Kabylia in Algeria, a linguistic rebellion in Algeria

Kabylia is a historic region in northern Africa, populated mainly by Berbers. It has an area of ​​25,000 km2 and a population of 7,000,000: the language of the region is Tamazight with more than 5 million speakers.
Its inhabitants call it Tamurt n Iqbaylyen ("Land of the cabillos") or Tamurt Idurar ("Land of the mountains"). It is part of the Atlas Mountains and is located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.
Kabylia includes several provinces (wilayas) of Algeria: the whole territory of Tizi Uzu and Bugia, most of Bouira (Tubiret) and parts of the wilaya of Bourmerdes
Its traditional name, Tamurt Idurar, means "land of the mountains", evoking the high relief that marks its identity.
The Arabization that took place during the expansion of Islam in Algeria at the start of the second millennium led a large part of the Mediterranean coastal population to start speaking Arabic.
However, in the mountainous regions of Kabylia, the Berber language has remained the dominant language.
When the French took control of the country in the 19th century, they also imposed their language. Algeria has become a French-speaking country. Arabic continues to be spoken as the main language in the main cities and on the coastal strip.
With the success of the anti-colonial revolution in Algeria, efforts were made to eliminate French and impose Arabic on the whole country, including the Berber region.
It ignores the fact that a significant number of Algerians have their own language and resist being forced to speak Arabic.
In fact, the Amazight or Berber culture has become strong in Kabylia with its 7 million inhabitants, who speak mainly Berber.
The Berber nationalist movement has been suppressed by the central government of Algiers since the creation of the Algerian Republic. Much of the policy tended to make it difficult to use the local language.
However, the Berbers of Kabylia continue to resist, both in Algeria and in the migrant colonies themselves in France and in other European countries.
Recent protests
The recent demonstrations, which affected the main cities of Kabylia and the capital, came after parliamentarians rejected an amendment to the 2018 finance law that would have made the teaching of the Tamazight language official in local schools.
"A social upheaval is coming," said Lemnouar Hamamouche, a sociology student at Abderrahmane Mira University in Bejaia, in the Kabylie region of northern Algeria, where most of the protests took place.
Students and other activists have spoken out against the decision, which they say highlights the state's wider rejection of the language and identity of its Berber citizens, also known as Amazighs.
Hamamouche told Al Jazeera that this also reflects the policy of the government of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who said that he had not allocated money to help use the language nationwide.
"The masses are starting to protest" because "they reject the fact that [the state] marginalizes the mother tongue," said the Berber leader.
Linguistic and social context
The official languages ​​of Algeria are Arabic and Tamazight (Berber) , as specified in its constitution since 1963 for the former and since 2016 for the latter. Berber has been recognized as a "national language" by the constitutional amendment since May 8, 2002. In February 2016, a constitutional resolution was adopted which made Berber an official language with Arabic. Algerian Arabic and Berber are the mother tongues of over 99% of Algerians, Algerian Arabic being spoken in around 72% and Berber in 27.4%. French, although it has no official status, is widely used in government, culture, the media (newspapers) and education (of primary school), due to the colonial history of Algeria. Kabyle, the most widely spoken Berber language in the country, is taught and partially co-official (with certain restrictions) in certain parts of Kabylia.
Malika Rebai Maamri, author of "The Syndrome of the French Language in Algeria", said: "The language spoken at home and in the street remains a mixture of Algerian dialect and French words". Due to the number of languages ​​and the complexity of these languages, Maamri maintained that "[today] the linguistic situation in Algeria is dominated by multiple discourses and positions".