Arabized Berber

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An Arabized Berber is an inhabitant of North Africa (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya) whose native language is a dialect of Arabic.

The notion of "Arabized Berber" is primarily held by Berberists. It maintains that North Africa from Libya to Morocco is mainly Berber from sociological, historical and ethnic standpoints despite the language shift to Arabic in many areas. Medieval Arabic sources frequently refer to North Africa (excluding Egypt) as Bilad Al Barbar or 'Land of the Berbers' (Arabic: بلاد البربر). This designation may have given rise to the term Barbary Coast which was used by Europeans until the 19th century to refer to coastal Northwest Africa. The Arabic term Maghreb is also widely used locally, while Berbers often reference the area as Tamazgha.

According to Berber nationalists, even though a North African inhabitant may only speak Maghreb Arabic as opposed to one of the Berber languages, this person remains essentially a Berber. It is a response from Berberists to Algerians, Moroccans, Tunisians and Libyans who self-identify as "Arab" because of their Arabic tongue. North Africa was gradually arabized by Arab Muslim conquerors in the 7th century AD, but the identity of western North Africa remained Berber for a long time thereafter. Additionally, even though the process of Arabization began with these early invasions, some parts of North Africa were only recently arabized (e.g., the Aurès mountains in the 19th and 20th centuries), though the mainland of North Africa seems to have been arabized in the 11th century with the arrival of the Banu Hilal tribe from Arabia.

Different genetic studies along with historians such as Gabriel Camps and Charles-André Julien lend support to the idea that the bulk of modern Northwest Africans irrespective of language are descended from Berbers. The medieval Arabic historian Ibn Khaldun also expressed this understanding in his writings. Furthermore, the Arabic dialects spoken in Algeria (especially in some parts of the Petite Kabylie like El Milia, Jijel and Setif) and the Maghreb countries in general contain a large number of Berber words, idioms and other linguistic features.

Arabized Berber

See also