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Rhassoul (Moroccan Lava) Clay Rhassoul (Moroccan Lava) Clay spabodyworkmarket.com |
Moroccan Arabic (also known as Darija, الدارجة) is the variety of Arabic spoken in the Arabic-speaking areas of Morocco. For official communications, the government and other public bodies use Modern Standard Arabic, as is the case in most Arabic-speaking countries. A mixture of French and Moroccan Arabic is used in Business. It is within the Maghrebi Arabic dialect continuum.
[edit] Overview 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. 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. [edit] Relationship with other languagesMoroccan 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. [edit] PronunciationMoroccan 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. [edit] VowelsOne of the most notable features of Moroccan Arabic is the collapse of short vowels. Initially, short /ă/ and /ĭ/ were merged into a phoneme /ə/ (however, some speakers maintain a difference between /ă/ and /ə/ when adjacent to pharyngeal /ʕ/ and /ħ/). This phoneme was then deleted entirely in most positions; for the most part, it is maintained only in the position /...CəC#/ or /...CəCC#/ (where C represents any consonant and # indicates a word boundary), i.e. when appearing as the last vowel of a word. When /ə/ is not deleted, it is pronunced as a very short vowel, tending towards [ɐ] in the vicinity of emphatic consonants, [a] in the vicinity of pharyngeal /ʕ/ and /ħ/ (for speakers who have merged /ă/ and /ə/ in this environment), and [ɪ] elsewhere. Original short /ŭ/ usually merges with /ə/ except in the vicinity of a labial or velar consonant. In positions where /ə/ was deleted, /ŭ/ was also deleted, and is maintained only as labialization of the adjacent labial or velar consonant; where /ə/ is maintained, /ŭ/ surfaces as [ʊ]. This deletion of short vowels 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. Similarly, and unlike most other Arabic dialects, doubled consonants are never simplified to a single consonant, even when at the end of a word or preceding another consonant. Some dialects are more conservative in their treatment of short vowels. For example, some dialects allow /ŭ/ in more positions. Dialects of the Sahara, and eastern dialects near the border of Algeria, preserve a distinction between /ă/ and /ĭ/ and allow /ă/ to appear at the beginning of a word, e.g. /ăqsˁărˁ/ "shorter" (standard /qsˁərˁ/), /ătˁlăʕ/ "go up!" (standard /tˁlăʕ/ or /tˁləʕ/), /ăsˁħab/ "friends" (standard /sˁħab/). Long /a/, /i/ and /u/ are maintained as semi-long vowels, which are substituted for both short and long vowels in most borrowings from Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). Long /a/, /i/ and /u/ also have many more allophones than in most other dialects; in particular, /a/, /i/, /u/ appear as [ɑ], [e], [o] in the vicinity of emphatic consonants, but [æ], [i], [u] elsewhere. (Most other Arabic dialects only have a similar variation for the phoneme /a/.) In some dialects, such as that of Marrakech, front-rounded and other allophones also exist. Emphatic spreading (i.e. the extent to which emphatic consonants affect nearby vowels) occurs much less than in many other dialects. Emphasis spreads fairly rigorously towards the beginning of a word and into prefixes, but much less so towards the end of a word. Emphasis spreads consistently from a consonant to a directly following vowel, and less strongly when separated by an intervening consonant, but generally does not spread rightwards past a full vowel. For example, /bidˤ-at/ [bedɑt͡s] "eggs" (/i/ and /a/ both affected), /tˤʃaʃ-at/ [tʃɑʃæt͡s] "sparks" (rightmost /a/ not affected), /dˤrˤʒ-at/ [drˤʒæt͡s] "stairs" (/a/ usually not affected), /dˤrb-at-u/ [drˤbat͡su] "she hit him" (with [a] variable but tending to be in between [ɑ] and [æ]; no effect on /u/), /tˤalib/ [tɑlib] "student" (/a/ affected but not /i/). Contrast, for example, Egyptian Arabic, where emphasis tends to spread forward and backward to both ends of a word, even through several syllables. Emphasis is audible mostly through its effects on neighboring vowels or syllabic consonants, and through the differing pronunciation of /t/ [t͡s] and /tˤ/ [t]. Actual pharyngealization of "emphatic" consonants is weak and may be absent entirely. In contrast with some dialects, vowels adjacent to emphatic consonants are pure; there is no diphthong-like transition between emphatic consonants and adjacent front vowels. [edit] Consonants
[edit] WritingMoroccan Arabic is rarely written (most books and magazines are in French or Modern Standard Arabic), and there is no universally standard written system.[2] However, most systems used for writing Moroccan Arabic in linguistic works largely agree among each other, and such a system is used here. Long (aka "stable") vowels /a/, /i/, /u/ are written a, i, u. e represents /ə/ and o represents /ŭ/ (see section on phonology, above). ă is used for /ă/ in speakers who still have this phoneme in the vicinity of pharyngeal /ʕ/ and /ħ/. ă, ĭ, and o are also used for ultra-short vowels used by educated speakers for the short vowels of some recent borrowings from MSA. Note that in practice, /ə/ is usually deleted when not the last vowel of a word, and hence some authors prefer a transcription without this vowel, e.g. ka-t-ktb-u "You're (pl) writing" instead of ka-t-ketb-u. We maintain the e in accordance with Richard Harrell's reference grammar of Moroccan Arabic. In the system with a maintained e, it cannot occur in an open syllable (followed by a single consonant and then a vowel), so in such a situation the e is transposed with the preceding consonant (or geminate consonant), which ends up following the e. This procedure is known as inversion. y represents /j/. ḥ and ` represent pharyngeal /ħ/ and /ʕ/. ġ and x represent velar /ɣ/ and /x/. ṭ, ḍ, ṣ, ẓ, ṛ, ḷ represent emphatic /tˁ, dˁ, sˁ, zˁ, rˁ, lˁ/. š, ž represent hushing /ʃ, ʒ/. [edit] Code switchingMany 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. [edit] VocabularyMoroccan 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):
[edit] Some words borrowed from Berber
[edit] Some words borrowed from French
[edit] Some words borrowed from SpanishSome of these words might also have come through Andalusi Arabic brought by Moriscos when they were expelled from Spain following the Christian Reconquest.
[edit] Some examples of regional differences
[edit] Some useful sentencesNote: All the sentences are written according to the transliteration of the Arabic alphabet.
[edit] GrammarThe 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: The stem of the Moroccan verb for "to write" is kteb. [edit] The past tenseThe past tense of kteb "write" is as follows: I wrote: kteb-t You wrote: kteb-ti He/it wrote: kteb (kteb can also be an order to write, e.g.: kteb er-rissala: Write the letter) She/it wrote: ketb-et We wrote: kteb-na You (pl) wrote: kteb-tu They wrote: ketb-u Note that the stem kteb turns into ketb before a vowel suffix, due to the process of inversion described above. [edit] The present tenseThe present tense of kteb "write" is as follows: I'm writing: ka-ne-kteb You're (masculine) writing: ka-te-kteb You're (feminine) writing: ka-t-ketb-i He's/it's writing: ka-ye-kteb She's/it's writing: ka-te-kteb We're writing: ka-n-ketb-u You're (pl) writing: ka-t-ketb-u They're writing: ka-y-ketb-u Note that the stem kteb turns into ketb before a vowel suffix, due to the process of inversion described above. Between the prefix ka-n-, ka-t-, ka-y- and the stem kteb, an e vowel appears, but not between the prefix and the transformed stem ketb, due to the same restriction that produces inversion. In the north, "you're writing" is always ka-de-kteb, regardless of whom you are speaking to. This is also the case of de in de-kteb, 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-ne-kteb "I'm writing"). The co-existence of these two prefixes is due to historical differences. 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 (ne-kteb, te-kteb, y-kteb, etc.). [edit] Other tensesTo form the future tense, just remove the prefix ka-/ta- and replace it with the prefix ġa-, ġad- or ġadi instead (e.g. ġa-ne-kteb "I will write", ġad-ketb-u (north) or ġadi t-ketb-u "You (pl) will write"). For the subjunctive and infinitive, just remove the ka- (e.g. bġit ne-kteb "I want to write", bġit te-kteb "I want you to write"). The imperative is conjugated with the suffixes of the present tense but without any prefixes or preverbs: kteb "Write! (masc. sing.)" ketb-i "Write! (fem. sing.)" ketb-u "Write! (pl.)" [edit] NegationFor negative expressions, the prefix ma and suffix ši or š are added to the verb. Examples:
Negative pronouns such as walu "nothing", ḥta ḥaja "nothing" and ḥta waḥed "nobody" could be added to the sentence without ši as a suffix. Examples:
Note: wellah ma-ne-kteb could be a response to a command to write kteb, while wellah ma-ġa-ne-kteb could be an answer to a question like waš ġa-te-kteb? "Are you going to write?" . [edit] Negative interrogationIn 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:
[edit] EvolutionIn 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 an Arab identity 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. [edit] Diglossia and social prestigeWhile 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[citation needed] and suffers from the fact that Classical Arabic is the language of the Qur'an which serves as a reference. While Moroccan Arabic is the mother tongue of nearly twenty million people in Morocco it is rarely used in written form. This situation may explain 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. [edit] Artistic expressionThere 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. [edit] NewspapersThere are now at least three Moroccan Arabic newspapers, their aim is to bring information to people with a low level of education. Telquel Magazine has 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'. [edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] Bibliography
[edit] External links
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