Then, in the 13th century, Bedouin tribes swept through many of the unsettled areas, spreading with them their distinct Arabic dialect in the non-urbanized areas and leaving speakers of Berber isolated in the mountainous regions. Morocco is a North African country located in the Maghreb. It is estimated that there are between 14 and 25 million speakers of [1], "Few census figures are available; all countries (Algeria and Morocco included) do not count Berber languages. The differences among all Moroccan dialects are not too pronounced: public radio news are broadcast using the various dialects; each journalist speaks his or her own dialect with the result that understanding is not obstructed, though most southern Berbers find that understanding Riff requires some getting used to. The Tifinagh alphabet is sometimes used for the Berber languages of Morocco and Algeria since the end of the 20th century, to make a difference with the Arabic or Latin alphabets. The languages of prestige in Morocco are Arabic in its Classical and Modern Standard Forms … This is due to the history of settlement. The state of Morocco still sees Arabic (MSA) as its national language, but acknowledges that not all Moroccans are Arabic speakers and that Arabization did not succeed in the area of science and technology. Some of these characters, specially those written with dots, habe been replaced by new ones: hence the name Neo-Tifinagh. Its inhabitants include Berbers, Arabs, Moors, and Gnawa, with Arabs and Berbers being in the majority (together this equals 99.1% of the total population). After more than a century of rule by France, Algerians fought through much of the 1950s to achieve independence in 1962. The Amazigh language is spoken by a large majority of Amazigh living in Morocco. Warning! Early colonial censuses may provide better documented figures for some countries; however, these are also very much out of date. Spanish could become the European language in highest demand in Morocco, displacing French, due to the increasing popularity of the Spanish language. Since the Antiquity, the Tifinagh alphabet has always been used by the Tuaregs, with certain characters that have evolued and some variants. From then on, Morocco has adopted a clear perpetual educational language policy with three main cores: improving and reinforcing the teaching of Arabic, using a variety of languages, such as English and French in teaching the fields of technology and science and acceptance of Tamazight. "A sociolinguistic investigation of language attitudes among youth in Morocco." [28] Arabic in its Classical and Standard forms is one of the two prestige languages in Morocco. [18], The first recorded work in Darija or Moroccan Arabic is Al-Kafif az-Zarhuni's epic zajal poem "al-Mala'ba," dating back to the reign of Marinid Sultan Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Othman. Mauritania, Libya and Algeria. [4], It is also the mother language of some Moroccans, regrouped mainly in the western side of the country (Casablanca and Rabat Mainly, but also many other cities. In this paper, my intention is to linguistically investigate only three main concepts which refer to poetry in both Morocco and Algeria. The interest in Spanish for the Moroccans arises from their proximity to Spain and the fact that Moroccans are the most numerous group of legal immigrants in Spain (748,953). The Berber languages (or Tamazight) are a group of closely related languages mainly spoken in Morocco and Algeria.A very sparse population extends into the whole Sahara and the northern part of the Sahel. Rome2rio is a door-to-door travel information and booking engine, helping you get to and from any location in the world. Amazigh movement’s claims XIV. In February, 2016, a constitutional resolution was passed making Berber an official language alongside Arabic. The name is derived from the Greek for "barbarian," so the language and ethnic group are often referred to as Tamazight. Most of these are accounted for by three dialects: This nomenclature is common in linguistic publications, but is significantly complicated by local usage: thus Shilha is sub-divided into Shilha of the Dra valley, Tasusit (the language of the Souss) and several other (mountain) dialects. Standard Arabic is mostly heard in schools, administrative offices, and mosques. JavaScript is disabled, the functionality of Lexilogos is unavailable. [8] According to a 2000–2002 survey done by Moha Ennaji, author of Multilingualism, Cultural Identity, and Education in Morocco, "there is a general agreement that Standard Arabic, Moroccan Arabic, and Berber are the national languages. The languages of prestige in Morocco are Arabic in its Classical and Modern Standard Forms and some times French, the latter of which serves as a second language for approximately 33% of Moroccans. There is a strong movement among Berbers to unify the closely related northern Berber languages into a single standard, Tamazight. [19] However, the language spread much more slowly than the religion. Since the Antiquity, the Tifinagh alphabet has always been used by the Tuaregs, with certain characters that have evolued and some variants. "Motivations for Code-Switching among Arabic-French Bilinguals in Morocco. While previously considered to be a derivation of Arabic, it is now known to be its own separate language. The term Berber is not used nor known by the speakers of these languages). [42][citation needed], According to a survey made in 2005 by CIDOB, 21.6% of the population speak Spanish (. According to the OIF, 33% of Moroccans speak French, among them 13.5% fully francophone and thus bilingual with one of the other Moroccan languages, and 19.5% partially francophone. [30], As a member of the Maghrebi Arabic grouping of dialects, Moroccan Arabic is similar to the dialects spoken in Mauritania, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya (and also Maltese). The difference between the two forms in terms of grammar, phonology and vocabulary is so great, it can be considered as diglossia. Set of dialects of Maghrebi Arabic spoken in Tunisia. Language Attitudes in Morocco Following Recent Changes in Language Policy. [29], In 1995 the number of native Arabic speakers in Morocco was approximately 18.8 million (65% of the total population), and 21 million including the Moroccan diaspora. 1950S to achieve independence in 1962 Berber is not used in administrative offices and... Frequently used in Libya, Mauritania, Tunisia, and Algeria schools the... 7 ] Moroccan Arabic while in the Modern society and the number of languages of Morocco ''. In adjacent areas of Morocco, with certain characters that have evolued some... 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