Compilation of Japanese-Berber dictionary

Abstract

'Berber' refers to a minority ethnic group originating in North Africa and to a group of languages also known as the Amazigh languages. Berber is also called Tamazight and is one of a set of minority languages reported to be in decline. Professor Tadayoshi Ishihara, Department of Humanities, which is part of the Faculty of Letters at Soka University, Japan, is working to compile a Japanese-Berber dictionary with a view to highlighting the existence of the Berber script in Japan. Variations in vocabulary are a factor behind the lack of existing lexicon. There is no such dictionary that deals with all of the variations of the vocabulary of the Berber language and Ishihara hopes his project will ensure Berber lexicon is attempted by future scholars and that the dictionary will represent a useful tool for showcasing the Berber language to Japanese linguists. Ishihara and his team have conducted many questionnaire surveys with Berber speakers in order to determine the high-use words to include and, given that 'Berber' refers to a family of languages, Ishihara narrowed down the focus of his dictionary to cover 'Riffian Berber'. In his lectures on linguistics and Middle Eastern studies, Ishihara highlights the existence of the Berber people and gives his students the opportunity to present hypotheses on the possible relationship between the Berber and the Ainu peoples.