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Kabyle language
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==Distribution== === Geographical distribution === [[File:Aires linguistiques du nord-est algérien.svg|thumb|Map of the linguistic situation of Kabyle in eastern Algeria.<ref>Salem Chaker, ''Textes en Linguistique Berbère'', Éditions du CNRS, Paris, 1984, ISBN 2-222-03578-3, p. 28 (carte LAPMO-YA); </ref><ref>Pierre Bourdieu, ''Sociologie de l'Algérie'', PUF, coll. « Que sais-je ? » n° 802, Paris, 1980, 6e éd. (1e éd. 1958), ISBN 2-13-036387-3, p. 10.</ref>]] Kabyle Berber is native to [[Kabylie|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 language]]s), east and south of the country.<ref name="laval">{{cite web |title=Algérie: Situation géographique et démolinguistique |publisher=Université Laval |first1=Jacques |last1=Leclerc |first2=Lionel |last2=Jean |date=2022-04-22 |url=https://axl.cefan.ulaval.ca/afrique/algerie-1demo.htm |access-date=2023-02-26 |language=fr |archive-date=2023-03-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331102324/https://www.axl.cefan.ulaval.ca/afrique/algerie-1demo.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The populations of Béjaïa (Bgayet), [[Bouïra|Bouïra (Tubirett)]] and [[Tizi Ouzou]] (Tizi Wezzu) provinces are in majority Kabyle-speaking. In addition, Kabyle 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]].{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} 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.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}} === Number of speakers === Estimates on the number of Kabyle speakers in 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 different sources given. French ethnologist {{ill|Camille Lacoste-Dujardin|fr}} estimates four million Kabyle speakers in 2001 in Algeria.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lacoste-Dujardin |first=Camille |date=2001 |title=Géographie culturelle et géopolitique en Kabylie La révolte de la jeunesse kabyle pour une Algérie démocratique |url=http://www.cairn.info/revue-herodote-2001-4-page-57.htm |journal=Hérodote |language=fr |volume=103 |issue=4 |page=61 |doi=10.3917/her.103.0057 |issn=0338-487X |doi-access=free |access-date=2022-12-23 |archive-date=2022-12-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225040017/https://www.cairn.info/revue-herodote-2001-4-page-57.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the ''[[International Encyclopedia of Linguistics]]'' there were {{sigfig|2.537000|2}} million speakers in Kabylia in 2003 out of {{sigfig|3.123000|2}} million worldwide.<ref name="IEL2003">{{Cite book |last=Frawley |first=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sl_dDVctycgC&pg=PA221 |title=International Encyclopedia of Linguistics: 4-Volume Set |date=May 2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |isbn=978-0-19-513977-8 |language=en |access-date=2023-01-29 |archive-date=2023-02-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230221163540/https://books.google.com/books?id=sl_dDVctycgC&pg=PA221 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2004, Canadian linguist {{ill|Jacques Leclerc (linguist)|fr|Jacques Leclerc (linguiste)}} estimated that there were {{sigfig|3.050800|2}} million Kabyle speakers in Algeria (9.4% of the total Algerian population)<ref name=laval/> and {{sigfig|537000|1}} in France.<ref>{{Cite web |title=France: 1) généralités |url=https://www.axl.cefan.ulaval.ca/europe/france-1demo.htm |access-date=2023-02-22 |website=www.axl.cefan.ulaval.ca |archive-date=2023-02-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230222175742/https://www.axl.cefan.ulaval.ca/europe/france-1demo.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Salem Chaker]] estimated there were 5.5 million speakers in 2004, including 3 to 3.5 in Kabylia.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chaker |first=S. |date=2004-05-01 |title=Kabylie : La langue |url=https://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/1431 |journal=Encyclopédie berbère |language=fr |issue=26 |pages=4055–4066 |doi=10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.1431 |issn=1015-7344 |doi-access=free |access-date=2022-12-22 |archive-date=2021-07-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709183115/https://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/1431 |url-status=live }}</ref> The ''[[Encyclopædia Universalis]]'' gives 7 million Kabyle speakers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Définition de kabyle - Encyclopædia Universalis |url=https://www.universalis.fr/dictionnaire/kabyle/ |access-date=2022-12-23 |website=[[Encyclopædia Universalis]] |archive-date=2022-12-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221223201947/https://www.universalis.fr/dictionnaire/kabyle/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Universalis>{{Cite book|chapter=Kabyle|title=Encyclopædia Universalis|language=fr|first1=M'Barek|last1=Redjala|first2=Bouziane|last2=Semmoud|url=https://www.universalis.fr/encyclopedie/kabyles/|access-date=2023-02-23|editor-first=Gilles|editor-last=Quinsat|archive-date=2023-01-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117151634/https://www.universalis.fr/encyclopedie/kabyles/|url-status=live}}</ref> The French [[Ministry of Culture (France)|Ministry of Culture]] estimated there were one million Kabyle speakers in France in 2013.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rapport du Comité consultatif pour la promotion des langues régionales et de la pluralité linguistique interne (2013) |url=https://www.culture.gouv.fr/Thematiques/Langue-francaise-et-langues-de-France/Agir-pour-les-langues/Promouvoir-les-langues-de-France/Nos-publications/Rapport-du-Comite-consultatif-pour-la-promotion-des-langues-regionales-et-de-la-pluralite-linguistique-interne-2013 |access-date=2022-12-25 |website=www.culture.gouv.fr |language=fr-FR |archive-date=2022-12-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225125050/https://www.culture.gouv.fr/Thematiques/Langue-francaise-et-langues-de-France/Agir-pour-les-langues/Promouvoir-les-langues-de-France/Nos-publications/Rapport-du-Comite-consultatif-pour-la-promotion-des-langues-regionales-et-de-la-pluralite-linguistique-interne-2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> Linguist Matthias Brenzinger estimates the number of Kabyle speakers in Algeria at between 2.5 and 3 million in 2015.<ref name=Brenzinger> {{Cite book |title=Language Diversity Endangered |date=2015 |first=Matthias |last=Brenzinger |editor-first1=Matthias |editor-last1=Brenzinger |isbn=978-3-11-090569-4 |location=Berlin |oclc=979749010|page=133|publisher=De Gruyter|doi=10.1515/9783110905694|url=https://archive.org/details/languagediversit0000unse_r6h5}}</ref> Bruce Maddy-Weitzman's 2018 estimate is more than 5 million Kabyle speakers in Kabylie.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2018-09-20 |last=Maddy-Weitzman |first=Bruce |title=The Berbers (Amazigh) |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315626031-23/berbers-amazigh-bruce-maddy-weitzman |journal=Routledge Handbook of Minorities in the Middle East |editor-first=Paul S |editor-last=Rowe|language=en |page=314 |doi=10.4324/9781315626031-23|isbn=9781315626031 |s2cid=187966078 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Maddy-Weitzman |first=Bruce |chapter=Berbers (Amazigh) |date=2015-12-30 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118663202.wberen411 |title=The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Nationalism |page=1 |editor-last=Smith |editor-first=Anthony D |editor-link1=Anthony D. Smith |place=Oxford, UK |publisher=Wiley |language=en |doi=10.1002/9781118663202.wberen411 |isbn=978-1-118-66320-2 |access-date=2022-12-23 |editor2-last=Hou |editor2-first=Xiaoshuo |editor3-last=Stone |editor3-first=John |editor4-last=Dennis |editor4-first=Rutledge |editor-link4=Rutledge Dennis |archive-date=2022-12-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221223214637/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118663202.wberen411 |url-status=live }}</ref> Linguist [[Asya Pereltsvaig]] gives 5.6 million Kabyle speakers worldwide in 2020, mostly in Algeria.<ref name=Pereltsvaig2020>{{Cite book |last=Pereltsvaig |first=Asya|author-link=Asya Pereltsvaig|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/9781108783071 |title=Languages of the World: An Introduction |date=2020-09-03 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-78307-1|chapter=6.3 Berber languages|page=203|doi=10.1017/9781108783071 }}</ref> In 2021, Amina Mettouchi, professor of Berber linguistics, estimated the number of speakers at five million worldwide and more than three million in Algeria.<ref name="Mettouchi">{{cite journal | last=Mettouchi | first=Amina | title=Negation in Kabyle (Berber) | year=2021 | publisher=Journal of African Languages and Literatures | doi=10.6092/JALALIT.V2I2.8059 | url=http://www.tema.unina.it/index.php/jalalit/article/view/8059 | access-date=22 Feb 2023 | archive-date=11 November 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211111092157/http://www.tema.unina.it/index.php/jalalit/article/view/8059 | url-status=live }}</ref> In 2022, according to ''[[Ethnologue]]'' there were {{sigfig|7.489300|2}} million speakers worldwide, including {{sigfig|6.410000|2}} million in Algeria.<ref name=e26>{{e26|kab}}</ref> ===Dialects=== [[File:Dialectes kabyles.PNG|thumb|right|Geographic distribution of Kabyle dialects<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Naït-Zerrad |first=K. |date=2004-05-01 |title=Kabylie : Dialectologie |url=https://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/1433 |journal=Encyclopédie berbère |language=fr |issue=26 |pages=4067–4070 |doi=10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.1433 |issn=1015-7344 |doi-access=free |access-date=2022-12-23 |archive-date=2017-10-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011132959/http://encyclopedieberbere.revues.org/1433 |url-status=live }}</ref>]] Many{{Who|date=July 2020}} identify two dialects: Greater Kabylie (west) and Lesser Kabylie (east), but 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): *Far-western: villages such as Tizi-Ghennif, Boghni and Draa el Mizan. *Western: villages such as At Menguellat, At Yiraten, At Aïssi, At Yanni, *Eastern: ** Eastern-West: villages such as At Mlikeche, Eastern-center: At Aïdel, At Khiar ** Eastern-East: villages such as At Sliman. *Far-eastern: villages such as Aokas, Melbou, At Smail. Also known as Tasaḥlit and considered as a separate language by some according to ''[[Ethnologue]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/kab|title=Amazigh|access-date=2018-06-13|archive-date=2023-03-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230309075203/https://www.ethnologue.com/language/kab/|url-status=live}}</ref> Mutual intelligibility with Far-western is difficult to absent. {| class="wikitable" |+ Phonological differences |- ! colspan=1 rowspan=2 | ! colspan=1 rowspan=2 | Far-western ! colspan=1 rowspan=2 | Western ! colspan=2 rowspan=1 | Eastern ! colspan=1 rowspan=2 | Far-eastern |- style="text-align:center;" ! West || East |- style="text-align:center;" !Gemination of /w/ | bbʷ || bbʷ || ggʷ || ββ || ww |- style="text-align:center;" !Assimilation of /n/ + /w/ | bbʷ || bbʷ || ! colspan=2 | ggʷ || nw |- style="text-align:center;" ! Labialization | ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✗ || ✗ |- style="text-align:center;" !Assimilation of /n/ + /y/ | gg || gg || gg || yy || y |- style="text-align:center;" ! affricates /ts/ and /dz/ | ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✗ || ✗ |- style="text-align:center;" ! ḍ | ḍ || ḍ || ḍ || ṭ || ṭ |} {| class="wikitable" |+ Grammatical differences |- ! colspan=1 rowspan=2 | ! colspan=1 rowspan=2 | Far-western ! colspan=1 rowspan=2 | Western ! colspan=2 rowspan=1 | Eastern ! colspan=2 rowspan=1 | Far-eastern |- style="text-align:center;" ! West || East || || Aokas |- style="text-align:center;" ! Verb-framing with n | ✓ || ✓ || ! colspan=2 | ✗ || ! colspan=2 | ✗ |- style="text-align:center;" ! Possessive pronouns <br/> (ex: 3rd m) | -nnes || -is, -ines || ! colspan=2 | -is, -ines ||! colspan=2 | -is |- style="text-align:center;" ! Aorist preverb ad | ad || ad || ! colspan=2 | ad || ad || di |} ====Lexical differences==== 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.
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