Moroccan Arabic (الـمغربيّة, [əlməɣɾibijja]; also known as Darija, الدّارجة, [əddæɾiʒa]) 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 Arabic and some French is used in business. It is within the Maghrebi Arabic dialect continuum.
Overview
An overview of the different Arabic dialects
Moroccan Arabic is considered a spoken variety of Arabic and not a separate language. Superficially, Moroccan Arabic (or perhaps a combined Moroccan–Tunisian–Algerian or "Maghrebi" Arabic) may appear to be a separate language; thorough study shows many common points between Maghreb dialects and dialects of the East, though they are hardly mutually intelligible; Arabic is a good example of a dialect continuum in which clear boundaries cannot be drawn (i.e. Moroccan Arabic is similar to Algerian Arabic, which is similar to Tunisian Arabic, which is similar to Egyptian Arabic, and so on, but the Moroccan and Gulf dialects are largely mutually unintelligible.)
Like other spoken varieties (dialects), Moroccan Arabic is rarely used in literature and lacks prestige compared to Standard Arabic (fuṣḥa). 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.
Darija (which means "current") can be divided into two groups:
• The pre-French protectorate: when Morocco was officially colonized by France in 1912, it had an accelerated French influence in aspects of everyday life. The pre-French Darija is one that is spoken by older and more conservative people. It is an Arabic dialect that can be found in texts and poems of Malhoun, and Andalusi music for example. Later, in the 1970s, traditionalist bands like Nass El Ghiwane and Jil Jilala followed this course, and only sang in "classical Darija".
• The post-French protectorate: after the coming of the French, any French word, whether a verb or a noun, could be thrown into a sentence. ("Code switching.") This is most common among the young, educated, urban class.
A similar phenomenon can be observed in Algerian Arabic and Tunisian Arabic.
[edit]Relationship with other languages
Moroccan Arabic, like many other forms of Arabic, is mutually unintelligible with some varieties, particularly those of Middle Eastern origin.[citation needed] Moroccan Arabic is grammatically simpler and with a less voluminous vocabulary than Classical Arabic, supplemented by French and Spanish loanwords. There is a relatively clear-cut division between Moroccan Arabic and Standard Arabic, and many Moroccans do not understand Modern Standard Arabic.[according to whom?] 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 upper and educated classes often adopt code-switching between French and Moroccan Arabic. As elsewhere in the world, how someone speaks and what words or language they use is often an indicator of their social class.
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Vowels
One 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 pronounced 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. /ăqsˤărˤ/ "shorter" (standard /qsˤərˤ/), /ătˤlăʕ/ "go up!" (standard /tˤlăʕ/ or /tˤləʕ/), /ăsˤħab/ "friends" (standard /sˤħab/).
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
Moroccan Arabic consonant phonemes[1]
Labial Dental/Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyn-
geal Glottal
plain emphatic labialized plain emphatic
Nasal m (mˤʷ)2 n
Plosive voiceless (p)3 t͡s, (t)1 tˤ k q6 ʔ
voiced b (bˤʷ)2 d dˤ ɡ6,7
Fricative voiceless f (fˤʷ)2 s8 sˤ ʃ x ħ h
voiced (v)3 z8 zˤ ʒ7 ɣ ʕ
Tap ɾ ɾˤ4
Approximant l (lˤ)5 j w
In normal circumstances, non-emphatic /t/ is pronounced with noticeable affrication, almost like /t͡s/ (still distinguished from a sequence of /t/ + /s/), and hence is easily distinguishable from emphatic /tˤ/. However, in some recent loanwords from European languages, a non-affricated, non-emphatic [t] appears, distinguished from emphatic /tˤ/ primarily by its lack of effect on adjacent vowels (see above; an alternative analysis is possible).
mˤʷ, bˤʷ, fˤʷ are very distinct consonants that only occur geminated, and almost always come at the beginning of a word. They function completely differently from other emphatic consonants: They are pronounced with heavy pharyngealization, affect adjacent short/unstable vowels but not full vowels, and are pronounced with a noticeable diphthongal off-glide between one of these consonants and a following front vowel. Most of their occurrences can be analyzed as underlying sequences of /mw/, /fw/, /bw/ (which appear frequently in diminutives, for example). However, a few lexical items appear to have independent occurrences of these phonemes, e.g. /mˤmˤʷ-/ "mother" (with attached possessive, e.g. /mˤmˤʷək/ "your mother").
(p) and (v) occur mostly in recent borrowings from European languages, and may be assimilated to /b/ or /f/ in some speakers.
Unlike in most other Arabic dialects (but, again, similar to Berber), non-emphatic /r/ and emphatic /rˤ/ are two entirely separate phonemes, almost never contrasting in related forms of a word.
(lˤ) is rare in native words; in nearly all cases of native words with vowels indicating the presence of a nearby emphatic consonant, there is a nearby triggering /tˤ/, /dˤ/, /sˤ/, /zˤ/ or /rˤ/. Many recent European borrowings appear to require (lˤ) or some other unusual emphatic consonant in order to account for the proper vowel allophones; but an alternative analysis is possible for these words where the vowel allophones are considered to be (marginal) phonemes on their own.
Original /q/ splits lexically into /q/ and /ɡ/; for some words, both alternatives exist.
Original /dʒ/ normally appears as /ʒ/, but as /ɡ/ (sometimes /d/) if /s/ or /z/ appears later in the same stem: /ɡləs/ "he sat" (MSA /dʒalas/), /ɡzzar/ "butcher" (MSA /dʒazzaːr/), /duz/ "go past" (MSA /dʒuːz/).
Original /s/ is converted to /ʃ/ if /ʃ/ occurs elsewhere in the same stem, and /z/ is similarly converted to /ʒ/ as a result of a following /ʒ/: /ʃəmʃ/ "sun" vs. MSA /ʃams/, /ʒuʒ/ "two" vs. MSA /zawdʒ/ "pair", /ʒaʒ/ "glass" vs. MSA /zudʒaːdʒ/, etc. This does not apply to recent borrowings from MSA (e.g. /mzaʒ/ "disposition"), nor as a result of the negative suffix /ʃ/ or /ʃi/.
[edit]Writing
Moroccan Arabic is rarely written (most books and magazines are in French or Modern Standard Arabic), and there is no universally standard written system.[2] There is also a loosely standardized Latin system used for writing Moroccan Arabic in electronic media, such as texting and chat, often based on sound-letter correspondences from French ('ch' for English 'sh', 'ou' for English 'u', etc.) and using numbers to represent sounds not found in French or English (2-3-6-7-9 used for ق-ح-ص-ع-ء). It is extremely rare to find Moroccan Arabic written in the Arabic script, which is reserved for Standard Arabic. 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. Others (like Richard Harrell in his reference grammar of Moroccan Arabic) maintain the e; but it never occur in an open syllable (followed by a single consonant and a vowel). Instead the e is transposed with the preceding (sometimes geminated) consonant, which ends up following the e; this 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 /tˤ, dˤ, sˤ, zˤ, rˤ, lˤ/.
š, ž represent hushing /ʃ, ʒ/.
[edit]Code switching
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, as in Tangier, it is common for code-switching to occur between Moroccan Arabic and Spanish, as Spain had previously controlled part of the region, and also continues to possess the territories of Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa bordering only Morocco. On the other hand, some educated Moroccans, particularly those sympathetic to the ideas of Arab nationalism, generally attempt to avoid French and Spanish influences (save those Spanish influences from al-Andalus) on their speech, even when speaking in darija; consequently, their speech tends to resemble old Andalusi Arabic and pre-occupation Maghrebi.
[edit]Vocabulary
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). Recently, young Moroccans have started to use English words in their dialects.
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):
A Dictionary of Moroccan Arabic: Moroccan-English, ed. Richard S. Harrell & Harvey Sobelman. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 1963 (reprinted 2004.)
Mu`jam al-fuṣḥā fil-`āmmiyyah al-maghribiyyah معجم الفصحى في العامية المغربية, Muhammad Hulwi, Rabat: al-Madaris 1988.
Dictionnaire Colin d'arabe dialectal marocain (Rabat, éditions Al Manahil, ministère des Affaires Culturelles), by a Frenchman named Georges Séraphin Colin, who devoted nearly all his life to it from 1921 to 1977. The dictionary contains 60 000 entries and was published in 1993, after Colin's death.
[edit]Some words borrowed from Berber
Mouch or Mech: cat (orig. Amouch) (pronounced [muʃ])
Khizzou: carrots ([xizzu])
Takshita: typical Moroccan dress
Lalla: lady, madam
Henna: grandmother (jebli and northern urban dialects)
Dchar or Tchar: zone, region ([tʃɑr])
Neggafa: wedding facilitator (orig. taneggaft) ([nɪɡɡafa])
sifet or sayfet: send ([sˤaɪfɪtˤ])
Sebniya: veil (jebli and northern urban dialects)
Jaada : carrots (jebli and northern urban dialects)
sarred : synonyme of send (jebli and northern urban dialects)
Chlaɣem : mustache
Awriz: heel (jebli and northern urban dialects)
But: navel (orig. bed), in the west
Tamara: hardship, worries
Tamssumant : effort
[edit]Some words borrowed from French
forchita: fourchette (fork) (pronounced [forʃitˤɑ])
tomobile or tonobile: automobile (car) ([tˤomobil])
telfaza: télévision (television) ([tɪlfɑzɑ])
radio: radio ([rɑdˤjo])—NB: rādio is common across most varieties of Arabic.
bartma: appartement (apartment) ([bɑrtˤmɑ])
rambwa: rondpoint (traffic circle) ([rambwa])
tobis: autobus (bus) ([tˤobis])
camera: caméra (camera) ([kɑmerɑ])
portable: portable (cell phone) ([portˤɑbl])
tilifūn: téléphone (telephone) ([tilifuːn])
brika: briquet (lighter) ([brike])
parisiana: a French baguette, more common is komera, stick
disk: song
[edit]Some words borrowed from Spanish
Some of these words might also have come through Andalusi Arabic brought by Moriscos when they were expelled from Spain following the Christian Reconquest.
roueda: rueda (wheel) (pronounced [rwedˤɑ])
cuzina: cocina (kitchen) ([kuzinɑ])
simana: semana (week) ([simɑnɑ])
manta: manta (blanket) ([mɑntˤɑ])
rial: real (five centimes; this term has also been borrowed into many other Arabic dialects) ([rjɑl])
fundo: fondo (bottom of the sea or the swimming pool) ([fundˤo])
carrossa: carrosa (carrosse) ([kɑrrosɑ])
courda: cuerda (rope) ([kordˤɑ])
cama (in the north only): cama (bed) ([kamˤɑ])
blassa: plaza (place) ([blasɑ])
el banio: el baño (toilet) ([el bɑnjo])
comer : eat (but Moroccans use this expression to name the parisian bread) ([komer])
Disco : song (in north only) ([disko])
elmario : El armario (in north only) [The cupboard]([elmɑrjo)
blaya : playa (beach) ([blɑjɑ)
mariya : marea (water flow) ([mɑrjɑ)
[edit]Some words borrowed from Portuguese and German
These words are used in several coastal cities across the Moroccan coast like Oualidia, El Jadida, and Tangier)
[edit]Some examples of regional differences
Now: "Daba" in the majority of regions but "druk" or "druka" is also used in some regions in the center and south, and "drwek" or "durk" in the East
When?: "fuqash" in most regions,"fewakht" in the Northwest (Tangier-Tetouan) but "imta" in the Atlantic region, and "waqtash" in Rabat region
What?: "Ashnu", "shnu" or "ash" in most regions, but "shenni", "shennu" in the North, "shnu", "sh" in Fes, and "washta", "wasmu", "wash" in the Far East
[edit]Some useful sentences
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? La bas? / Bi-xayr?/ Kif ntin/ntina? / Amandra? La bas? / Rak ġaya / Rak šbab?
Can you help me? Yemken-lek tʿaweni? Teqdar dʿaweni? Waxa d'aweni? Yemken-lek tʿaweni?
Do you speak English? Waš ka-tehdar lengliziya / waš ka-tedwi be-l-lengliziya? Waš ka-dehdar be-l-lengliziya? / kat tehdar lengliziya? Waš tehdar lengliziya?
Excuse me Smaḥ-liya Smaḥ-li Smaḥ-liya
Good luck ḥaḍ saʿid ḥaḍ saʿid ḥaḍ saʿid
Good morning ṣbaḥ l-xir ṣbaḥ l-xir / ṣbaḥ n-nur ṣbaḥ l-xir
Good night Teṣbaḥ ʿla xir ṣbaḥ ʿla xir Teṣbaḥ ʿla xir
Goodbye Be-slama Be-slama / Be-slama f had saʿa / huwa hadak Be-slama
Happy new year Sana saʿida Sana saʿida Sana saʿida
Hello s-salam ʿalikum / as-salamu ʿalaykum (Classical) / ʔahlan As-salamu ʿalaykum/ ʔahlan As-salam ʿlikum
How are you doing? La bas ʿlik? La bas? La bas ʿlik?
How are you? Ki dayer ? (masculine) / Ki dayra ? (feminine) Kif ntin? / Kif ntinah? Ki rak?
Is everything okay? Kul-ši mezyan ? Kul-ši mezyan ? / Kul-ši huwa hadak ? Kul-ši mliḥ? / Kul-ši zin?
Nice to meet you Metšaṛṛfin Metšaṛṛfin Metšaṛṛfin
No thanks La šukran La šukran La šukran
Please Allāh yxallik / ʿafak La-yxallik / La-yʿizek / xayla Allāh yxallik / yʿizek
Take care Tḥalla f-ṛaṣek Tḥalla Tḥalla f-ṛaṣek
Thank you very much Šukran bezzaf Šukran bezzaf Šukran bezzaf
What do you do? Faš xaddam? Škad ʿaddel? / šenni xaddam? (masculine) / šenni xaddama? (feminine) / š-ka-dexdem? / šini ka-te'mel/'adal f-hyatak? Faš texdem? (masculine) / Faš txedmi ? (feminine)
What's your name? Ašnu smiytek? / šu smiytek Šenni ʔesmek? / kif-aš msemy nta/ntinah? Wašta smiytek?
Where are you from? Mnin nta? (masculine) / Mnin nti? (feminine) Mnayen ntina? Min ntaya? / Min ntiya?
Where are you going? Fin ġadi temši? Nayemmaši?/Fayn maši? (masculine) / Nayemmaša?/Fayn mašya? (feminine) F-rak temši? / F-rak rayaḥ
You are welcome La šukr ʿla wažib / Bla žmil La šukr ʿla wažib/maši muškil / dunya hania La šukr ʿla wažib
[edit]Grammar
[edit]Verbs
[edit]Introduction
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:
The stem of the Moroccan verb for "to write" is kteb.
[edit]The past tense
The 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 tense
The 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 tenses
To 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]Negation
One characteristic of Moroccan syntax which it shares with other North African varieties as well as some southern Levantine dialect areas is in the two-part negative verbal circumfix /ma-...-ʃi/.
Past: /kteb/ "he wrote" /ma-kteb-ʃi/ "he didn't write"
Present: /ka-y-kteb/ "he writes" /ma-ka-y-kteb-ʃi/ "he doesn't write"
/ma-/ comes from the Classical Arabic negator /ma/. /-ʃi/ is a development of Classical /ʃayʔ/ "thing". The development of a circumfix is similar to the French circumfix ne ... pas, where ne comes from Latin non "not" and pas comes from Latin passus "step". (Originally, pas would have been used specifically with motion verbs, as in "I didn't walk a step", and then was generalized to other verbs.)
The negative circumfix surrounds the entire verbal composite including direct and indirect object pronouns:
/ma-kteb-hom-li-ʃi/ "he didn't write them to me"
/ma-ka-y-kteb-hom-li-ʃi/ "he doesn't write them to me"
/ma-ɣadi-y-kteb-hom-li-ʃi/ "he won't write them to me"
/waʃ ma-kteb-hom-li-ʃi/ "didn't he write them to me?"
/ waʃ ma-ka-y-kteb-hom-li-ʃi/ "doesn't he write them to me?"
/waʃ ma-ɣadi-y-kteb-hom-li-ʃi/ "won't he write them to me?"
Note that future-tense and interrogative sentences use the same /ma-...-ʃi/ circumfix (unlike, for example, in Egyptian Arabic). Also, unlike in Egyptian Arabic, there are no phonological changes to the verbal cluster as a result of adding the circumfix. In Egyptian Arabic, adding the circumfix can trigger stress shifting, vowel lengthening and shortening, elision when /ma-/ comes into contact with a vowel, addition or deletion of a short vowel, etc. However, none of these occur in Moroccan Arabic (MA):
There is no phonological stress in MA.
There is no distinction between long and short vowels in MA.
There are no restrictions on complex consonant clusters in MA, and hence no need to insert vowels to break up such clusters.
There are no verbal clusters that begin with a vowel: The short vowels in the beginning of Forms IIa(V) and such have already been deleted, and MA has first-person singular non-past /ne-/ in place of Egyptian /a-/.
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:
ma-ġa-ne-kteb walu "I will not write anything"
ma-te-kteb ḥta ḥaja "Do not write anything"
ḥta waḥed ma-ġa-ye-kteb "Nobody will write"
wellah ma-ne-kteb or wellah ma-ġa-ne-kteb "I swear to God I will not write"
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?"
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]Negative interrogation
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:
ma-ġa-te-kteb-ši? "Aren't you going to write?"
ma-ġadi-ši-te-kteb? (same)
waš ma-baġi-ši te-kteb? "You don't want to write?" (North)
waš ma-bġi-t(i)-ši te-kteb? (same) (Western and other regions)
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:
ka ma-ġa-te-kteb-ši?!
ka ma-ġadi-ši-te-kteb?!
[edit]In Detail
Verbs in Arabic are based on a consonantal root composed of three or four consonants. The set of consonants communicates the basic meaning of a verb. Changes to the vowels in between the consonants, along with prefixes and/or suffixes, specify grammatical functions such as tense, person and number, in addition to changes in the meaning of the verb that embody grammatical concepts such as causative, intensive, passive or reflexive.
Each particular lexical verb is specified by two stems, one used for the past tense and one used for non-past tenses along with subjunctive and imperative moods. To the former stem, suffixes are added to mark the verb for person, number and gender, while to the latter stem, a combination of prefixes and suffixes are added. (Very approximately, the prefixes specify the person and the suffixes indicate number and gender.) The third person masculine singular past tense form serves as the "dictionary form" used to identify a verb, similar to the infinitive in English. (Arabic has no infinitive.) For example, the verb meaning "write" is often specified as kteb, which actually means "he wrote". In the paradigms below, a verb will be specified as kteb/ykteb (where kteb means "he wrote" and ykteb means "he writes"), indicating the past stem (kteb-) and non-past stem (also -kteb-, obtained by removing the prefix y-).
The verb classes in Arabic are formed along two axes. The first or derivational axis (described as "form I", "form II", etc.) is used to specify grammatical concepts such as causative, intensive, passive or reflexive, and mostly involves varying the consonants of a stem form. For example, from the root K-T-B "write" is derived form I kteb/ykteb "write", form II ketteb/yketteb "cause to write", form III kateb/ykateb "correspond with (someone)", etc. The second or weakness axis (described as "strong", "weak", "hollow", "doubled" or "assimilated") is determined by the specific consonants making up the root—especially, whether a particular consonant is a W or Y—and mostly involves varying the nature and location of the vowels of a stem form. For example, so-called weak verbs have a W or Y as the last root consonant, which is reflected in the stem as a final vowel instead of a final consonant (e.g. rˤma/yrˤmi "throw" from R-M-Y). Meanwhile, hollow verbs are usually caused by a W or Y as the middle root consonant, and the stems of such verbs have a full vowel (/a/, /i/ or /u/) before the final consonant, oftentimes along with only two consonants (e.g. ʒab/yʒib "bring" from ʒ-Y-B).
When speaking of the weakness axis, it is important to distinguish between strong, weak, etc. stems and strong, weak, etc. roots. For example, X-W-F is a hollow root, but the corresponding form II stem xuwwef/yxuwwef "frighten" is a strong stem. In particular:
Weak roots are those that have W or Y as the last consonant. Weak stems are those that have a vowel as the last segment of the stem. For the most part, there is a one-to-one correspondence between weak roots and weak stems. However, form IX verbs with a weak root will show up the same way as other root types (that is, with doubled stems in most dialects, but with hollow stems in Moroccan Arabic).
Hollow roots are triliteral roots that have W or Y as the last consonant. Hollow stems are those that end with /-VC/, where V is a long vowel (most dialects) or full vowel in Moroccan (i.e. /a/, /i/ or /u/). Only triliteral hollow roots form hollow stems, and only in forms I, IV, VII, VIII and X. In other cases, a strong stem generally results. In Moroccan Arabic, all form IX verbs yield hollow stems regardless of root shape, e.g. sman "be fat" from S-M-N.
Doubled roots are roots that have the final two consonants identical. Doubled stems end with a geminate consonant. Only Forms I, IV, VII, VIII, and X yield a doubled stem from a doubled root—other Forms yield a strong stem. In addition, in most dialects (but not Moroccan) all stems in Form IX are doubled, e.g. Egyptian Arabic iħmárˤrˤ/yiħmárˤrˤ "be red, blush" from Ħ-M-R.
Assimilated roots are those where the first consonant is a W or Y. Assimilated stems begin with a vowel. Only Form I (and Form IV?) yields assimilated stems, and only in the non-past. In Moroccan Arabic, assimilated stems don't really exist at all.
Strong roots and stems are those that don't fall under any of the other categories described above. It is common for a strong stem to correspond with a non-strong root, but not usually the other way around.
[edit]Table of Verb Forms
In this section all verb classes and their corresponding stems are listed, excluding the small number of irregular verbs described above. Verb roots are indicated schematically using capital letters to stand for consonants in the root:
F = first consonant of root
M = middle consonant of three-consonant root
S = second consonant of four-consonant root
T = third consonant of four-consonant root
L = last consonant of root
Hence, the root F-M-L stands for all three-consonant roots, and F-S-T-L stands for all four-consonant roots. (Traditional Arabic grammar uses F-ʕ-L and F-ʕ-L-L, respectively, but the system used here appears in a number of grammars of spoken Arabic dialects and is probably less confusing for English speakers, since the forms are easier to pronounce than those involving /ʕ/.)
The following table lists the prefixes and suffixes to be added to mark tense, person, number and gender, and the stem form to which they are added. The forms involving a vowel-initial suffix, and corresponding stem PAv or NPv, are highlighted in silver. The forms involving a consonant-initial suffix, and corresponding stem PAc, are highlighted in gold. The forms involving no suffix, and corresponding stem PA0 or NP0, are unhighlighted.
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