Échos diachroniques du Maghribi : le substrat punique

Abstract EN

North Africa asserts the hegemony of the Punic language, from the 8th century BC onwards.

The Carthaginian civilization had succeeded in spreading its idiom over the current Maghreb – and even beyond, in this Iberia which was to welcome Al-Andalus – nearly 10 centuries before the emergence of the Arabic linguistic norm.

History testifies to the presence of the Punic language until the Byzantine era.

Then came a historical black hole.

It is only until the establishment of Islam that testimonies of linguistic activity in North of Africa began to reappear.

This is when a “popular” language, called 3amiya, began to be identified because it did take on all the functions of social communication that Arabic could not assume.

This spontaneous bilingualism (3amiya/Arabic) has contributed to the structuring of Maghreb society for almost a millennium; almost until French colonization (19th century).

This historic bilingualism broke up in favour of French.

Underestimated and kept out of the institutional framework, the Maghrebian (or Maghribi) 3amiya is little studied in its diachronic dimension and its Punic substrate is almost obscured by the so-called “dialectology” studies, in particular.

By revealing to us many linguistic traces of the Punic substrate, the historical past of the Maghribi language invites us to reassess its status as well as its socio-cultural individuation.

Abstract FRE

L'Afrique du nord asserte l'hégémonie de la langue punique, dès le VIII e siècle avant notre ère.

La civilisation carthaginoise avait réussi à faire rayonner son idiome sur l'actuel Maghreb – et même au-delà, dans cette Ibérie qui allait accueillir Al-Andalus – près de10 siècles avant l'émergence de la norme linguistique arabe.

L'histoire témoigne de la présence de la langue punique jusqu'à l'ère byzantine.

Ensuite c'est le trou noir.

Les témoignages de l'activité linguistique dans ce nord de l'Afrique ne réapparaissent qu'à partir de l'implantation de l'Islam.

C'est alors qu'est identifiée une langue «populaire», dite 3amiya qui prend en charge toutes les fonctions de communication sociale que l'arabe ne peut assumer.

Ce bilinguisme spontané (3amiya/arabe) structure la société maghrébine pendant près d'un millénaire; quasiment jusqu'à la colonisation française (XIX e).

C'est alors que ce bilinguisme historique éclate au profit du français.

Dépréciée et refoulée de l'espace institutionnel, la 3amiya maghrébine (ou maghribi) est peu étudiée dans sa dimension diachronique et son substrat punique est quasiment occulté par les quelques études dite de «dialectologie», notamment.

En nous révélant bien des traces linguistiques du substrat punique, le passé historique de la langue maghribie nous invite à en réévaluer le statut ainsi que l'individuation socio-culturelle.

Diachronic echoes of the Maghribi: the Punic substrateNorth Africa asserts the hegemony of the Punic language, from the 8th century BC onwards.

The Carthaginian civilization had succeeded in spreading its idiom over the current Maghreb – and even beyond, in this Iberia which was to welcome Al-Andalus – nearly 10 centuries before the emergence of the Arabic linguistic norm.

History testifies to the presence of the Punic language until the Byzantine era.

Then came a historical black hole.

It is only until the establishment of Islam that testimonies of linguistic activity in North Africa began to reappear.

This is when a “popular” language, called 3amiya, began to be identified because it did take on all the functions of social communication that Arabic could not assume.

This spontaneous bilingualism (3amiya/Arabic) has contributed to the structuring of Maghreb society for almost a millennium; almost until French colonization (19th century).

This historic bilingualism broke up in favor of the French.

Underestimated and kept out of the institutional framework, the Maghrebian (or Maghribi) 3amiya is little studied in its diachronic dimension and its Punic substrate is almost obscured by the so-called “dialectology” studies, in particular.

By revealing to us many linguistic traces of the Punic substrate, the historical past of the Maghribi language invites us to reassess its status and socio-cultural individuation.