Observatori Català de la Llengua Amaziga (Catalan Observatory for the Amazigh language )

International Meeting on Amazigh toponymy, Barcelona the 6, 7 and 8 November 2008

The standardization of Tamazight is one of the main areas of work of the Observatory Català de la Llengua Amaziga (Catalan Observatory of the Amazigh language, OCLA). In April 2007, a symposium on the standardization of spelling based on the latin alphabet, was organized in Barcelona with the support of Linguamon-La Casa de les Llengües.

This institution which aims to disseminate and promote the languages of the world, is preparing voluminous files and databases on world languages, translating not only the major languages such as Spanish, English, french, Chinese, etc.. but also to minority languages, as the guarani or Amazigh.

As you can imagine, translators to Tamazigh are facing difficulties sometimes simply insurmountable, to try to make thousands of names of countries and cities worldwide. The confrontation with the task of preparing and transcribing names wide range brings us back sharply the facts. A brief look at the state of play immediately gives us a strange feeling of emptiness. The field of research is simply blank, both from the viewpoint of practical and theoretical.

In addition, preliminary contacts with international organizations responsible for geographical names, such as the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names certain agencies or national toponymy we confirm the "lack" of the Amazigh language at international institutions. The absence of local political, national or international responsibility to take into account the realities of different regions amazighophones toponymic , but also work in related berber research created a vacuum filled logically by States that transmit the international institutions responsible for Standardization and the homogenization of geographical names, names and transcripts of Amazigh names based on rules of transcription of… Arabic, more specifically, a system known as "Beirut", while there since many years a system of transcription of the Amazighe, largely consensual, North Africa and based on the graphics system latin. These aspects, rather related to issues of transcription, are far from being the only problem. The areas of potential interventions are numerous and varied:

-- Gap between socio-cultural and Amazigh research compared to the process of national or international naming

-- Total absence of collaboration and / or consultation between international experts and / or national (various states) and researchers or Berber institutions at all levels of intervention: identification, treatment, formalization, dissemination, updating, conservation Names, spelling, and so on.

-- No real alternative to the proposals currently "available", both within national and international, that the forums or debates and international scientists, due in part to the fact that these aspects have not yet been taken carried out by berber research

-- Lack of gazetteers specifically Berber, in all areas: acronyms, anthroponymes, eponymous or simply lists of exonyms or endonyms, etc…

A bitter observation well… even if it is also true that most of these problems are due to a lack of language policy that truly and seriously put on the Amazigh language, despite the establishment of national institutes as IRCAM in Morocco, the HCA or CNPLET in Algeria. However, as with other aspects of the transition to writing - we are thinking in particular the work on the system of transcription and neology - an early reflection on this topic could be beneficial and perhaps create a dynamic thinking about this.

As part of its activities, the Catalan Observatory of the Amazigh language (OCLA) proposes to bring to this effect a first symposium dedicated to issues of Amazigh toponymy in the international context.

The objective of this first meeting would be, first, to give an overview of places in studies perspective and Amazigh reality and try then to identify courses of action, reflection and research in this area. It would be particularly desirable to work towards the development of collaborative projects between researchers and various institutions concerned.

To that end, the OCLA proposes to convene, on the one hand, berber researchers interested in this topic and which can provide data and information specific to the language and and Amazigh society, on the other hand, national and international institutions expertise in this area, so that they can provide the perspective of national and international practices, learn about the possibilities of intervention in this area, ways, means and instruments available to try to see together, to what extent a pooling of efforts could lead to a dialog, fundamental basis for effective collaboration and progress in these issues.

The issues and themes - without having a comprehensive value - may be the subject of communications:

I - Toponymy and institutions in North Africa: practices and realities on the ground:
-- Process governing toponymic decisions (institutions, specialists, political, criteria…) - Rules for transcription of names in Algeria and Morocco, criteria, archiving…)
-- Choice of language and institutional positions in relation to the Amazigh names,
-- Practices and local customs…

II - Place Names in the international context:
-- Position of international institutions in relation to minority languages and who have no official status,
-- Are there any possible openings in an international system based on inter-State relations?
-- Standards of transcription and international practices,
-- Similar experiments at the international level…

III - Toponymy and Amazigh studies
-- Evaluation
-- Toponymy for internal and external use: formal and informal use (doubles names ..)
-- Amazigh Toponymy and place names: harmonization is possible?
-- The Amazigh language as: What impact on toponymic issues
-- Amazigh Toponymy and local characteristics and Amazigh names
-- Use names and transcription: experience in berberspeaking areas (including kabylia)…

IV-Toponymy and university research
-- State of play and test results in the field of Amazighe research
-- Questions of etymology, transcription, standards, terminology and so on…
-- Evaluating the possibilities of collaboration and opening lines of research in the field of toponymy.

Mohand Tilmatine, Director

Hassan Akioud (Management) Obsersvatoire the Catalan language Amazigh, Barcelona www.linguamon.cat / ocla

Translation to english: Jugurten for kabylia.info