439: Is native to Kabylia . It is present in seven Algerian districts. Approximately one-third of Algerians are Berber-speakers, clustered mostly near Algiers , in Kabylian and Shawi, but with some communities related to Kabyle in the west ( Shenwa languages ), east and south of the country. The populations of Béjaïa (Bgayet), Bouïra (Tubirett) and Tizi Ouzou (Tizi Wezzu) provinces are in majority Kabyle-speaking. In addition, Kabyle

2000-616: Is not known, but as he died in 992, and the peak of his career was between 950 and 975, he cannot have been born earlier than the 900s. He was a Sicilian born in the Byzantine empire . Jawhar's father, Abdallah, was a slave, and Jawhar is first mentioned as a slave-soldier ( ghulām ) and possibly a secretary, to the third Fatimid caliph , al-Mansur bi-Nasr Allah ( r.  946–953 ). In 958, al-Mansur's son and successor, al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah ( r.  953–975 ) chose Jawhar to lead

2080-514: Is still strong in villages but urban Kabyles in Algeria are increasingly shifting to Arabic and diaspora Kabyles to the surrounding language. A 2013 study found that 54% of Kabyles living in Oran spoke Arabic to their siblings. After the 2001–02 widespread Kabyle protests known as the Black Spring , the Berber (Amazigh) language (with all its Algerian dialects and varieties) was recognized as

2160-421: Is used for subjects placed after their verbs, after prepositions, in noun complement constructions, and after certain numerals. Kabyle also places nouns in construct state when they head a noun phrase containing a co-referential bound pronoun earlier in the utterance. Examples: After a preposition (with the exception of "ar" and "s"), all nouns take their annexed state: Verbs are conjugated for three tenses:

2240-740: Is variously known with the nisba s al-Siqilli (Arabic: الصقلي , romanized:  al-Ṣiqillī , lit.   'The Sicilian '), al-Saqlabi (Arabic: الصقلبي, lit. The Slav ), al-Rumi (Arabic: الرومي , romanized:  al-Rūmī , lit.   'the Roman '); and with the titles al-Katib (Arabic: الكَاتِب , romanized:  al-Kātib , lit.   'the Secretary ') and al-Qa'id (Arabic: القائد , romanized:  al-Qāʾid , lit.   'the General '). The birth date of Jawhar

2320-579: The Atlantic Ocean to the Caliph in Ifriqiya . It is reported that Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah would spend hours discussing tactics and strategy with Al-Qaid Jawhar in his tent before the campaign of North Africa began, and when they finally parted, Al-Mu'izz granted Al-Qaid Jawhar with very high honors requiring all soldiers disembark their horse as a sign of respect for the commander-in-chief. After

2400-474: The Berber Spring . In 1994–1995, the Kabyle conducted a school boycott, termed the "strike of the school bag". In June and July 1998, they protested, in events that turned violent, after the assassination of singer Matoub Lounès and passage of a law requiring use of the Arabic language in all fields. In the months following April 2001 (called the Black Spring ), major riots among the Kabyle took place following

2480-461: The FFS (Socialist Forces front) was created by Hocine Aït Ahmed . This party grouped opponents of the regime then in place, and a few days after its proclamation, Ben Bella sent the army into Kabylie to repress the insurrection. Colonel Mohand Oulhadj also took part in the FFS and in the Maquis ( fr ) because he considered that the mujahideen were not treated as they should be. In the beginning,

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2560-629: The independence of Algeria , some Kabyle activists tried to revive the Libyco-Berber script, which is still in use by the Tuareg . Attempts were made to modernize the writing system by modifying the shape of the letters and by adding vowels. This new version of Tifinagh has been called Neo-Tifinagh and has been adopted as the official script for Berber languages in Morocco . However, a majority of Berber activists (both in Morocco and Algeria) prefer

2640-441: The preterite (past), intensive aorist (present perfect, present continuous, past continuous) and the future (ad+aorist). Unlike other Berber languages, the aorist alone is rarely used in Kabyle (in the other languages it is used to express the present). Verbs are conjugated for person by adding affixes. These suffixes are static and identical for all tenses (only the theme changes). The epenthetic vowel e may be inserted between

2720-671: The Abbasids allowed Fatimid-Kutama power to quickly expand and in 959 Ziri ibn Manad, Jawhar the Sicilian and a Kutama army conquered Fez and Sijilmasa in Morocco. During the reign of al-Aziz Billah , the role of the Kutama in the Fatimid army was greatly weakened as he significantly reduced their size in the army and included new socio-military groups. In 969 under the command of Jawhar , the Fatimid Kutama troops conquered Egypt from

2800-569: The Beni Abbes . The Kabyle were relatively independent of outside control during the period of Ottoman Empire rule in North Africa. They lived primarily in three different kingdoms: the Kingdom of Kuku , the Kingdom of Ait Abbas , and the principality of Aït Jubar. Kabylia was the last part of northern Algeria to be colonised by the French during the years 1854–1857, despite vigorous resistance. Such leaders as Lalla Fatma N'Soumer continued

2880-525: The FFS wanted to negotiate with the government but since no agreement was reached, the maquis took up arms and swore not to give them up as long as democratic principles and justice were a part of the system. But after Mohand Oulhadj's defection, Aït Ahmed could barely sustain the movement and after the FLN congress on April 16, 1964, which reinforced the government's legitimacy, he was arrested in October 1964. As

2960-510: The Fatimids only held isolated coastal cities, under threat from the Qarmatians and Alptakin. In response to this situation, and on the advice of Ya'qub ibn Killis , in May al-Aziz entrusted Jawhar with leading an army of 20,000 men—the largest Fatimid force hitherto sent to Syria—to confront the Qarmatians and Alptakin. The Qarmatians quickly retreated before the Fatimid advance, leaving only

3040-575: The French carried out many arrests and deported resisters, mainly to New Caledonia in the South Pacific . Due to French colonization, many Kabyle emigrated to other areas inside and outside Algeria. Over time, immigrant workers also began to go to France. In the 1920s, Algerian immigrant workers in France organized the first party promoting Algerians independence. Messali Hadj , Imache Amar, Si Djilani Mohammed, and Belkacem Radjef rapidly built

3120-416: The French conquest, the French often confused the term "Arabs" and "Kabyle" thanks to the widespread usage of Kabyle all over the country. Although initially the French used the term Kabyle to refer to all Berbers, it was later specified to mean only the modern Kabyle people during the colonial era, however, Zwawa is still the most used term for Kabyles in areas such as western Algeria. The Kabyles were one of

3200-505: The Ikhsidids, the general Ja'far ibn Fallah was instrumental in this success: he led the troops that crossed the river Nile and according to al-Maqrizi, captured the boats used to do this from a fleet sent by Ikhshidid loyalists from Lower Egypt. The general Ja’far then invaded Palestine and conquered Ramla , the capital, he then conquered Damascus and made himself the master of the city and then he moved north and conquered Tripoli . It

3280-472: The Imam of the movement and installed as the Caliph, becoming the first Caliph and the founder of the ruling dynasty. The historian Heinz Halm describes the early Fatimid state as being "a hegemony of the Kutama and Sanhaja Berbers over the eastern and central Maghrib" and Prof. Dr. Loimeier states that rebellions against the Fatimids were also expressed through protest and opposition to Kutama rule. The weakening of

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3360-464: The Kabyle region played an important role in the people's history. The difficult mountainous landscape of the Tizi Ouzou and Bejaia provinces served as a refuge, to which most of the Kabyle people retreated when under pressure or occupation. They were able to preserve their cultural heritage in such isolation from other cultural influences. The area supported local dynasties (Numidia, Fatimids in

3440-530: The Kabyle). The Regency of Algiers , under Ottoman influence, tried to have indirect influence over the people ( makhzen tribes of Amraoua, and marabout). The French gradually and totally conquered the region and set up a direct administration. Algerian provinces with significant Kabyle-speaking populations include Tizi Ouzou , Béjaïa and Bouira , where they are a majority, as well as Boumerdes , Setif , Bordj Bou Arreridj , and Jijel . Algiers also has

3520-433: The Kutama periods, Zirids, Hammadids, and Hafsids of Bejaïa) or Algerian modern nationalism, and the war of independence. The region was repeatedly occupied by various conquerors. Romans and Byzantines controlled the main road and valley during the period of antiquity and avoided the mountains (Mont ferratus). During the spread of Islam , Arabs controlled plains but not all the countryside (they were called el aadua : enemy by

3600-641: The Latin script and see the Tifinagh as a hindrance to literacy in Berber. Kabyle literature continues to be written in Latin script. The use of Tifinagh is limited to logos . Mouloud Mammeri codified a new orthography for the Kabyle language which avoided using French orthography. His script has been adopted by all Berber linguists, the INALCO , and the Algerian HCA. It uses diacritics and two letters from

3680-599: The Latin script. The Kabyle people are mainly Muslim , with a small Christian minority. Many Zawaya exist all over the region; the Rahmaniyya is the most prolific. Catholics of Kabyle background generally live in France. Recently, the Protestant community has had significant growth, particularly among Evangelical denominations. The Kabyle people have a rich history of oral literature , such as asefru , performed by imusnawen . The traditional economy of

3760-546: The Nile, to defend the river crossing and prevent the Fatimid army from gaining access to Fustat. Jawhar stormed the island with his Kutama troops and cleared away the enemy soldiers before proceeding to peacefully enter Fustat. As Jawhar pacified Egypt the Fatimid army began its invasion of Ikhshidid Syria (970) under the Kutama general Ja'far ibn Falah . After initial successes this army was destroyed near Damascus in August 971 by

3840-582: The Western borders had been secured, Jawhar led the Fatimid invasion of Ikhshidid Egypt (969). He approached Egypt from the direction of Alexandria and marched towards the capital, Fustat . His army encountered little resistance and the country was secured by a treaty with the Ikhshidid vizier Abu Ja'far Muslim . Some divisions of the Ikhshidid army mutinied in protest and took up positions on Roda Island in

3920-466: The affix and the verb. Verbs are always marked for subject and may also inflect for person of direct and indirect object. Examples: Kabyle is a satellite-framed based language, Kabyle verbs use two particles to show the path of motion: Examples: Kabyle usually expresses negation in two parts, with the particle ur attached to the verb, and one or more negative words that modify the verb or one of its arguments . For example, simple verbal negation

4000-417: The area is based on arboriculture ( orchards and olive trees ) and on the craft industry ( tapestry or pottery ). Mountain and hill farming is gradually giving way to local industry (textile and agro-alimentary). In the middle of the 20th century, with the influence and funding by the Kabyle diaspora, many industries were developed in this region. It has become the second most important industrial region in

4080-399: The case of Algeria". Nevertheless, after four decades of pacific struggle, riots, strikes, and social mobilization, including the Berber spring (1980, riots and strikes in the Kabylie region of Tizi Ouzou, Bouira and Bejaïa, as well as Algiers) and the Black Spring in 2001, President Bouteflika and his government recognized Amazigh (Berber) as a "national language" for the second time through

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4160-762: The country after Algiers. The Kabyle have been fierce activists in promoting the cause of Berber ( Amazigh ) identity. The movement has three groups: those Kabyle who identify as part of a larger Berber nation ( Berberists ); those who identify as part of the Algerian nation (known as "Algerianists", some view Algeria as an essentially Berber nation); and those who consider the Kabyle to be a distinct nation separate from (but akin to) other Berber peoples (known as Kabylists ). For historical and economic reasons, many Kabyles have emigrated to France, both for work and to escape political persecution. They now number around 1 million people. Some notable French people are of full or partial Kabyle descent. Kabyle language Estimating

4240-494: The extended Latin alphabet: Č č Ḍ ḍ Ɛ ɛ Ǧ ǧ Ɣ ɣ Ḥḥ Ṣ ṣ Ṭ ṭ Ẓ ẓ. Kabyle has two genders : masculine and feminine. As in most Berber languages , masculine nouns and adjectives generally start with a vowel ( a- , i- , u- ), while feminine nouns generally start with t- and end with a -t , e.g. a qcic 'boy' vs. t aqcic t 'girl'. Plurals generally are formed by replacing initial a- with i- , and either suffixing -en ("regular/external" plurals), changing vowels within

4320-853: The few peoples in North Africa who remained independent during successive rule by the Carthaginians, the Romans, the Vandals, the Byzantines, and the Ottoman Turks. Even after the Arab conquest of North Africa, the Kabyle people still maintained possession of their mountains. Between 902 and 909, after being converted to Isma'ilism and won over by Abu Abdallah 's propaganda, the Kutama Berbers from Little Kabylie helped contribute to

4400-654: The first centuries of their history, Kabyles used the Libyco-Berber writing system (ancestor of the modern Tifinagh). Since the beginning of the 19th century, and under French influence, Kabyle intellectuals began to use the Latin script . It is the basis for the modern Berber Latin alphabet . After the independence of Algeria , some Kabyle activists tried to revive the Old Tifinagh alphabet. This new version of Tifinagh has been called Neo-Tifinagh , but its use remains limited. Kabyle literature has continued to be written in

4480-460: The first recognition of Amazigh as a national language in November 1996. President Bouteflika has frequently stated that "Amazigh (the Berber language) will never be an official language, and if it has to be a national language, it must be submitted to a referendum". In 2005, President Bouteflika, stated that "there is no country in the world with two official languages" and "this will never be

4560-482: The forces of Alptakin, placed Ascalon under siege as well. The blockade lasted for fifteen months, during which time Jawhar lost the bulk of his army to starvation. At long last, Jawhar was obliged to enter into negotiations with the more receptive Alptakin—the Qarmatians vehemently opposed any deal and proposed to maintain the siege until their enemies died of hunger—and was allowed to leave in March/April 978 after

4640-609: The founding of the Fatimid Caliphate , whose support in the conquest of Ifriqiya resulted in the creation of the Caliphate, although the ruling Fatimid dynasty was Arab . After the conquest of Ifriqiya the Fatimids conquered the realm of the Rustamids on the way to Sijilmasa which they also then briefly conquered and where Abdullāh al-Mahdī Billah , who at the time was imprisoned, was then freed and then accepted as

4720-455: The killing of Masinissa Guermah, a young Kabyle, by gendarmes. At the same time, organized activism produced the Arouch , and neo-traditional local councils. The protests gradually decreased after the Kabyle won some concessions from President Abdelaziz Bouteflika . On 6 January 2016, Tamazight was officially recognized in Algeria's constitution as a language equal to Arabic. The geography of

4800-400: The modified noun. Example : « Axxam-nneɣ. » – "Our house." (House-our) Jawhar (general) Al-Qaid Jawhar ibn Abdallah ( Arabic : جوهر بن عبد الله , romanized :  Jawhar ibn ʿAbd Allāh , better known as Jawhar al Siqilli , al-Qaid al-Siqilli , "The Sicilian General", or al-Saqlabi , "The Slav "; born in the Byzantine empire and died 28 April 992)

4880-596: The number of Berber speakers is very difficult and figures are often contested. A 2004 estimate was that 9.4% of the Algerian population speaks Kabyle. The diaspora population has been estimated at one million. Kabyle is one of the Berber languages , a family within the Afroasiatic languages . It is believed to have broken off very early from Proto-Berber , although after the Zenaga language did so. Kabyle Berber

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4960-498: The numerous Banu Tayy tribes—the medieval chroniclers speak of 50,000 Bedouin—under the leadership of the Jarrahid family. Jawhar lost many men to the freezing cold and snow, and after a defeat in a bloody battle on the Yarkon River , found himself besieged at Ramla. There the Fatimid army was further debilitated by lack of supplies and even water. Jawhar was forced to abandon Ramla for the coastal fortress of Ascalon . The Qarmatians entered Ramla on 12 March 977, and soon, joined by

5040-436: The preservation of Kabyle traditional political institutions such as the village’s assemblies djemaas, this institution played a central role in the Kabyle’s self-governing. The djemaas would resolve disputes between the village’s inhabitants and edict the customary law rules. French officials confiscated much land from the more recalcitrant tribes and granted it to colonists, who became known as pieds-noirs During this period,

5120-475: The reality is more complex than that, Kabyle dialects constitute a dialect continuum that can be divided into four main dialects (from west to east): With the exception of the far-eastern dialect, much of the vocabulary of Kabyle is common across its dialects, though some lexical differences exist, e.g. the word dream in English (from west to east): bargu, argu, argu, bureg. Almost all Berber speakers are multilingual, in Arabic and often also in French. Kabyle

5200-531: The region of Kabylia by the sixth century, when Latin became the official and administrative language in North Africa, as in the rest of the former Roman empire. Kabyle became a mostly spoken language after the Arabic conquest of North Africa , and while many examples of the Kabyle language written in a form of Berber-Arabic script survive, the number of Kabyle texts was relatively much smaller than those written in other Berber languages such as Shilha , Mozabite , and Nafusi . The first French–Kabyle dictionary

5280-609: The region vary widely, with different dates and data given for different points of time. As such the number of Kabyle speakers varies considerably depending on differnt sources given. French ethnologist Camille Lacoste-Dujardin  [ fr ] estimates four million Kabyle speakers in 2001 in Algeria. According to the International Encyclopedia of Linguistics there were 2.5 million speakers in Kabylia in 2003 out of 3.1 million worldwide. In 2004, Canadian linguist Jacques Leclerc (linguist)  [ fr ] estimated that there were 3.1 million Kabyle speakers in Algeria (9.4% of

5360-414: The resistance as late as Mokrani 's rebellion in 1871. French colonists invented the Kabyle myth in the 19th century which asserted that the Kabyle people were more predisposed than Arabs to assimilate into "French civilization." Lacoste explained that "turning the Arabs into invaders was one way of legitimizing the French presence". Kabyle villages were ruled through an indirect administration based on

5440-457: The result of assimilations (these accents are generally divided into western and eastern Kabyle). Some of these assimilations are present among all Kabyle "dialects" and some not. These assimilations are not noted in writing, such as: Gemination affects the quality of certain consonants, turning semivowels and fricatives into stops ; in particular, geminated ɣ becomes qq , geminated y becomes gg , and geminated w becomes bb . Kabyle

5520-516: The ruler and took over the island. When the Emirate of Sicily was split into separate taifas , Ayyub Ibn Tamim entered Sicily and united all of the taifas under his rule until he left the island. The Hammadids came to power after declaring their independence from the Zirids. They managed to conquer land in all of the Maghreb region, capturing and possessing significant territories such as: Algiers , Béjaïa , Tripoli , Sfax , Susa, Fez , Ouargla and Sijilmasa . South of Tunisia, they also possessed

5600-463: The second largest in North Africa. Many of the Kabyles have emigrated from Algeria, influenced by factors such as the Algerian Civil War , cultural repression by the central Algerian government, and overall industrial decline. Their diaspora has resulted in Kabyle people living in numerous countries. Large populations of Kabyle people settled in France and, to a lesser extent, Canada (mainly Québec ) and United States. The Kabyle people speak Kabyle ,

5680-478: The total Algerian population) and 500,000 in France. Salem Chaker estimated there were 5.5 million speakers in 2004, including 3 to 3.5 in Kabylia. The Encyclopædia Universalis gives 7 million Kabyle speakers. The French Ministry of Culture estimated there were one million Kabyle speakers in France in 2013. Linguist Matthias Brenzinger estimates the number of Kabyle speakers in Algeria at between 2.5 to 3 million in 2015. Bruce Maddy-Weitzman's 2018 estimate

5760-577: The word ("broken/internal" plurals), or both. Examples: As in all Berber languages, Kabyle has two types of states or cases of the noun : free state and construct state (or 'annexed state'). The free state is morphologically unmarked. The construct state is derived either by changing initial /a-/ to /u-/, loss of initial vowel in some feminine nouns, addition of a semi-vowel word-initially, or in some cases no change occurs at all: As in Central Morocco Tamazight , construct state

5840-399: Was a Shia Muslim Fatimid general who led the conquest of Maghreb , and subsequently the conquest of Egypt , for the 4th Fatimid Imam-Caliph al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah . He served as viceroy of Egypt until al-Mu'izz's arrival in 973, consolidating Fatimid control over the country and laying the foundations for the city of Cairo . After that, he retired from public life until his death. He

5920-507: Was an abjad , and is not yet completely deciphered today. Deciphered scripts are mostly funerary, following a simple formula of "X son of Y" (X u Y) which is still used to this day in the Kabyle language. Such writings have been found in Kabylie (also known as Kabylia) and continue to be discovered by archeologists. The Tifinagh script of the Tuaregs was a direct continuation of this earlier script. The Libyco-Berber alphabet disappeared in

6000-598: Was around this time period that the Fatimid Caliphate reached its territorial peak of 4,100,000km. The Zirid Dynasty was a family of Sanhadja Berbers with origins in the Kabyle mountains. During their reign they established their rule over the entire Maghreb and also established rule in parts of Andalusia . They also had suzerainty over the Emirate of Sicily through the Kalbite emirs and later assassinated

6080-441: Was compiled by a French ethnologist in the 18th century. It was written in Latin script with an orthography based on that of French . However, the Kabyle language really became a written language again in the beginning of the 19th century. Under French influence, Kabyle intellectuals began to use the Latin script . " Tamacahutt n wuccen " by Brahim Zellal was one of the first Kabyle books written using this alphabet. After

6160-554: Was confronted with the problem of Syria, where a series of Fatimid attempts to expand into the region failed due to the opposition of the local urban militias ( ahdath ) and the Banu Uqayl Bedouin, the intervention of the Turkic commander Alptakin , who ousted the Fatimids from Damascus and became its ruler, and the Qarmatians, who allied with Alptakin. In the first half of 976, the Qarmatians occupied Palestine, while

6240-505: Was foiled by the defences and Jawhar routed them in battle outside the city with his raw troops. Jawhar played at least a formal role in the designation of al-Mu'izz's younger son, Nizar, as designated heir a few days before the caliph's death in December 975: Jawhar and the court physician accompanied Nizar out of the room in which al-Mu'izz lay dying and placed him on a throne, thus signifying his designation. The new caliph, al-Aziz ,

6320-463: Was not until a year later, in October 960, that he moved north towards Fez , taking the city by storm on 13 November and capturing its Umayyad governor, Ahmad ibn Abi Bakr al-Judhami . With this victory, all of the Maghreb, apart from Tangier and Ceuta , came under Fatimid control, or recognized Fatimid suzerainty. As token of his victory, Jawhar is said to have sent jars filled with live fish from

6400-465: Was used, and is still somewhat used by various peoples in Algeria to refer to various mountain dwelling tribes, including the Kabyle people. The term used for Kabyles specifically was 'Zwawa' ('Izwawen' in Kabyle, 'زواوة' in Arabic). This appellation has been used since the medieval era for the tribes of Greater Kabylia , and is featured in important medieval ethnographic works like Ibn Khaldun 's. After

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