Talk:Languages of Algeria

Romance Languages - Lingua Franca (?)
Lingua Franca is mentioned as a language once spoken in Algeria. As far as I know, there is no such language. Lingua franca is a term applied to any language which attains a prominent international status. For example, Aramaic was the lingua franca of the ancient Near East, Latin the lingua franca of Europe in the Middle Ages and English the lingua franca of the modern world. The term is derived from 'the language of the Franks' which was a lingua franca of sorts at the time of Charlemagne. Please correct me if I'm mistaken. RCSB 17:09, 22 October 2005 (UTC)


 * Yes, that usage is correct - however, it derives from the original Lingua Franca, a Mediterranean traders' pidgin used in European-Muslim contacts. See http://www.uwm.edu/~corre/franca/go.html for more detail. - Mustafaa 18:09, 17 December 2005 (UTC)

Standard Arabic
It would be interesting to know how many people there are in Algeria who actually know Standard Arabic. Aaker 16:21, 2 May 2007 (UTC)


 * I have no sources, but I know that it is taught in schools, so all people who went to school should know it. Strupo (talk) 23:28, 16 August 2016 (UTC)

Berber speakers
I just corrected the figures for Berber and Arab speakers in Algeria. I know that that is a very sensitive issue, but the figure was set at 45%(Berber) to 55% (Arabic), that is far higher than anything I never heard of, but I'd be very glad if I found it well-sourced. Unfortunately, the only source given is this one, looks quite correct, but the figures there are very clear and speak about 27,4% (Berbers) to 72% (Arab native). So I can't help correcting the figures. That is not an attack against Berber culture by reducing their figures (count me as a Berber sympathizer, if anything), but just an attempt to keep WP in line with well-sourced knowledge. If anybody can come up with sourcer for higher figures, I'll be delighted. --Ilyacadiz (talk) 13:20, 20 January 2009 (UTC)

Hello, an anonymous user has just changed the figures I gave for Kabylian and Chaouia speakers. They might seem too low and they don't really add up to the around 9 million of Berber speakers required to fulfill the 27% level, but the figures given - 6-7 million Kabyles and 5 million Chaouia - were far too high, for sound logic. I had downgraded the figures as to match the source given, which has no more then 3 million Kabyles, but that was probably really too low (and then the figures there don't add up, neither). So I just set the figures now as they appear in WP when you click on Kabyle and Chaouia. Before doing any new changes, please be sure that the figures you give are either well-sourced or match figures given at other places in WP. Thanks!--Ilyacadiz (talk) 23:02, 20 January 2009 (UTC)

Hello. Anonymous user has reverted the figures to 55 and 45% with no sources and with no comment on the talkpage. That is, in my view, vandalism. I revert the changes. Please speake out and explain your reasons. Thanks--Ilyacadiz (talk) 14:08, 21 January 2009 (UTC)

Watch out when reading the article Anonymous user 195.221.243.134 is putting constantly figures in of around 60% Arabs and 40% Berbers. These do not match the sources given and are probably wrong, therefore they are vandalism. Anybody there who can block this IP? --Ilyacadiz (talk) 12:40, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

Hello, some user PUT 72% are ARABIC speakers, however it's written on the link that 83 of the algerian population speak diverses dialects of arabic. That means the percentage is 83, not 72. As we know, dialectal arabic is ARABIC. Otherwise we can't say that berber is spoken by 27% because there are different dialects of berber ( chaoui, qvayel, tamzab).... Check out the link : http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/AXL/AFRIQUE/algerie-1demo.htm  it's written arabic : 83%, berber : 27,'%.

Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by AsliJazairi (talk • contribs) 18:17, 16 February 2010 (UTC)


 * 83+27=110; I rest my case.Aaker (talk) 20:18, 16 February 2010 (UTC)

just for your information !
the arabic spoken in algeria is 99% like the arabic dialects spoken in Morocco and Tunisia ! we can understand each other with no problem .you can call them the Maghrebi language. the same grammar ! the same vocabulary. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.143.11.143 (talk) 21:55, 30 May 2011 (UTC)
 * I made sure this was clarified :) WhisperToMe (talk) 01:46, 22 March 2013 (UTC)

Darija vs Modern Standard Arabic
Algerian Arabic is indeed VERY similar to Moroccan and Tunisian. On the basis of mutual intelligibility they could be classed together as Maghrebi Arabic.

However, it is completely different to Modern Standard Arabic, or to the other Arabic "dialects" further east. They are, in fact, NOT mutually intelligible and have to be learnt as foreign languages by maghrebis, and are only classed together as one "Arabic language" for sentimental/historical reasons. The situation in Europe with Latin & the Romanic languages is similar.

For this reason, I think it is very important in this article to differentiate between the Modern Standard Arabic learnt in Algerian schools (which nobody in Algeria speaks as a mother tongue), and Algerian Arabic which is the mother tongue of many Algerians and a second language spoken by many Berber people. This is not yet clear in the article. Abu Shawka (talk) 07:01, 18 May 2012 (UTC)
 * I made sure this was clarified :) WhisperToMe (talk) 01:46, 22 March 2013 (UTC)

Masters thesis
Hi!

Here is a master's thesis: However unless there are fewer better scholarly sources, it's preferable not to use master's theses. But I listed this just so people are aware that it's there. WhisperToMe (talk) 21:01, 15 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Briggs, Carina Lynn. "Language, Identity, and Literary Expression in Algeria." (Archive)

Common keyboard layouts
Hi! I'm Algerian, and I live in Algeria, but I use the QWERTY layout. That may be because I don't use French online; I only use English. 154.121.251.147 (talk) 21:34, 9 December 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.senat.fr/colloques/actes_mondialisation_francophonie/actes_mondialisation_francophonie10.html
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