Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, 2008

BERBER STUDIES
VOLUME 22

Berber in Contact
Linguistic and Sociolinguistic Perspectives

edited by
Mena Lafkioui and Vermondo Brugnatelli

AoudJ1la S,wa

enaga

RODIGER K6PPE VERLAG · K6LN

 MEDIEVAL LINGUISTIC CONTACTS:
/es lcabai'/es BERBER LANGUAGE THROUGH ARAB EYES
. le ministre
Helena de Fclipe 1
l<luite par De Universidad de Alcala

'le diachronie.
1. Introduction
vocabulaire
Caire, Institut The Berbers the Arabs and their languages have been in contact in orth
Africa for centuries. Therefore, these two languages have a historical
AF. relationship, evidenced in Arab sources whose textual testimony of the past
ents chez les reveals an ideological context that goes beyond tenninology and toponymy.
Our objective is to point out various aspects of the profound relation
ieme edition). between the Arab view of the Berbers and the view of the medieval Arab
texts of the Berber language, as well as the different phenomena related to
~. dialecte de the contact with the Arab language (i.e. translation and arabisation). We al o
wish to investigate those indicators that can be utilised to understand the
en berbere et extent of the Berbers us and conservation of their own language outside
' international Maghreb specifically in al-Andalus. This paper is an historical study based
(Malte) - II. on medieval sources, from which we are able to analy e naming within the
Berber language itself and the people who spoke it. It will examine the
Histoire des journey of some Berber place-name from a world of oral tradition into the
1tentrionale, 4 written text of Arabic, considering the changes that this caused.
Additionally it will analyse genealogical accounts as the justification of
inguistique et linguistic realities and their inclusion in Arab texts with translations of
Berber terms. Finally, a brief research on the u e of Berber in medieval
1es du Moyen- sources is made in the context of al-Anda Ius.
des cultures To prepare this study it has been necessary lo use medieval Arab sources
Alger, SNED, of different types and from different geographical origins, selecting a series
of texts that qualitatively illustrate the phenomena of the interaction
·s du Maroc between both the Arabic and Berber languages and, in consequence
between the people who spoke them. Therefore, tllis study was made using a
?S ». Lexiques historical-philological methodology with the aim of recovering the social
:-en-Provence, and linguistic phenomena of the past.

1 This study has been carried out within the framework of the " Ramon y Cajal" Research
Program of the Spanish Ministry of Education: " History of Maghreb and al-Andalus.
Histo1y of the Berbers" and the Research Project "Geographical and social mobil ity of
the Muslim population in the Iberian Peninsula (X I-XIII centuries)" (HUM-08644).
20 Helena de Felipe

2. Images of the Berbers

"These mountaineers are all of a low stature, lean, burnt by the sun, and of a miserable
appearance. They are known by the name of Brebes; they fonn a nation by themselves;
and though most of them can speak Arabic, as well as all the other inhabitants, yet they
make use of an idiom which has not the least resemblance to it, except in some words
taken from it. I had some of their words explained, and took notice of the follow ing
ones; viz.2 ( ..• )There are several dialects of the Brebes language in the mountains; they
are all poor, and form a jargon mixed with the Arabic, so that one may foretel l that in a
few centuries the Arab language [sic] will entirely disappear from these parts. To write
the Brebe language they employ the Arabian characters and ortography [sic].
Notwithstanding the pains l took, I did not succeed in discovering one single book
written in this idiom." Ali Bey (I 995, vol. l /47: 157-160).

This passage, in the words of Domingo Badia, a.k.a. "Ali Bey", relates to
how the mounta in people went down to buy goods in the market of
Marrakesh and is an interesting eye-witness account included in his famous
J 81" century travel book.
This interesting testimony presents a view of the Berbers and the Berber
language as seen by an outsid r who find everything :trange to his foreign
eyes. The aspect wbi h attract Ali B y' attention are not al all surprising:
hi comment on the impossibility of finding a book written in Berber, the
use of Arab ic characters, the description of Berber as 'jargon", and the fact
that there ex ist different dialects m ixed with Arabic words. However, what
i stranger till i Lbe author s view of the future of U1e Berber language
which as i well-known , wa quite differ nl from its pre eat stat .3
he d , ription of the B rb r language a ' jargon· or in general , with
pejorati e onn tali ns i nothing ne , e pecially if we bear in mind ti.le
informati n pro ided by th medi val Arab OlLTCC . o we can bow the
existence of ome bi tori graphical view in which tbe Berber and their
cullure d no! e aclly appear ith po itive attr1bule .4 A ignjficant number
of the texts from the 81" and 9 111 centuries were probably written in the wake
of the !:J/zriii revolt of 740, as explained in M. Talbi ( 1982). Among these we
can focus on false prophetic traditions (attributed to Prophet Muhammad)

The author has added a list of 127 items, among which some numerals, both isolated
and in context.
1t is clear that there is a mistake in the English version when referring to the Arabic
language instead of the Berber language.
•1 About the image of the Berbers in Arab sources, see Lewicki (1973), Norris (1982), de
Felipe ( 1990) and Ti lmati ne (2000).
 Medieval linguistic contacts: Berber language through Arab eyes 21

designed to show the negative character of the Berbers in religious and other
matters. However, we also have references to their unpleasantness and
of a miserable tendency to violence from previous dates (Ibn Hisam 1929, vol. I: 322-323).
,y themselves; In the Medieval Islamic West and because of the political events
tants, yet they associated with the fall of the Caliphate of Cordoba at the beginning of I 1th
n some words century, called al-fltna al-barbarfya ('Berber revolt'), we find a new wave
the following of contempt against the Berbers owing to these different circumstances.
1ountains; they Sacid of Toledo includes them among the peoples who do not cultivate the
irctcJI that in a sciences and noted them for their tyranny and ignorance (Sai::id al-Andalusi
parts. To write 1985: 42). We can find both pejorative currents in a later geographical
ography rsic]. dictionary entitled the Muciam al-buldiin by Yaqut (13 1h century), in which
1e single book the entry "barbar" ('Berber'), besides including various apocriphal
traditions similar to those already mentioned, also has texts from an
Andalusi context, such as that of Abu 1-Qasim al-NaJ:twi al-Andalus1 who
1", relates to says:
~ market of "I saw Adam in my dream and I told him: oh! Father of mankind, people have said that
D his famous the barabir (' Berbers ') are your descendants, he said: mine? I will divorce Eve if it is as
they claim."5
1d the Berber
.o his foreign Various aspects of this collective portrait deserve to be analysed and studied
.11 surprising: in depth, but what really matters here is the attempt to analyse what part of
rr Berber, the these currents underlies the way in which the Arab sources refer to the
, and the fact Berber language and people that used it, transferring in this way discourses
)Wever, what made by an Arab-Islamic society to terminology, as is shown in the next
)er language, chapter.
1te.3
general, with 3. Naming people and language
· in mind the
:an show the References to the Berber language in Arab sources are both rare and
1ers and their sporadic. Among the different categories of writings, it is useful to focus on
ficant number the geographical ones, which usually tend to offer more precise details, as
n in the wake the authors either knew the land first hand or used the experience of other
10ng these we authors as source material, including the description of animals and plants
Muhammad) with particular names in the original language.6

1ls, both isolated

Ya.qi1t (1977, vol. I: 369). These and other texts on the Berbers in: de Felipe ( 1990:
Jg to the Arabic 393-395) and orris (I 982: passim).
!• An interesting article based on al-Bakri's work, sec Chaker (1983); about the use of
'l'orris ( 1982), de Arab sources to study the Berber language and its dialects, see also the appealing
considerations of Lewicki ( 1973 : 37-39) and Meouak (2006).
22 Helena de Felipe

What is quite certain is that there is a strong identification between the

name of the people, al-barbar ('the Berbers'), the name f the language, and
the name of the area they occupy. The three name are a ociaLed
tenninologically but it i Lb incomprebensibihty of the language and the
foreignnes of the people that appear as th ir m l di tingui hing marks.7
These word are interwoven wilh tJ1e e pre sion of the area where they live,
biliid al-barbar ('Berbers land'), an expression that is applied on most
occasions to the Western area of Ifriqiya8 . So the terminology that a distant
geographer like lbn Rustab uses to refer to Maghreb, which he never visited,
is not surprising; when he describes the limits of the second iqlfm ('region,
clime' he places it terriLorie. in the £ Llowu1g rdt:r, fr m ea t to we t:
from Mi.~'I', you pas to arc! a!-Mugrib ( the land of Maghreb'), biliid Jjriqiya
( Jand f Ifr1qiya' and then Lo the biitid al-harbar ('Serb r. land· ) until
you reach th babr al-Magrib 'the a oJ Maghreb' lbn Rusteh 1967, vol.
7: 96). n the other hand Lb 1dalu i al- alai i e ea more pr ci ' e when
he xeti r to the fourth region, taling: Mi~r wa-jfriqiya wa-1-barbar ·wa-1-
Andalus ("Mi~r and Ifriqiya and the Berbers and al-Andalus") (al-Bakri
J992, vo l. 1: 17 ).
Bul it i necessary to bear in mind thaL Lb re i · nothing trangc in th fa l
that the author empha ise tbe incomprehcn ibility of Lhe language. AI-
Muqaddasi, an .Eastern author of th 10111 entury c mpa.re lh Berber to
Lhe people of fiwarizm both for their wretch d character and their languag
that nob dy can under tand (al-Mugadda i l 967, ol. : 243. 286).
l bn Haldfu1, who dedicates a notab le number of page to the hi tory of
the Berber a s ciate their name with th fact that lugalu-hum min al-
ra/anc1 a/-al'iamfJa ( 'their language is a non-Arab jargon"), empha i ing
the foreignnes of the language (Ton HaldOn 2003 ol. 6: I 04). At the same
time, he r late an old tale in which the Yemenite king, lfriqi b. Qays b.
~ayu wh bad onquered the Maghreb and Ifriqiya lhal w re ubs qoeotly
nam d after h:im was urpri ed by lhe harbara 'jabbering, muttering in
which the inhabitants expressed themselves and thus called them barbar
( Berber ). 1t i inl resting that it was [bn HaldGn him, elI who explained
the meaning of ili tc:nn 'barbara' in lhe Arab language confirming th
previou de ripti n f a mi ture of incomprehen ible ound '. H
provide an explanation in hi· work, w hich we do nol find in the oLber

1 About the term barbar, see Norris (1982: !) and de Felipe (1990: 379, fn. I); the verb
tabarbara is mentioned in other sources as 'become numerous' , see: lbn al-Sal!am al-
lba9i (1986: t23); Abu Zakariyya' al-Warzlani (1985: 54); and al-Darzini (s. d.: 17).
~ According to classical Arab geography, Ifriqiya corresponds, approximately, to
nowadays Tunisia.
 Medieval linguistic contacts: Berber language through Arab eyes 23

between the sources, associating this term with a lion that "roars with sounds which
anguage, aod cannot be understood." 9
e associated A good number of the Eastern and Western texts alude to "al-luga al-
uage and the barbariya" or "al-lisan al-barbarf'' ("Berber language"), being the first of
;hing marks.7 these terms the most common terminology. However, we should notice the
,ere they live, existence of names that correspond to a very specific geographical and
lied on most chronological context. In the period when the A lmoravid dynasty expanded
that a distant and reached its height in the Islamic West ( end of 11th century) we can find
never visited, expressions like al-luga al-murabitfya ('the language of the Almoravids' ).
qlfm ('region, In a biography of the Almoravid emir, Yusuf b. Tasfin, it is said that he did
east to west: not know al-lisan al-r.arabi ('Arabic language') but he had a kiitib
bil6d Ifriqiya (' secretary') who knew both languages, Arabic and Almoravid. 10 The
:-s land') until expression "Almoravid language" acquires its full significance in a specific
.teh 1967, vol. context like this. This language was categorised as being used by the emir
precise when and was thus different from the language used by the rest of the Andalusis,
'-barbar wa-/- that is to say Arabic. 11
us") (al-Bakri During the time of the powerful Almohad caliphate (12th -1 fh centuries)
of M~muda origin, several Berber tribes were united under Almohad
nge in the fact leadership and the Berber language was described in new ways. The
language. Al- Almohads pronounced the !J.utba (' sermon') of the prayer in their own
the Berbers to language, as is clearly illustrated in various texts; one of them describes how
their language Abfi Mul_iamrnad cAbd al-Wa):iid b. cUmar, preached to tbe Alrnohads first
286). in al-lisdn al-garbi (' the Western language' ), then in their own language,
the history of and finally explained the same thing in al-lisan al-wrabf (' Arabic
u~hum min al- language'). 12
), emphasising The Andalusi geographer al-Zuhrl, who also lived in tbc period of the
t). At the same AJmohads, explains that the term 'argan ', as in argan tree, comes directly
iqi§ b. Qays b. from tbe term used in lugat a/-mczyamida ("the language of the Ma~mfidas")
·e subsequently (al-Zuhri s.d.: 118).
, muttering') in The terminological differences are connected to the place of origin of the
d them barbar authors as well as to the historical moment in which they Lived. In the
who explained Andalusi case, the identification of, consecutively, "the Berber" with "the
con.firming the Almoravid" and "the Almohad" appears obvious, but it also throws light ou
! sounds". He
ad in the other 9 Ibidem. About the origin of Berber, see Shatzmiller (1983).
10 lbn.t!.allikan(1968- 1972, vol.6: ll 4).SeealsoNorris(1982: 139-141).
11 Another interesting reference to the lack of knowledge of Arabic by Yusuf b. Tiisfin in
79, fn. 1); the verb
:: Ibn al-Salliim al- al-Saqundi in al-Maqqan ( 1968, vol. 3: 191 ).
12 lbn $iil)ib al-$alat (1987: 564 and 446) . Another reference to the term al-listin al-garbi
rzini (s.d.: 17).
approximately, to (" the Western language") and the use of Berber language among the Almohads, see
Meouak (2006: 330-334).
 Helena de Felipe
24
an environment that knew a great deal about the tribal context. This
circumstance can equally be well appreciated in the case of the other names
associated with the Almohad movement, such as the references to al-dawla
al-ma,wnudfya ("the AJmohad state") (Ibn Sadd 1953-55, vol. I: 261 ).

4. The oral versus the written word

From the Eastern perspective, N orth Africa was seen as a place where there
existed a diverse linguistic legacy and where many languages co-existed.
Yaqut, the celebrated author from Aleppo is interesting in this respect. He
uses many sources from different periods and from different geographical
origins for the writing of his work. Both aqut and lhe authors who u ed hi
work reflect on the Maghrebian toponymy and the problem that aris when
translating terms that come from an oral world into thei.r written . ork , a
we can see in the following examples of North African place names.
In the entry dedicated to Antabulus Yaqut record that il mean ·' fi c
cities" in rumiya (' the language of the Rum'). Hi explanation of th plac -
name Ai ddbiya is much more detailed. \:le explains th ocaLi ation f the
term and states that if it were Arabic. it wou ld be the plural of i.adb
'dr u ght aridity ) b ut later on it oftened th yci · f the nisba relationship
name ) be aus of the freq uency fits u e, and Yaqu i add d that it app ared
to b raiami non-Arab ) (Yaqut l 977, vol. t: 266; 100-1 O1).
Allusions to the Berber language called in this case barbariya are also
present in Yaqut's work. This is particularly important in the case of the
entries beginning with the letter td ', where after refetTing to Taskut,
Takarna , Takaruna , Tamadfus, Tamadalt , Tamarkida , Tamast and
Tdmakant, along with his explanations of the locations of these places, the
text goes on to state that all the terms referred to previously are barbariya
(Yaqut 1977, vol. 2: 6-7).
The author' s lack of knowledge of Maghrcb is eviden t because he
duplicates some place-names whose spell ing, translated from Berber into
Arabic, is not clear to him: Akarsif and Zar if; or Ti lirn an, wh ich be states
can be spoken as Tinimsan (vol. l: 239; vol. 2: 126 and 44).
The difficulties in transcribing the pronunciation of Berber words into
Arabic script are also obvious in the case of Izalin/lzal'in, which is a fortress
in the country of the Ma$m0das. Most interesting here is the explanation
that accompanies 'Jzal'in', in which Yaqut points out that " his zim is similar
to al-qiif and al-kaf' (vol. 1: 287-288). It is a i, vea ling tatement, as we
rarely find explanations in the texts for th pron unciation of term·; h ere the
author is making an effort to transmit faithfully and a orat ly th closest
 Medi val linguistic contacts: Berber language through Arab eyes 25

context. This approach to a place-name, whose verbalisation is completely foreign to the

Ile other names author. To achieve lhis, he relies on the sounds of the Arabic language,
;es to al-dawla which are close to the Berber phoneme that he is trying to reproduce. This
. I: 261). kind of explanations reveal that Yaqut has probably used a work written for
a non Berber-speaking public.
The uncertainties in the written version of Berber terms are not
exceptional. The case of the genealogical onomastics, collected by lbn
ace where there .Haldun, is most interesting and includes, as is well known, masculine names
Lges co-existed. like Madgis al-Abtar, Mazig b. Kancan, Banft Madgis (Ibn Haldiin 2003 ,
this respect. He vol. 6: 105, 107, 109) and feminine ones like Tamrig (sic for Tarnzig) or
nt geographical Bam1 Tamf1t (vol. 6: 107, 111), which are doubtlessly connected with the
1rs who used bis Berber words amazig and tamazigt. In this onomasticon, we can appreciate
that arise when the same phenomenon as we have seen in Yaqfit: the attempt to transcribe
ritten works, as Berber terms into Arabic and the uncertainties that can occur as a result of
names. this.
: it means "five The north African context is represented in our sources as being very
on of the place- diverse, both regarding the people who live there and the language they
calisation of the speak. In this setting, the language constitutes a factor of identification of
plural of zadb the first order and is far more important than others, such as appearance and
ba ('relationship clothing. This can be clearly seen in the text that al-Bakri devotes to Tripoli,
l that it appeared in which he reports thal in the surrounding areas there are Copts who dress
l). like Berbers but speak the Coptic language. 13
rbariya are also The Arab geographers make some interesting observations that are very
. the case of the useful for establishing a linguistic map of the Maghreb. Al-Bakri himself,
:ring to Taskut, when referring to the people of Sirt, in Libya, says that they have a kalam
,, Tamast and ('speaking') that only they know, but it is neither Arabic nor E.:aiamf ('non-
these places, the Arab') nor barbari ('Berber') nor qubtf ('Coptic'). 14
:ly are barbarfya
5. Arabs and Berbers in contact: the genealogical debate
:lent because he
:rom Berber into The genealogical ascendancy in medieval Arab-Islamic society was an
1, which he states important factor in a discourse designed for establishing social, political and
religious legitimacy. Language as something closely linked to the identity of
erber words into the people who use it, shares with this people the prestige of their ancestry
vhich is a fortress and genealogy. Having this context in mind, two questions can be
s the explanation addressed: how do the medieval sources explain the phenomena of
'his zim is similar
statement, as we
13 AI-Bakr'l ( J992, vol. 2: 653). On clothing as a factor of identification in Medieval
of terms; here the Maghreb, see, BaJ1ri & Lamine (2003). For the Andalusi case, see Marin (200 I).
irately the closest 14 AI-Bakri (1992, vo l. 2: 652).
 Helena de Felipe
26
arabisation and berb risation in the Maghreb? How do they dea l with the
fusion of p oples and languages?
The contact between th Berber and the Arabic languages, videnced by
the use of borrowings , is justified by adopting a genea logical explanation,
like -o many other soc ial ituations in medieval Maghreb .
Leo A fricanu ( 15th_ l6 111 century) inherited, to a great extent, the Arab
historiograph ical tradition and in his work he state that
"Ces cinq peuples qui sont divises n ccntainc: de lignccs ct en mil\icrs de dcmcurcs
utiliscnt unc scu lc languc, qu'i!s app llcnl cornmuncmcnt uqud mna:ig, cc qu i vcu t dire
\angagc noble. Les arabcs l'appcllcnt la \anguc barbarcsquc. " csi la languc africainc
natalc : ellc est spccialc ct elle differe des autres. On y trouvc ct:pcndarn quclquc mots
de la langue arabc. 'est pourquoi certain admcttent. er uti\i:cnt cc fait commc
argument, quc !cs Africai ns om pour originc les ab<!cn . , p uplc de I' rnbic Hcurcusc.
cornmc nous \'avons dit. Mais les parii ans de \'opini n con1rairc affirmcnt quc lcs mots
arabc, qu'on trouvc dans c rte langue y on ete introduits depuis quc lcs Arabcs sont
entres ..,n Afriquc ct qu' ils e ont· rendus ma it res du pays. Ce~ pcuplcs ctaicnt ere pril
grossicr ct ignorants, i bicn qu ' ils n·ont \aissc aucun !ivrc qui pui. sc fournir des
argum nts en favcur de 1·une ou l autre opinion" (Jean-Leon L' fricain I 980, l: 15-16).

The explanation provided by the author for the pr · sence of rab words in
the speech of the Berbers correspond to a well -known tradition since
ancient time: the King of Yemen lfriqis, whose name wa · given t Ifr'iqiya,
transfetTed the Berber from the Ea t to North A frica. 1•
The statement that some of the Berber tribes had come from Yemen has a
previous hi , tory and often appeared related to ome of th e etymologies
regarding the origins of the word barbar. 16 The fact that Leo Africanus uses
lhis tradition to substantiate a phenomenon concerned with the site of the
language i important; that is to say, the Berbers used words in their
language from Arabic because part of them came from Yemen and not
because the Arabs conquered North Africa.
A simil ar explanation, with the difference that the fu ion of the languages
is explained in the opposite sen e, is included in the anonymo us work al-
lf11/al al-t\t/aw.~~va, written in the 14111 century; in thi s ex planation , it is tated
that Arabs had been berberised by including words from Berber into their

15 !bn J:ialdim (2003. vol. 6: 104-105, 109, I \ 3). Man. rcf'ercnc ~ tan b'-' found about this
Ycmenite king, see Norris ( 1982 : 36, 57), de Felipe ( 1990: 391) among others.
ir. The Yemenite origin· of certain Ucrbcr tribe. have been col lected by several au thors
from different period , among other , see lbn .!:!.a id fin (2003 , voL 6: I 04. I 07, I I'), al-
Yar.qubi (1967 , vol. 7: 346\ al-Bakri (1992, vol. I : 329), ol- lclrisi ( 1968: 6(;-76): sec
al·o Norris ( 1982 : 35-40). hatzmiller ( 1983), de Felipe ( \990: 88-392).
 Medieval linguistic contacts: Berber language through Arab eyes 27

, deal with the own original language, which was Arabic. The anonymous author of al-
ffu/al mentions this idea when be talks about the tribes which gave rise to
;, evidenced by the Almoravid movement and wruch had berberised their language, owing
:al explanation, to lhe vicinity of the Berbers and the fact that they had established kinsh.ip
with them. 17
xtent, the Arab Genealogy is thus revealed as a discourse that may offer valid
explanations for the de facto situations produced. In the case of the author of
.Hiers de demeures al-lfulal, the interest in providing genealogical legitimacy for the
:ig, ce qui veut dire Almoravids obliges him to offer an account contending that although they
\a langue africaine appeared to be Berbers, they were not so in origin.
dant quc\ques mots Other examples of berberisation concern other populations, not
mt cc fail comme exclusively Arabs: in tbe 12th century, al-Idris1 writes about the inhabitants
I' Arabie Hcurcusc, of Gafsa, the majority of whom spoke the "Latin-African" language and
'innent que !es mots who bad become berberised without explaining what he meant by
iue les Arabes sont berberisation (aJ-ldris'.i 1968: 195/122).
1ples etaient d' esprit

puisse foumir des 6. About translations: from Berber to Arabic

;ain 1980, I: 15-16).
In general, in the case of two co-existing languages it would seem inevitable
)f Arab words in that references to translations would emerge; but wbat is quite certain is that
n tradition since these are less frequent than one would expect. Some authors, as we have
given to lfriqiya, seen, introduce terms in Berber bul translations into Arabic are more
sporadic.
rom Yemen has a Berber tribes who speak Arabic (al-1:limyari 1975: 434), place-names
:· the etymologies based on Arabic roots which have adopted a Berber form, like Tdba}:irit (al-
eo Africanus uses Bakri 1992, vol. 2: 751 ), and even Muslim scholars teaching in the Berber
ith the site of the language (lbn al-Abbar 1887-89 vol. 2: 712, n° 2006), all correspond to a
:d words in their Maghrebian environment where both languages had established dynamic
1 Yemen and not interrelations. This is reflected in sources through various expressions like
the ones we have analysed.
in of the languages Once again, it is not surprising that the cases mentioned below
onymous work al- correspond to authors from the Islamic West, where more possibilities of
anation, it is stated understanding the meaning of the words in Berber occur.
n Berber into their AI-Zuhri, referring specifically to "the land of the Ma~mudas", mentions
the name of the 'porcupine', stating that the Berbers call it ydrwf (al-Zuhri
s.d.: 116). At the same time al-Bakri cites a mountain called in " barbarfya"
:an be found about this
1mong others.
:led by several authors
I. 6: 104, 107, l 13), a\-
17 Al-Hula! al-maw.ffya ( l 979: 19); another text about kinship between Berbers and Arabs
lrisi (1968: 66-76); see
88-392). in al-ldrisi (1968: 57-58/67).
28 Helena de Felipe

Adrdran Wzzal, whose interpretation ('tc!f''>ir') is 'the iron mountain' ±:aha!

a/-1wdfd (al-Bakr1 1992 vol. 2: 857).
eAbd al-Wa.l)id al-Marrakus1 introduces an inlere ting expression in his
work. In ome passage of his narration of the \if of th Almohad cal iph
eAbd al-Mu'min, he r fers to ome family member. of lbn Tumart,
explaining that they were known a A., t Wamglir and points out that their
app llation in Arabic i ' Banu Tlm al-.~aJ'!:J. ("th descendants of the leader's
011") E bd al-Wal)id al-Marraku 'i 1978: 340). The importance of this text
lie pre i ely in U,e fact that tb author considers the need to pr serve the
expression in the original language instead of including the ver ion in
rabic directly and without further comment.
Finally, l wil l mention a biography includ d in the work of l:imad Baba
(l 71h century); in tbi he says that al-I.la an b. MahlC1f al-Mazili was known
as Abrikan whose meaning is a/-Aswad ('the black') ( !)mad Baba 1980:
109).
Thi brief but ·ignificant selection of translated tern,: makes us think
about the motivations that have led these authors to include th Berber
vers ion of these words. It is evident that they are writing for an rabic-
speaking public but one that belongs to the Islamic West, ince it i · apparent
that this public knows what the author ar referring to when th y peak
about the Berber languag .
The translations of place-names, as we bave een above, are not so
unusual within the framework of the general ·carcity of data nd be ome a
part of a linguistic "know-how" in th geographical work . Th case of the
clarification i.ncluded by Abrnad Baba responds Lo the ne d for pre i ion,
since the term he translate is the part f the name by which the ubject. of
the biography i known, and the author mu 'l therefore con ider it important
that its original mean.ing i understood.
The figure of the translator or interpreter between both languages appears
in lbadi Maghrebian sources ~pecifically in the chapter dedicated to
extolling the virtues of the Berbers as a people in lbn allam's work. This
author relates how a group of Lawata, , enl by eAm r b. al-cA~. went to see
the caliph cUmar al-Ha~\ab accompanied by an interpreter. 1x
lt is no coincidence that tbe figure of the translator i. mentioned in these
kind of sources when prai si ng the Berbers. The lbadi Maghrebian culture of
the medieval period asserted the role of tlie Berbers in the context of their

1~ Thi text is of great interest for other reason too, and is collected with variations in lbn
al- allam al-lba<;li (1986: 123- 124), Abf1 7-akariyy:\.' (1985: 53-55) and nl- Di11'ilni (s.d.:
16-18).
 Medieval linguistic contacts: Berber language through Arab eye 29

mtain' zabal rise to religious leadership. It is within this context of ethnic and cultural
legitimisation that the reaffirmation of the use of the Berber language
:ession in bis acquires all its sense. 19
illobad caliph
Ibn Tumart, 7. A Case Study: al-Andalus
out that their
,f the leader's There is another interesting context of contact between the Berber and the
ce of this text Arabic languages: al-Andalus. 20
J preserve the Differently from the Maghreb, in al-Andalus, Berbers were a cultural
be version in minority, even as they were numerically superior to the Arab element in
Andalusi society. This chapter analyses the particular circumstances of the
f Al)mad Baba Andalusi Berbers by regarding the use and conservation of their language,
@was known and by reflecting on their insertion in a society different from the
ad Baba 1980: Maghrebian and with their own legacy and linguistic developments.
According to the Arab sources, the historical process that developed al-
oak.es us think Andalus began in the year 711. From this date on, the movement of
1de the Berber population from North Africa to the Iberian Peninsula became particularly
for an Arabic- dynamic. Nowadays, we know that the majority of people who moved to al-
ce it is apparent Andalus and settled there in the first wave were Berbers (Guichard 1977:
hen they speak 276, Cbalmeta 1994: 126-127 and 168). However, the question of which
Language the Berbers used in al-Andalus, in addition to the question of the
)Ve, are not so Andalusis of Berber origin, is more complicated.
:a and become a The studies by F. Corriente on the Aodalusi dialect and Arabic loan-
The case of the words in Spanish reach some interesting conclusions on this point:
~ for precision, "Pero se puede afirmar por mera estadistica demografica que la mayoria de los hispanos
:h the subject of que se convirtieron en andalusies tuvieron que aprender el arabe de boca de bereberes
bilingucs, de lo que ya hcmos mcncionado ciertos indicios foneticos ( . .. )." 21
:ider it important

mguages appears According to Corriente, it is not surprising that the number of berberisms in
ter dedicated to the Andalusi dialect is scarce, and he links this circumstance to questions
lam's work. This which have more to do with ethnic and Linguistic prcstige. 22
-cA~, went to see In addition to these interesting arguments, we need to analyse what the
Arab sources can offer us. The specific data referring to the Berber language
1entioned in these
hrebian culture of
1e context of their 19 Other references to the links between lbadis and the use of the Berber language are
found in Meouak (2006: 334-335).
20 On Berbers in al-Andalus, see Guichard (1977), Bereberes (1990), de Felipe (1997 and
with variations in lbn 2007), l;laqqi (200 I).
21 Corriente ( l 999: 60). See also Corriente ( 1998 15/16: 269-275).
i) and al-Darzini (s.d. :
22 Corriente ( 1999: 59-60).
 Hcl na de Felipe
30
·uffer from the same characteristic a the one we have been studying,
which is scarcity and sparsity.
We can conjectur that the Berbers who first arrived in al-/\ndalus were
hardly Arabiz d either lingui tically and culturally. At the beginning, these
Berb r , having just arrived in a new tenitory could not by themselves take
an active part in arabisation, as they were not in any condition co do o.
A well-known text referring to the first period confin11 the Berbers' use
of their own language: th i can be placed hi torically al U,e moment of the
arrival of the Umayyad i:Abd al-Ral~man b. Mudiwiya 10 a\-Andal us in the
year 755, during his stru ggles with Yusuf al-Fihr1 for control ov r the
territory.
The Umayyad had counted on the help of his Berber cli ents in Maghreb
to flee from the Easl, and !hen, after be crossed to the Peninsula, he relied
on the aid of other Berber fam ilies who were also his clients.
Both fbn al-QCit1ya and the author of the anonymous Ab.Mr Ma=mt1rn
repeat this ep isode, noting that r bd al-Ra):unan b. Mucawiya mad a
request for support to the Berber familie : taking adva111ag; of the
circumstance that they spoke the same language, he a ked th m to go and
p ak to the BerbeL who fo rmed part of the army or Yu uf al-Fibri, hi -
adversary, in order to convince them to abandon him by changing side to
defend the Umayyad cause.2·'
This accou nt in wh ich the sources differ about the fami lies responsible,
exh ibits several points of interest. First, and most importantly, at this date
the Berbers establish d in al-Andalus, sti ll spoke their own language and
th i wa very well-known. Secondly, it must be suppo. ed that they all spoke
an identical language and thus they could communicate without difficulty.
However, the length of time elap ed was not suftiei enl for the Berber
language to have been lo t, and the Berbers were the majority of the troops
at the time of the conqu st, so they did not feel any great need Lo ubstitute
one language for another.
From our point of view, the Berbers did not fonn a numerical minority in
al-Andalus in relation to the Arab . Anyway, beyond the historiographical
debate on the number of Arabs and Berbers in the first times of Andalusi
history, the is ue we mu t face i their sirualion as a marginal cultural entity.
since the de elopment of al-Andalus as an Arab-I slam ic ociety determined
the proce se of establi hing identitie · among the non-Arab inhabitants of
the territory, whether they were Berber or of another origin.

23 De Felipe (1997: 75-76).

 Medieval linguistic contacts: Berber language through Arab eyes 31

:en studying, Given the nonexistence of specific references to the use of the Berber
language in al-Andalu , we must use other indicators for the analysis what
\Ildalus were will allow us lo focus on the problem: onomastics and place-names.
;inning, these A previous study has enabled me to outline the process of acculturation
:mselves take of the Andalusi Berber populations during the first two Andalusi centuries. 24
o do so. My onomastic study, carried out through prosopograpby, concludes with the
Berbers' use establishment of two different processes that mainly depend on the place of
1oment of the settlement and the socio-cultural environment of the different families
Lndalus in the analysed. The cLifference can be established between those people located in
1trol over the areas far from the most important urban and cultural centres, and those that
were immersed in population centres of some importance who worked in
ts in Maghreb certain occupations, like ulema or members of the administration; among
mla, be relied the latter, a more advanced process of onomastic arabisation can be
detected, which in some cases goes as far as trying to conceal the Berber
bar Maimuca origins.
1wiya made a In short, we cannot refer to the preservation of the Berber language,
rntage of the linked in this case to the preservation of the onomastic signs of identity, as a
1em to go and unique homogeneous process in the whole Iberian Peninsula because
1f al-Fihri, his distinct processes with diverse variables also existed there, as did in North
lnging sides to Africa. Besides this, we must add the previously mentioned fact that
Andalus.i political history, with specific regards to its relationship with
es responsible, North Africa, caused Berberity to be an object of public censure on certain
ly, at this date occasions. These circumstances did not encourage the Berbers to exhibit
1 language and their ethnic roots.
t they all spoke The traces of the Berber language in the AndaJusi place-names are
)Ut difficulty. another element that illustrates not only the organisation and distribution of
for the Berber Berber settlements but also the precise origin of the first Berber inhabitants
ty of the troops after 71 l. The Arab sources have left us an abundant legacy in which Berber
ed to substitute tribes, factions, and lineages are present, many of which are preserved to
this day.25 The geographical situation of most of these non-urban place-
ical minority in names leads us to consider that their inhabitants were in a better situation
istoriographical than urban dwellers to preserve their own language. Anyway, a Berber
1es of Andalusi majority in a given place does not contribute to a quick arabisation.
I cultural entity, Another useful factor are the Berbers who were sent on various missions
:iety determined by Umayyad emirs and caliphs from al-Andalus to North Africa. Although I
b inhabitants of have not made a final conclusion about all of the missions undertaken in

24 De Felipe (2007: 37).

25 There arc numerous studies on the origin of Berber place-names, among others, see
Guichard (1969, vol. 5: 103- 158); Barcel6 (1984); de Felipe (1993 , vol. l& : 57-62); and
de Felipe (1997: 269).
32 Helena de Felipe

Maghreb, the four cases I will refer to seem to be the most significant. They
are all important people close to the seats of power, but their places of origin
are different, which leads me to wonder if in any of these cases they were
chosen for the mission due to their ability to communicate with the
inhabitants of the Maghreb in their own language, Berber.
The oldest documented of these men is the astrologer and scholar £Abba
b. Na~il) b. Yltit from the tribe of Ma~muda, who besides making two
travels to the East for his own education also made a third one for which his
biographer E. Teres does not rule out a political motive. 26 It was the emir
cAbd al-Ral~man b. al-I:Iakam who sent him on this travel accompanied by
Maghrebian Berbers.27
In the time of al-N~ir (912-961) and as a result of the anti-fatimid
Umayyad politics in North Africa, two men were sent there as ambassadors:
Abu cAbd Allah MuJ:iammad b. cAbd Allah 28 of the Bam1 Abt dsa, of the
Ma~muda lineage, and Mundir b. Sadd, of Nafza origin and a figure of great
social prestige, who in 940 travel1ed in order to put an end to the disputes
and territorial conflicts which had arisen among the Umayyad allies in
North Africa. 29
Finally, in the time of the caliph al-I:Iakam II (961-976), £Abd al-Ral)man
b . AQmad b. Mul;ammad b. Uyas, who was from the Mag'ila tribe and was
also the caliph's treasurer, was sent to carry money for the army of the
Umayyad caliph on the other side of the Strait of Gibraltar. 30
The individuals mentioned, belonging to the Banu Abi isa and th Bru1u
llyas (Magtla), are Arabized personages whose families had enjoyed a
certain status in the circles of power, s their individua l and family
evolution do not lead us to suppose that they had preserved the Berber
language.
However in the cases of cAbbas b. Na~il:i and Mundir b. Sadd, in spite of
their great prestige at court, I believe we could propose the hypothesis that
they still preserved their language, and therefore, this factor played a role in
their being selected for their respective missions. The first came from the
area of a M~muda settlement, Algeciras, and we should also emphasise the
special circumstances of his mission and the origin of his travelling
companions. The second gained great influence over the caliph and was
fully worthy of such trust, being both honest and pious. The fact that he

26 For more about this man see: Teres (1962, vol. I: 339-358); de Felipe ( 1997: 187-190).
27 About his expedition see: Teres (I 962, vol. I : 348-355); Fierro ( 1987: 45-48).
28 De Felipe (1997: 154-156) .
29 Idem. (1997: 200-2 14).
30 Idem. (2007: 144-145).
 Medieval linguistic contacts: Berber language through Arab eyes 33

1ificant. They came from the Valle de los Pedroches (Northern Cordoba), a mostly Berber
aces of origin occupied area, and the terms of his mission to resolve a conflict between
5es they were
groups of Maghrebian lead rs lead us to think that as in the previous case,
;ate with the the fact of his being Berber, and my hypothesis on the survival of the
language, a llowed him to conununicate better on the other side of the Strait
cholar cAbbas of Gibraltar.
; making two Throughout the history of al -Andalus there have been certain periods,
: for which hi apart from the inilial occupation, when the contribution of the North African
l was the emir population to the peninsula increased: in the epoch of Almanzor (second
;companied by half of the I 011, century), a large number arrived and joined the army as part
of a ' ignificant military refonn, and then came the an-ival of the Almoravid
he anti-fatimid (end of 11 1h century) and the Almohads (lih-13 1" century). The social and
.s ambassadors: political c.i rcum tances in these periods (especially the fall of the caliphate
!\bi dsa, of the and the anival of the Almoravids) produced an atmosphere which did not
favour an ethnic identification of the Andalusis of Berber origin with the
1 figure of great
to the dispute different groups newly arrived from Maghreb, who found the Andalusis
1ayyad allies in Berbers were mo tly Arabized.

:Abd al-Ral:iman 8. Conclusions

\a tribe and was
the anny of the In spite of the fact that the Arab texts about the Berber language are scarce,
u they do allow us to e tablish some descriptive outlines of the language and
isa and the BanCl how these texts reflect the ideas of the society that produced them. In short,
t xts referring to Berber language and other li nguistic phenomena reveal an
; had enjoyed a
dual and family image of Berber as a foreign and strange element. I lowever, we can
~rved the Berber appreciate the differences between the Eastern sources which call it
"barbariya" and other authors of the medieva l Islamic West c loser to the
Sacid, in spite of Berber context who on occasions use other terms like 'lugat al-ma.~cimida '
("the language of the Ma$muda"), ' al-luga al-garb(ya' (" the We tern
1e hypothesis that
)r played a role in
language") or 'al-Luga al-murabif(va' ("the language of the Almoravids' ).
rst came from the Although some of those texts describe the Berber language as
tlso emphasise the incomprehensible or "jargon" and their descriptions, associated with the
of his travel1ing root "barbar", give them a pejorative ring from our point of view we must
ie calipb and was
bear in mind that the name of the language was coined over time and that it
;. The fact that be was used by many later authors without any negative connotations.
We should also consider that the association between the Berbers and the
heretic sector, the flarizis, in texts of a certain period, contributed to a rather
:lipe (I997: 187- 190).
987: 45-48). unfriendly characterisation of the Berbers. The reaction to this tendency,
revealed in Maghrebian lbadi sources, imp li es an assumption and
recognition of their own language as diffi rent from the Arabic and this
34 Helena de Felipe

poiut is perfectly illustrated by the appearance of the figure of the translator

and the use of Berber language in the presence of the Caliph cUmar b. al-
Hagab.
Language appears in some medieval accounts as a "genealogical
patrimony", which can only be accessed by people belonging to a certain
ethnic group. The legendary justifications, such as those of King Ifr'iqis or
the Yemenite origin of certain tribes, weave a discourse dedicated to
explaining the phenomenon of contacts between the Arab language and the
Berber language in North Africa. Thus authors integrate the linguistic
realities into the discourses that they are accustomed to using in order to
explain social realities.
Most of the authors analysed in this paper did not know the Berber
language, but they decided to use it in certain contexts. Berber words were
introduced to achieve geographical and terminological precision, however
they caused difficulties and uncertainties in the script in some texts aimed at
an Arabophone public. These texts attempted to reflect the sound of a
language with the inevitable distortions that come from a lack of knowledge
of that language.
The Andalusi case provides us with an interesting context for the study of
the arabisation of the Berbers. Owing to the sparcity of the Arab sources, it
is necessary to use other indicators. In addition to the essential conclusions
of the studies by F. Corriente, we must also rely on other elements for our
analysis like the onomastics, place-names, and the hypothesis that certain
Andalusi persons achieved an eventual linguistic competence in the Berber
language.
In conclusion, the use of a certain terminology for the Berbers and their
language comes from a determined historical context and therefore the
discourses and the ideas underlying them fluctuate depending upon the
changes in the society which produces and receives them.

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