'!Azul'.. Learn about the origin of the Amazigh greeting
The North African Amazighs frequently use the word " azul ", which is a word that means greeting in the Amazigh language, and individuals say it when they meet each other.
In the era of communications technology, "Azul" spread on social networking sites in the Maghreb, and became known to the general population of North Africa, but many do not know its origin or the true meaning it bears.
These are the historical roots of the word "Azul":
Activists claim that the word "azul" has historical roots in the ancient Amazigh language, as some of those interested in Amazigh culture, such as the activist Si Wa Ali Mohand Amziane, from the city of Bejaia, in eastern Algeria, see it.
In an interview with Aswat Magharebia, this activist explained that “azul” is made up of two words, the first is “sg”, which means “from”, and the second is “first”, which means the heart, so that the intended meaning is “from the heart”.
As for the merging of the two terms in the word Azul, Muhannad Amzian believes that it is due to the development of the language of the Maghreb peoples, which has gradually become inclined towards lightness and plural.
"Good morning, the Algerian darija has become the last, and this is proof of what I say," says this activist, who heads an association for preserving the Amazigh heritage in the historical region of Wadi Soumam.
origin of the word "azole"
Tuareg Amazighs
This hypothesis is “not based on scientific foundations,” according to linguistics researcher Mustafa Jraidi, a former professor at the University of Algiers.
As this academic believes that the scientific research that dealt with "Azul" in the study meets in being a continuation of the ancient Amazigh, which was and still is spreading among the Tuareg (Amazigh tribes), who are in the Hoggar, in the far south of Algeria and the Sanhaja tribes in Mauritania.
In an interview with "Maghrebi Voices", the speaker revealed that most of the historical research confirmed that the Tuareg call the greeting "Taholt", which is the same word that circulates among the Amazighs of the north from Tunisia to Algeria and then the Far Maghreb, but with a slight difference that "does not change the meaning."
The only difference between the Amazighs of the North and the South is the letter Zain and Haa, which is what made the word “Ahol” turn into “Azul” when it moved from the south to the north.
And this researcher continues, "The Tuareg Amazighs say, for example, we are Amazigh, while the people of the north pronounce it Amazighs."
With this proposition, our interlocutor joins the opinion that the word is not new, but rather finds deep roots in the history of the Amazighs.
Sanhaja Amazighs
Many books dealt with the origin and meaning of the word "Azul", such as the book " Luqman the Barbarian " (1889), by the French author René Basset, who served as director of the Faculty of Languages at the University of Algiers during the French occupation.
This person interested in the cultural heritage of the North African Amazighs mentioned that the word "Azul" means peace, and it entered North Africa through mixing with the Sanhaja tribes in Mauritania, who used to pronounce the word with "thaa" instead of the letter "zai", meaning that they used to say "athol".
And while the difference is in the origin of the word "Azul", did it come from the Sanhaja tribes in Mauritania or from the Tuareg tribes in the Algerian Hoggar, but everyone agrees that it is a greeting of peace, which the Amazighs spread among them when meeting as well as parting.
Source : websites