Seminari Progetto Erasmus+ Ka 171
Karim Bensoukas (UMVR, FLHS, Rabat, Morocco)
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Seminars: Phonology and Morphology of Tashlhit
Seminars: Phonology and Morphology of Tashlhit
Phonology
Phonology
Labial dissimilation
Tashlhit, a variety of Moroccan Amazigh, has two complex, related dissimilation phenomena, one targetting the feature [labial] and the other the feature [round]. The alternations resulting from the dissimilation affecting (i) the labial consonant [m] changing it to [n], on the one hand, and (ii) the set of labialized/round consonants [kw, gw, xw, ɣw and qw] as well as the vowl [u], on the other hand, are a salient aspect of the phonology of Tashlhit. These phenomena have been used as a testing ground for different theories of phonology, namely SPE phonology, feature geometry and Optimality Theory.
The goal of the presentation is to provide a detailed description of the facts and their relevance to phonlogical theory.
Spirantization
Tashlhit is known for its being essentially a non-spirantizing dialect, as opposed to its related dialects Tamazight and Tarifit. While the latter spirantize the whole gamut of plosives (t, d, k, g, q essentially), Tashlhit does not, with the exception of some varieties that spirantize one set only: k/ ç , g/ ɟ (and b/ β) in Ihahan, for example, and t/ s, d/z in Iboudrarn. One can already notice the divergence in the output of lenition in Iboudrarn.
I will propose that there are two diachronic layers of lenition in Tashlhit: a dated one and a more recent one, although bona fide historical data establishing the exact periods of the change is not available.
I will also examine the significance of lenition for more synchronic issues.
Mophology
Mophology
bu-noun morphology
id-pluralization
Karim Bensoukas
Karim Bensoukas
I was born in the late 1960's in the region of Agadir, Morocco, where I studied up to the BA. After graduating from Ibn Zohr University, Agadir, I joined the graduate program at Mohammed V University in Rabat in 1990. I earned a D.E.S degree in 1994 and a Doctorat d’Etat in linguistics in 2001 in Joint-Supervision with the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA. Having grown up in a multilingual context, I am a native-speaker of Tashlhit, and I also speak Moroccan Arabic, Standard Arabic, French and English (in the order in which I acquired/learnt them). I also have some functional knowledge in different varieties of Amazigh and Arabic.
I am currently a senior lecturer (Professeur de l’Enseignement Supérieur) in the Department of English at the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences, Mohammed V University in Rabat, Morocco. I have been a Fulbrighter three times (1999-2000 and 2005, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA; 2023, Indiana University Bloomington). I am the current editor of Langues et Littératures and co-editor of the International Journal of Arabic Linguistics. I am on the scientific board of Asinag, Revue des Etudes Amazighes, International Journal of Berber/Amazigh Research, and Journal of Applied Language and Culture Studies. I am also "expert-évaluateur" with Centre National pour la Recherche Scientifique et Technique (CNRST)- Rabat. I am the the winner of the 2014 IRCAM Award for Research and Scientific Thinking and the President of the 2022 IRCAM Prize.
I have also been a very active member in my department, since I joined it in 1994-1995. I have taught various courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels. I have also been advising students at both levels. I have served on Doctoral dissertation defense juries, "Habilitation Universitaire" defenses and "PH-PES" advancements. I have also served on the council of the department on various occasions.
My research is centered on morphology, phonology, the phonology-morphology/ morphology-syntax interfaces, as well as language contact, variation and change. My authored and co-authored publications in these areas focus on Moroccan languages, mainly Amazigh and Moroccan Arabic. I have also edited and co-edited collections of papers and translated a book on Amazigh sociolinguistics. One of the most recent books I have co-edited is The Handbook of Berber Linguistics (Springer). My research interests extend to applied sociolinguistics and university pedagogy, particularly the integration of ICT in teaching.
I have presented at various conferences in Morocco and abroad. I have carried out different projects between 2005 and 2016. I have reviewed for various national and international journals and publishers, like Languages and Linguistics, Asinag, Journal of Applied Languages and Culture Studies, International Journal of Arabic Linguistics, CORELA, Studies in African Linguistics, Journal of Canadian Linguistics, Language and Linguistics Compass, Current Issues in Language Planning, Language Sciences, Glossa, Linguistic Inquiry, Brill's Journal of Afroasiatic Languages and Linguistics, Linguistic Analysis, Language Policy series (Springer), and Berber Studies (Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, Köln).
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