| Moroccan Arabic مغريبي Maġribi |
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|---|---|---|
| Pronunciation: | [mɑɣribi] | |
| Spoken in: | Morocco | |
| Total speakers: | 19,480,600 | |
| Language family: | Afro-Asiatic Semitic West Semitic Central Semitic South Central Semitic Arabic Moroccan Arabic |
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| Writing system: | Arabic alphabet | |
| Official status | ||
| Official language in: | none | |
| Regulated by: | none | |
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1: | None | |
| ISO 639-2: | – | |
| ISO 639-3: | ary | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. | ||
Moroccan Arabic (also known as Darija, الدارجة) is the variety of Arabic spoken in the Arabic-speaking areas of Morocco, as opposed to the official communications of government and other public bodies which use Modern Standard Arabic, as is the case in most Arabic-speaking countries, while a mixture of French and Moroccan Arabic is used in Business. It is within the Maghrebi Arabic dialect continuum.
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Native speakers typically consider Moroccan Arabic a dialect because it is not a literary language and because it lacks prestige compared to Standard Arabic (fuṣḥa). It differs from Standard Arabic in phonology, lexicon, and syntax, and has been influenced by Berber (mainly in its pronunciation, and grammar), French and Spanish. Like Arabic colloquials in general, its grammar is simpler than that of Standard Arabic.
Moroccan Arabic continues to evolve by integrating new French or English words, notably in technical fields, or by replacing old French and Spanish ones with Standard Arabic words within some circles.
It is worth mentioning that Darija (which means dialect) can be divided into two groups:
A similar phenomenon can be observed in Algerian Arabic and Tunisian Arabic.
Moroccan Arabic has a distinct pronunciation and is nearly unintelligible to other Arabic speakers, but is generally mutually intelligible with other Maghrebi Arabic dialects with which it forms a dialect continuum. It is grammatically simpler, and has a less voluminous vocabulary than Classical Arabic. It has also integrated many Berber, French and Spanish words.
There is a relatively clear-cut division between Moroccan Arabic and Standard Arabic, and most uneducated Moroccans do not understand Modern Standard Arabic. Depending on cultural background and degree of literacy, those who do speak Modern Standard Arabic may prefer to use Arabic words instead of their French or Spanish borrowed counterparts, while others often adopt code-switching between French and Moroccan Arabic. As elsewhere in the world, how someone speaks, what words or language he uses is often an indicator of their social class.
Moroccan Arabic has a distinct pronunciation nearly unintelligible to Arabic speakers from the Middle East. It is heavily influenced by Berber pronunciation, and it has even been argued that it is Arabic pronounced with a Berber accent, or with Berber phonemes. This is similar to the phenomenon in the south of France where some pronounce French with Occitan phonemes.
One of the most notable features of Moroccan Arabic is the collapse of short vowels. Short /a/ and /i/ are deleted entirely in most positions, and short /u/ is either deleted or maintained only as rounding on an adjacent labial consonant. This can result in long strings of consonants (a feature shared with Berber and certainly derived from it). These clusters are never simplified; instead, consonants occurring between other consonants tend to syllabify, according to a sonorance hierarchy.
Long /a/, /i/ and /u/ are maintained as semi-long vowels, which are substituted for both short and long vowels in borrowings from Modern Standard Arabic. Long /a/, /i/ and /u/ also have many more allophones than in most other dialects; in particular, /i/ and /u/ show up as /e/ and /o/ in the vicinity of emphatic consonants (emphatic spreading occurs much less than in dialects such as Egyptian Arabic, for example); in some dialects, such as that of Marrakech, front-rounded and other allophones also exist.
Non-emphatic /t/ is pronounced with noticeable affrication, almost like /ʦ/ (still distinguished from a sequence of /t/ + /s/), and hence is easily distinguishable from emphatic /tˁ/. Unlike in most other Arabic dialects (but, again, similar to Berber), non-emphatic /r/ and emphatic /rˁ/ are two entirely separate phonemes, almost never contrasting in related forms of a word. Original /q/ splits lexically into /q/ and /g/; for some words, both alternatives exist.
Many Moroccan Arabic speakers among the educated class, especially in the territory which was previously known as French Morocco, also practice code-switching (moving from Moroccan Arabic to French and the other way around as it can be seen in the movie Marock). In the northern parts of Morocco, some people also switch from Moroccan Arabic to Spanish. This is due to the place once being invaded by Spain and for their proximity to Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.
Moroccan Arabic is grammatically simpler, and has a less voluminous vocabulary than Classical Arabic. It has also integrated many Berber, French and Spanish words. Spanish words typically entered Moroccan Arabic earlier than French ones. Some words might have been brought by Moriscos who spoke Andalusi Arabic which was influenced by Spanish (Castilian), an example being the typical Andalusian dish Pastilla. Other influences have been the result of the Spanish protectorate in Spanish Morocco. French words came with the French protectorate (1912-1956).
There are noticeable lexical differences between Moroccan Arabic and most other dialects. Some words are essentially unique to Moroccan Arabic: e.g. daba "now". Many others, however, are characteristic of Maghrebi Arabic as a whole, including both innovations and unusual retentions of Classical vocabulary that has disappeared elsewhere such as hbeṭ' "go down" from Classical habaṭ. Others distinctives are shared with Algerian Arabic such as hḍeṛ "talk", from Classical hadhar "babble" and temma "there" from Classical thamma.
There are a number of Moroccan Arabic dictionaries in existence, including (in chronological order):
Some of these words might also have come through Andalusi Arabic brought by Moriscos when they were expelled from Spain following the Christian Reconquest.
Note: All the sentences are written according to the transliteration of the Arabic alphabet.
| English | Western Arabic | Northern (Jebli, Tetouani) Arabic | Eastern (Oujda) Arabic |
|---|---|---|---|
| How are you? | La bas / Cava? | La bas? / Bikhayr? | La bas? / Rak ġaya / Rak Shbab? |
| Can you help me? | Yemken lek tʿaweni? | Tekdar dʿaweni? | Yemken lek tʿaweni? |
| Do you speak English? | Waš katehdar lingliziya / wash katidwi bil lingliziya? | Waš kadehdar bel ingliziya? | Waš tehdar lingliziya? |
| Excuse me | Smaḥ liya | Smaḥ li | Smaḥ liya |
| Good luck | ḥaḍ saʿid | ḥaḍ saʿid | ḥaḍ saʿid |
| Good morning | ṣbaḥ el-khir | ṣbaḥ el-khir | ṣbaḥ el-khir |
| Good night | Teṣbaḥ ʿla khir | ṣbaḥ ʿla khir | Teṣbaḥ ʿla khir |
| Goodbye | Beslama | Beslama / howa hadak ah | Beslama |
| Happy new year | Sana saʿida | Sana saʿida | Sana saʿida |
| Hello | As-salam ʿleykum / Ahlan | Salam / Ahlan | As-salam ʿlikum |
| How are you doing? | La bas ʿlik? | La bas ʿlik? | La bas ʿlik? |
| How are you? | Ki dayer ? (masculine) / Ki dayra ? (feminine) | Kif el-ḥala? | Ki rak? |
| Is everything okay? | Kulši mezyan ? | Kulši mezyan ? / Kulšî huwa hadak ? | Kulši mliḥ? / Kulšî zin? |
| Nice to meet you | Metšarfin | Metšarfin | Metšarfin |
| No thanks | La šukran | La šukran | La šukran |
| Please | Allāh ikhallik / ʿafak | Laykhallik / Layʿizek / Khaylah / Khaylak | Allāh ikhallik / yʿizek |
| Take care | Thalla f raṣek | Thallah / Thalla | Thalla f raṣek |
| Thank you very much | Šukran bezaf | Šukran bezaf | Šukran bezaf |
| What do you do? | Faš khaddam? | Škad ʿaddel? / šenni khəddam? (masculine) / šenni khəddama? (feminine) / škadekhdem? | Faš tekhdem? (masculine) / Faš tkhedmi ? (feminine) |
| What's your name? | Ašnu smiytek? / šu smiytek | Šenni ismek? | Wašta smiytek? |
| Where are you from? | Mnin nta? (masculine) / Mnin nti? (feminine) | Mnayen ntina? / Mayen ntina? | Min ntaya? / Min ntiya? |
| Where are you going? | Fin ġadi temši? | Naymaši? (masculine) / Naymaša? (feminine) | Ferak temši? / Ferak rayaḥ |
| You are welcome | La šukr ʿlâ wajib / Bla jmil | La šukr ʿlâ wajib | La šukr ʿlâ wajib |
The grammar of Moroccan Arabic is not always simpler than Classical Arabic grammar, but fortunately, as the language is never written, nobody is concerned about spelling.
The regular Moroccan verb conjugates with a series of prefixes and suffixes. The stem of the conjugated verb may change a bit depending on the conjugation. Example:
(Note that in the following, e represents a schwa-like sound that often disappears entirely when not directly before final consonant. Some authors prefer a transcription without these vowels, e.g. ka-tktbu.)
The stem of the Moroccan verb for "to write" is "kteb".
The present tense of this verb:
I'm writing: ka-nekteb
You're (masculine) writing: ka-tekteb
You're (feminine) writing: ka-tketbi
He's/it's writing: ka-yekteb
She's/it's writing: ka-tekteb
We're writing: ka-nketbu
You're (pl) writing: ka-tketbu
They're writing: ka-yketbu
Note that the stem "kteb" turns into "ketb" before a vowel suffix. Between the prefix "kan, kat, kay" and the stem "kteb", an "e" vowel appears, but not between the prefix and the transformed stem "ketb"
In the north, you're writing is always ka-dekteb, regardless of whom you are speaking to. This is also the case of "de" in "dekteb", as northerners prefer to use "de" and southerners prefer using "te". Instead of the prefix "ka", some speakers prefer the use of "ta" (e.g.: ta-nekteb: I'm writing). The co-existence of these two prefixes has historical reasons. In general "ka" is more used in the north and "ta" in the south. In some regions like the east(Oujda)the majority of speakers don't use any preverb(nekteb,tekteb,ykteb..etc)
The past tense of this verb:
I wrote: ktebt
You wrote: ktebti
He/it wrote: kteb (kteb can also be an order to write, e.g.: kteb er-rissala: Write the letter)
She/it wrote: ketbet
We wrote: ktebna
You (pl) wrote: ktebtu
They wrote: ketbu
To form the future tense, just remove the prefix "ka-/Ta-" and replace it with the prefix "gha", "ghad" or "ghadi" instead (e.g.: ġa-nekteb: I will write. ġad-ketbu (north) or ġadi-tketbu: You (pl) will write).
For the subjunctive and infinitive, just remove the "ka-" (e.g.: bġit nekteb: I want to write, bġit tekteb: I want you to write).
For negative expressions, the prefix "ma" and suffix "ši" or "š" are added to the verb.
Examples:
Negative pronouns such as "walu", "ḥta ḥaja" (both meaning "nothing") and "ḥta waḥed" (nobody) could be added to the sentence without "šhi" as a suffix.
Examples:
Note: Wellah ma-ne-kteb could be a response to a command to write (kteb), while wellah ma-ġan-kteb could be an answer to a question like "are you going to write?" (waš ġa-dekteb?).
In Moroccan Arabic, the word order doesn't change for negative questions in the northern parts of Morocco, but in the western areas and other regions, the word order is preferably changed. The pronoun "waš" could be added in the beginning of the sentence, although it rarely changes the meaning of it. The prefix "ma" can rarely be removed when asking a question in a fast way.
Examples:
A "ka" can be added in the beginning of the sentence when asking a question in an angry or surprised way. In this case, "waš" can't be added.
Examples:
In general, Moroccan Arabic is one of the most innovative (in the technical sense of "least conservative") of all Arabic dialects. Nowadays Moroccan Arabic continues to integrate new French words, mainly technological and modern words. However, in recent years constant exposure to revived classical forms on television and in print media and a certain desire among many Moroccans for a revitalization of their Arab and Islamic identities has inspired many Moroccans to integrate words from Standard Arabic, replacing their French or Spanish counterparts or even speaking in Modern Standard Arabic while keeping the Moroccan accent to sound less pedantic. This phenomenon mostly occurs among literate people.
Though rarely written, Moroccan Arabic is currently undergoing an unexpected and pragmatic revival. It is now the preferred language in Moroccan chat rooms or for sending SMS, using Arabic Chat Alphabet composed of Latin letters supplemented with the numbers 2, 3, 5, 7 and 9 for coding specific Arabic sounds as is the case with other Arabic speakers.
The language continues to evolve quickly as can be noted when consulting the Colin dictionary. Many words and idiomatic expressions recorded between 1921 and 1977 are now obsolete.
While being a natural localization of Classical Arabic for geographic and historical reasons, as French has evolved from Vulgar Latin, Moroccan Arabic is considered as a language of low prestige and suffers from the fact that Classical Arabic is the language of the Qur'an which serves as a reference. While the Moroccan Arabic is being the mother tongue of nearly twenty million people in Morocco it is rarely written, this situation probably explains in part the high illiteracy rates in Morocco.
This situation is not specific to Morocco, but occurs in all Arabic speaking countries. The French Arabist William Marçais coined in 1930 the term diglossie (diglossia) to describe this situation, where two (often) closely-related languages co-exist, one of high prestige, which is generally used by the government and in formal texts, and one of low prestige, which is usually the spoken vernacular tongue.
There exists some poetry written in Moroccan Arabic like the Malhun. In the troubled and autocratic Morocco of the ’70s with no freedom of speech, the legendary Nass El Ghiwane band wrote beautiful and allusive lyrics in Moroccan Arabic which were very appealing to the youth even in other Maghreb countries.
Another interesting movement is the development of an original rap music scene, which explores new and innovative usages of the language. Generally, Moroccan Arabic remains the preferred language of Moroccan singers.
There are now at least three Moroccan Arabic speaking newspapers, their aim is to bring information to people with a low level of education. Telquel Magazine had, before being shut down by the government, a Moroccan Arabic edition Nichane. There is also a free weekly magazine that is totally written in "standard" Moroccan dialect: Khbar Bladna, i.e. 'News of our country'.
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