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Kamal Naït-Zerrad has published several books and articles on the Berber language. He has taught Kabyle at the Inalco (Paris) and Berber linguistics at the Institute of African Studies at Cologne University (Germany). He is at present a researcher at the Frankfort Institute of African Linguistics. He has a Doctor’s degree in Berber Language, Literature and Civilisation. He also holds a Doctor?s degree in Micro-optoelectronics. |
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Kamal NAÏT-ZERRAD, Grammaire moderne du kabyle (Modern Kabyle Grammar), Karthala, Paris 2001, 226 p., 160 x 240, 20 € ISBN 2-84586-172-9 This is the first of Kamel Naït Zerrad’s books on Kabyle grammar, as in his earlier books, as in the books of other "Kabyle grammarians" such as Mouloud Mammeri, the author has always put the Kabyle term in brackets, and has talked more about Berber grammar, putting the specific differences of the various regional variations of the language to one side. In contrast, this Modern Kabyle Grammar describes contemporary Kabyle as it is spoken, and as it appears in Kabyle literary works written since the end of the nineteenth century. This grammar book not only deals with the morphology of the Kabyle language but also its syntax, which has been largely ignored in other publications. We should be grateful to Kamal Naït Zerrad or devoting four chapters to this aspect of the language. This constitutes the first step in studying how to speak the language. Perhaps other books will follow on Kabyle rhetoric? This grammar book analyses the language quite thoroughly and gives many examples. The author takes as his starting-point the categories of French grammar and syntax and yet does not limit himself to these as he delves even further into a description of the workings of the Kabyle language. His explanations are sufficiently clear and precise to make this book an invaluable tool for students and teachers. At the end of the book, you will be pleasantly surprised by a collection of Kabyle texts taken from the File of Berber Documentation, published by the French missionaries (Pères blancs) in Kabylie and rarely found nowadays. Kamal Naït Zerrad’s initiative in including texts taken from Belaid’s Notebooks is also to be saluted. This is, in fact, the first piece of literary work written in Kabyle by a Kabyle, Belaïd At Ali, whose work deserves to be better known. Mohand
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