Darija (الدارجة; also transcribed (ad-)dārija (standard), derija or darja) is a term used by Maghreb Arabic speakers to refer to their dialect. This dialect is characterized by an abundance of loan-words from the languages of the historical colonial occupiers of the Maghreb (French and Spanish), and also from the native Berber languages. It is only used for oral communication, with Modern Standard Arabic (الفصحى (al-)fuṣ-ḥā) used for written communication. In Eastern Arab countries the term العامية (al-)`āmmiyya is more commonly used for the colloquial varieties of Arabic.

Darija can refer to:

• Algerian Arabic
• Ḥassāniyya, spoken by the Saharans in Mauritania and the West Saharra.
• Libyan Arabic
• Moroccan Arabic
• Tunisian Arabic

[edit] See also

• Varieties of Arabic