PhD candidate, Amazigh linguisticsRabat · Paris

HamzaSellami

ⵃⴰⵎⵣⴰ ⵙⵍⵍⴰⵎⵉ

Doctoral researcher in the morphology and phonology of Tashlhiyt Berber. Mohammed V University, Rabat and Université Paris 8.

How a Tashlhiyt plural is built

A Tashlhiyt plural can be marked by a prefix and a suffix, by a prefix and a change inside the stem, or by all three at once. How these patterns combine, and how speakers choose between them, is what my research is about.

argazirgazn‘man, men’prefix + suffix
asdlisdal‘lid, lids’prefix + stem change
afusifassn‘hand, hands’all three

About

I am a PhD candidate in Amazigh linguistics. My thesis, Plural Formation in Tashlhiyt: A Constraint-Based Analysis, is a joint doctorate (cotutelle) between Mohammed V University in Rabat and Université Paris 8.

It is co-directed by Pr. Karim Bensoukas (Mohammed V University) and Pr. Mohamed Lahrouchi (CNRS UMR 7023, Structures Formelles du Langage), with Pr. Fatima El Hamdi as co-supervisor.

I am from Tiznit, in the Souss, and grew up between Tiznit and Agadir. Alongside the doctorate, I teach English at the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences in Rabat.

Research

I work on how Tashlhiyt builds plural nouns. Some plurals add affixes, some change the vowels inside the stem, and many do both.

I analyse these patterns in Optimality Theory and realizational morphology, and test the analyses against a large annotated corpus of noun paradigms.

Mixed plurals and multiple exponence

Whether a plural marked by both an internal /a/ and the suffix /-n/ has one exponent or two. The feminine plural splits these plurals into two types, and only one is true multiple exponence. I derive both in Stratal Optimality Theory, and compare Tashlhiyt with Moroccan Arabic.

Internal plurals

A unified account of Medial A and Ablaut plurals as one exponent, a floating mora linked to /A/, with vowel alternations driven by the OCP.

Predictability in non-concatenative morphology

With John Alderete (Simon Fraser University): how far the plural can be predicted from the singular, using 1,185 annotated noun paradigms.

Productivity

An experimental study, with Pr. Fatima El Hamdi, of whether speakers extend plural patterns to new words.

I have also written on attitudes towards Amazigh education policy, and on technology use in English language learning.

Publications

Published

2026
Alderete, John & Hamza Sellami. 2026. Structured partial predictability in non-concatenative morphology: The case of Tashlhiyt Berber. In Erhard Hinrichs, Joakim Nivre, Petya Osenova, James Pustejovsky & Claus Zinn (eds.), Proceedings of the Workshop on Structured Linguistic Data and Evaluation (SLiDE), 124–135. ELRA.
PDF DOI
2026
Zaaraoui, Abdessamed & Hamza Sellami. 2026. Bridging gaps in English learning: Moroccan EFL learners’ acceptance and use of Rosetta Stone. The Moroccan Journal of Communication Studies 6(10).
PDF DOI
2024
Sellami, Hamza. 2024. Attitudes towards Amazigh education policies and their impact on Moroccan cultural and linguistic identity. International Journal of Language and Education Research 6(3). 109–128.
PDF DOI

Submitted and in preparation

Sellami, Hamza & John Alderete. Tashlhiyt Berber internal plurals: One morpheme, two patterns. In Karim Bensoukas (ed.), Handbook of Tashlhit Linguistics. Springer. Revised version submitted after peer review.
Sellami, Hamza & Abdessamed Zaaraoui. Multiple exponence in plural morphology of Tashlhit and Moroccan Arabic. In Karim Bensoukas (ed.), Handbook of Tashlhit Linguistics. Springer. Revised version submitted after peer review.
Sellami, Hamza. Seeing double? One exponent or two in Tashlhit Berber mixed plurals. In preparation for the special issue of Langues et Littératures on Amazigh phonology, following the Amazigh phonology workshop at the 22nd Réseau Français de Phonologie conference (Agadir, 2025).
Sellami, Hamza. Blocked here, doubled there: How class governs plural exponence in Tashlhit. In preparation for the themed issue from the Ibn Tofail phonology conference (Kénitra, December 2025).

Theses

2024
Sellami, Hamza. 2024. Broken plural formation in Tiznit Tashlhit Berber: A constraint-based analysis. MA thesis, Mohammed V University, Rabat.
Sellami, Hamza. Plural formation in Tashlhiyt: A constraint-based analysis. PhD thesis, Mohammed V University and Université Paris 8. In progress, defence expected 2028.

Talks

2026

Sep
Introduction to Amazigh (lecture with Mohamed Najari). My part: The linguistic system of Tashlhiyt: Segments, syllables and word structureLanguage Documentation Summer School (LDSS 2026), Università di Napoli L’Orientale
Jul
Floating /A/ and OCP-driven vowel alternation in Tashlhiyt Berber A-plurals23es Rencontres du Réseau Français de Phonologie, Paris (accepted oral paper, presented in absentia)
May
Structured partial predictability in non-concatenative morphology (poster, with John Alderete)SLiDE workshop, LREC 2026, Palma de Mallorca

2025

Dec
Mixed plurals as multiple exponence in Tashlhit: A realizational OT accountInterdisciplinary Perspectives on Phonology and Its Interfaces, Ibn Tofail University, Kénitra
Oct
Multiple exponence in the morphology of Tashlhiyt and Moroccan Arabic (with Abdessamed Zaaraoui)Phonology workshop-seminar, CNRS UMR 7023 SFL, Paris
Jul
The puzzle of plurality in Tashlhiyt: A case of multiple exponence22nd Réseau Français de Phonologie conference, Agadir
May
Determinants of EFL learners’ behavioral intentions to use Rosetta Stone: A case study from Moroccan higher education (with Abdessamed Zaaraoui)The Power of Communication conference, Mohammed I University, Oujda
May
Bridging gaps in English learning5th National Doctoral Symposium, Chouaïb Doukkali University, El Jadida
Apr
Plural formation in the morphology of Tashlhiyt: Data collection and morphological patternsSeminar, Dipartimento di Asia, Africa e Mediterraneo, Università di Napoli L’Orientale

Teaching and research stays

Teaching

Adjunct instructor in English as a foreign language: Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences, Mohammed V University, Rabat, since Feb 2026
Doctorant-moniteur, PASS programme: Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences, Mohammed V University, since 2024
Guest lectures: Master’s programme “Morocco and the World through History”
Amazigh laboratory sessions and language consultant: Language Documentation Summer School, Università di Napoli L’Orientale, Sep 2026

Research stays

CNRS UMR 7023 Structures Formelles du Langage, Paris 8: Oct 2025 – Jan 2026, hosted by Pr. Mohamed Lahrouchi. Funded by the French Embassy in Morocco doctoral mobility programme.
Università di Napoli L’Orientale: Mar – Jul 2025, Erasmus+ KA171 doctoral mobility
Research assistant, Simon Fraser University: 2025 – 2026, Tashlhiyt plural morphology project led by Pr. John Alderete, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC grant 435-2020-0193)

Education

PhD in Linguistics (cotutelle): Mohammed V University, Rabat and Université Paris 8, 2024 – present. Defence expected June 2028.
Master’s in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics: Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences, Mohammed V University, Rabat, 2022 – 2024. Mention Bien.
Bachelor’s in English Linguistics: Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, Agadir, 2019 – 2022. Mention Bien.

Grants and funding

CNRST doctoral scholarship (PASS / doctorants-moniteurs): Centre National pour la Recherche Scientifique et Technique, 2024 – present
Doctoral mobility grant, Programme de mobilités doctorales 2025: Embassy of France in Morocco (SCAC) / Institut français du Maroc. Funded a four-month research stay at CNRS UMR 7023, Université Paris 8.
Erasmus+ KA171 doctoral mobility grant: Università di Napoli L’Orientale, 2025

Contact

hamza-sellami@um5r.ac.ma