Updated July 2024

When we were in our first months of studying Moroccan Arabic, we did a homestay with a Moroccan family. This was a great experience, and allowed us to practice the words and phrases we were learning with the Moroccan family we lived with. One day, our homestay father was sick, and my husband wanted to use one of the phrases we had learned in class, “May God heal you.” He thought he remembered how to say it, so he said, “Allah iyrhmik.” Our homestay dad looked quite shocked at this, and we realized that the phrase, “May God heal you” is “Allah iyshefik” The other phrase Michael had said is, “May God pardon you,” which is used when someone dies! We had a good laugh about it and assured our homestay father that we weren’t predicting his death!

We have so many stories from our time as language students in Morocco, and we are extremely grateful for the language instruction we have received from excellent teachers. We may think we have stories from language learning, but the teachers here at Crossroads have stories of their own! For example, one of our teachers, Lahsen, shares the following: “Even a slight change in pronouncing a word in Darija may change the meaning of what is said completely, often with very humerous results. As a Darija teacher, I have encountered many anecdotes like that. One day, a student of mine wanted to say, ‘I am from Florida, but my husband is from California.’ So, she said in Darija, ‘Ana man Florida, walakin rajli man California,’ which means, ‘I am from Florida, but my foot is from California.’ She should have said ‘rāgli’ istead of ‘ragli.’” Thankfully, our teachers are very patient with us students!

Understanding the Arabic dialect spoken in Morocco is a worthwhile challenge, but another challenge is understanding the many questions that arise out of these language studies. What is Darija? Why is Moroccan Arabic considered a dialect, and what is the difference between it and other Arabic languages?

What is Darija and why is it spoken instead of Fossha? 

The local dialect of Arabic in Morocco is called Darija (الدارجة), which means “everyday, colloquial language.” Each country where Arabic is the primary language has developed its own local language. Arabs often refer to this local language as a “dialect” of Arabic, but Moroccan Arabic is a mixture of numerous different languages and was especially influenced by Amazigh/Berber. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA/Fossha), which is the international Arabic language, is used in writing and in official communication, but often feels somewhat artificial, or stuffy, because people don’t actually speak MSA. Because the Arabic language is so closely connected to religion, the language has not been able to freely develop the way other languages do; however, the Darija of each country is the language of the people that changes and adapts over time.

Arabic dialects live, change, and evolve, and can be properly understood as a continuum of Arabic. Speakers of Darija with geographic proximity will tend to understand each other, whereas Arabic speakers from distant places will have a harder time understanding each other. As a result, speakers of Moroccan Arabic will often not be understood by Arabic speakers from the East. Interestingly, Moroccans will understand Arabic from the Middle East (these dialects being closer to Classical Arabic), and because countries like Egypt have a great reach in the Arab world through movies and music. It has been estimated that Moroccan Darija shares over 70-75% of its vocabulary with Fossha, and is, therefore, a good starting point to learn any type of Arabic. However, some words in Darija have the opposite meaning in Fossha or in other Arabic dialects! For example, “Al-Âfia,” is a word used in Moroccan Arabic to mean “fire,” but is used frequently in other Arab countries, especially the Arab Gulf, to mean “health” or “wellness.”

Moroccan Darija is not 100% Arabic because it contains a mixture of words taken from Modern Standard Arabic, Amazigh/Berber language, French, and to a lesser extent words from Spanish and English. Moroccan Darija speakers frequently borrow words from French and Spanish (in northern Morocco) and conjugate them according to the rules of the dialect, which makes for some interesting-sounding words. Additionally, it continues to evolve by integrating new French or English words, especially in technical fields. 

Is Moroccan Arabic a Language?

Moroccan Arabic has connotations of informality, and tends to be used in casual conversations and spoken discourse, but is usually not written. Because of this informality, Moroccans will often disparage Darija, saying that it is not really a language, or is just a poor language, where Modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic are rich. As someone who has spent three years studying and practicing Darija, those types of comments can be frustrating, because, to me, this is a real language that I have spent a lot of time trying to learn! Those of us from the West are accustomed to learning a language by hearing, speaking, and reading. Because Moroccan Arabic is usually not written, it is often difficult to find Darija courses in Moroccan that are not auditory-based. However, we have developed a curriculum that enables a learner not only to speak the language but also to read the language. Our curriculum is well-suited for the Western learner. 

Is it useful to learn Moroccan Arabic?

If you plan to visit or live in Morocco, knowing Darija will significantly enhance your experience. It will allow you to communicate more effectively with locals, understand cultural nuances, and navigate daily life more easily. While some portion of Moroccans are multilingual, it is still necessary to learn Darija in order to live and work in Morocco. Around 33% of Moroccans know French, 5-10% know Spanish (especially in the areas formerly colonized by Spain), and an estimated 14% know English. When many Moroccans meet foreigners from Europe and the United States, they start talking to them in French, because they learned French in school and because they believe that all foreignersa speak French. But once the foreigner begins speaking in Darija, Moroccans are astonished!

My Arabic teacher recently told me that the spirit of a language is its culture. Daily life in Morocco involves using so many common Darija words and phrases, especially saying greetings, blessings, or quoting cultural proverbs. In studying this language, you can’t help but also learn elements of Moroccan culture, because, without the people to speak it, the language would not exist. Fortunately, in my experience, Moroccan people are very willing to practice the language with you and help you learn. The course material we offer to study Moroccan Arabic at Crossroads Cultural Exchange combines learning the language with understanding Moroccan culture, so that students grow in both speaking skills, but also the communication ability that comes through cultural awareness. 

Recently, we told our Darija teacher the story from the beginning of this post about Michael telling our sick homestay Father, “May God pardon you [when you die from this sickness],” he laughed so hard that he cried. Even though learning languages can be a challenge, it also brings us closer to the people we communicate with and allows us to build friendships based on understanding each other through both communication and cultural awareness. Whether Moroccan Arabic is considered a “real language” or not, we are thankful for the ways that learning to speak it has given us opportunities to learn and build friendships.

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