Amazigh Lexical Substrate in Tunisian Derja: an Outcome of Linguistic Contact on YouTube and Facebook

Despite the extensive discussion of the structural and lexical impact of Tamazight on North African spoken varieties in Morocco, Algeria, and Libya (Berkai 4-14; Souag 2018, 192-200; Faizi 29-39; Bensoukas and Boudlal 179-21; Zellou 1-13), little is known about the linguistic contact outcome between the Tunisian spoken variety (henceforth, Ettounsi or Tunisian Derja) and Tamazight. In this article, we present and analyze Amazigh linguistic substrate examples in the lexicon of Ettounsi. Contact-induced change (Lafkioui 51-93; Thomason 339-46; Heine and Kuteva, 529-72) and language contact on YouTube (Garley, 77-106), along with the method of computer-mediated discourse (Androutsopoulos, 419-438), offer primary frameworks to examine the types of Amazigh noun interferences in Ettounsi. Drawing on a collection of 98 Tunisian words found on Tunisia Tamazight YouTube channel, also known as Tenast TV, and Amawal Amazigh Amqran, a Facebook page dedicated to discussion of Amazigh etymologies, the study reveals that the most frequent Amazigh etymologies originate from four semantic fields for nouns. These are body parts, animals, kinship, and food. The study further proposes that regional proximity to rural and Amazigh villages, age, and gender of the language users, and semantic tabooness are factors that could account for the Amazigh lexical interference into Ettounsi.