Names of the Berber people

Today

Berber

In Archaic Greece, βάρβαροι (barbaroi) 'barbarians' was an onomatopoeic word to describe languages perceived as defective, as well as their speakers; bar-bar was an imitation of these languages. Around the beginning of Classical Greece, the term had come to be used for all foreigners and non-Greek speakers. Greeks referred to North African tribes as barbaroi, along with other generalized terms, such as "Numidians," and tribal designations. Among the oldest written attestations of the word Berber is its use as an ethnonym in a document from the 1st century AD Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.

The Greek barbaroi was borrowed as the Arabic word بربرة (barbara) 'to babble noisily, to jabber', which was used by conquering Arabs to describe indigenous North African peoples, due to the perceived oddness of their (non-Semitic) language. This usage was the first recorded to refer to indigenous North Africans as the "Berber" collective. Though "Berber" had been used in reference to East Africans as well, it was mostly applied to Maghreb tribes in conquest narratives, and this became the dominant usage of the term.

Following a period of Islamization, the highly-influential Arab mediaeval writer Ibn Khaldun considered "Berbers" to be their own "race" or "great nation." This idea fell out of use as indigenous North Africans were increasingly marginalized, but was revived by French colonists in the nineteenth century in hopes of dividing the population.

The English term "Berber" is derived from the Arabic word barbar, which means both "Berber" and "barbarian." Due to this shared meaning, as well as its historical background as an exonym, the term "Berber" is commonly viewed as a pejorative by indigenous North Africans today.

Amazigh

Amazigh (fem. Tamazight, pl. Imazighen) is an endonym for indigenous North Africans otherwise known as "Berber." "Amazigh" is also used in English; the native language plural "Imazighen" is sometimes but not always used as well. There have been efforts by self-identified Amazigh to popularize the term over "Berber," including in English, due to the perceived derogatory nature of the latter. According to anthropologist Jane E. Goodman, the usage of "Amazigh" over Berber "calls attention to itself as an ideological choice, signaling that the speaker deliberately rejects perceived pejorative associations that "Berber" can carry and advocates a particular political vision of the Maghreb's future". The use of "Amazigh" is particularly common in Morocco, especially among Central Atlas Tamazight, Tarifit and Shilha speakers since 1980. Its usage does not replace that for more specific ethnic groups, such as Kabyle or Chaoui.

Relatedly, the endonym of Berber languages is typically Tamazight, and in English, "Tamazight" and "Berber languages" are often used interchangeably. "Tamazight" may also be used to a specific language, such as Central Atlas Tamazight or Standard Moroccan Amazigh, depending on the context of its usage.

Although Amazigh as a term had been used throughout history, its use as a claim on collective indigenous North African identity is more recent. Many scholars suggest that the 1945 poem “Kker a mmis umazigh” (“Rise up Son of Amazigh”) by Mohand Idir Aït Amrane to be its first use as a cultural claim.

Etymology

Some scholars suggest that the root word maziġ in the name Amazigh may be related to early Libyco-Berber tribes, which had been referred to as Mazices in some sources. According to Ibn Khaldun, the name Mazîgh is derived from one of the early ancestors of the Berbers.

According to the Berber author Leo Africanus, Amazigh meant 'free man'; some argued that there is no root of M-Z-Ɣ meaning 'free' in the modern Berber languages. However, mmuzeɣ ('to be noble', 'generous') exists among the Imazighen of Central Morocco and tmuzeɣ ('to free oneself', 'revolt') exists among the Kabyles of Ouadhia. Further, Amazigh also has a cognate in the Tuareg word Amajegh, meaning 'noble'.

Historical

Libu

Main article: Libu

Numidians

Main article: Numidians

Moors

Main article: Mauri, Moors

Romans referred to the indigenous tribes of Mauretania as Mauri, or "Moors." οἰκοῦσι δ᾽ ἐνταῦθα Μαυρούσιοι μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων λεγόμενοι, Μαῦροι δ᾽ ὑπὸ τῶν Ῥωμαίων καὶ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων "Here dwell a people called by the Greeks Maurusii, and by the Romans and the natives Mauri" Strabo, Geographica 17.3.2. Lewis and Short, Latin Dictionary, 1879 s.v. "Mauri"

Indigenous North African tribes, along with other populations, were referred to as "Moors" by medieval Europeans.

The historical interchangeability between "Berbers" and "Moors" is a subject of academic inquiry.

References

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