Maghrebi Arabic

Maghrebi Arabic
Darija, Western Arabic
North African Arabic
اللهجات المغاربية
RegionMaghreb
EthnicityArabs, also used as a second language by other ethnic groups in the Maghreb
Native speakers
88 million (2020–2022)[1]
Dialects
Arabic alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-3Variously:
arq – Algerian Arabic
xaa – Andalusi Arabic
mey – Hassaniya Arabic
ayl – Libyan Arabic
mlt – Maltese
ary – Moroccan Arabic
aao – Saharan Arabic
sqr – Siculo-Arabic
aeb – Tunisian Arabic
Glottolognort3191

Maghrebi Arabic (Arabic: الْلهجَة الْمَغاربِيَة, Western Arabic; as opposed to Eastern or Mashriqi Arabic) is a vernacular Arabic dialect continuum spoken in the Maghreb. It includes the Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian, Libyan, Hassaniya and Saharan Arabic dialects. It is known as ad-Dārija[a] (Arabic: الدارجة; meaning "common or everyday dialect"[2]). This serves to differentiate the spoken vernacular from Literary Arabic.[3] Maghrebi Arabic has a predominantly Semitic and Arabic vocabulary,[4][5] although it contains a few Berber loanwords which represent 2–3% of the vocabulary of Libyan Arabic, 8–9% of Algerian and Tunisian Arabic, and 10–15% of Moroccan Arabic.[6] Maghrebi Arabic was formerly spoken in Al-Andalus and Sicily until the 17th and 13th centuries, respectively, in the extinct forms of Andalusi Arabic and Siculo-Arabic. The Maltese language is believed to have its source in a language spoken in Muslim Sicily that ultimately originates from Tunisia, as it contains some typical Maghrebi Arabic areal characteristics.[7]

  1. ^ Algerian Arabic at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
    Andalusi Arabic at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
    Hassaniya Arabic at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
    Libyan Arabic at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
    Maltese at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
    Moroccan Arabic at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
    (Additional references under 'Language codes' in the information box)
  2. ^ Wehr, Hans (1979). A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic: (Arab.-Engl.). Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 319. ISBN 3447020024. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  3. ^ Harrell, Richard Slade (2004). A Dictionary of Moroccan Arabic: Moroccan-English. Georgetown University Press. p. 18. ISBN 1589011031. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  4. ^ Harrat, Salima (18 September 2018). "Maghrebi Arabic dialect processing: an overview". Journal of International Science and General Applications.
  5. ^ Elimam, Abdou (2009). Du Punique au Maghribi :Trajectoires d'une langue sémito-méditerranéenne (PDF). Synergies Tunisie.
  6. ^ Wexler, Paul (2012-02-01). The Non-Jewish Origins of the Sephardic Jews. State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-1-4384-2393-7.
  7. ^ Borg, Albert; Azzopardi-Alexander, Marie (2013). Maltese. Routledge. p. xiii. ISBN 978-1136855283. OCLC 1294538052. OL 37974130M. Wikidata Q117189264. Retrieved 17 March 2023.


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