Moroccan Arabic

Moroccan Arabic is a variety of Maghrebi Arabic spoken in Morocco by about 20 million people. It is used mainly in everyday conversation, while Modern Standard Arabic is used in offical communications with the government and other public organisations, and a mixture of French and Moroccan Arabic is used in business.

There is no standard way of writing Moroccan Arabic and it is rarely written, though is used to some extent in poetry, newspapers and magazines. The vocabulary is mainly of Arabic origin, with many words borrowed from Berber, French and Spanish. Native names for Moroccan Arabic include مغربي (Maġribi) and الدارجة (Darija).

Moroccan Arabic is more or less mutually intelligible with other varieties of Maghrebi Arabic spoken in Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya, but speakers of Arabic from other regions find it difficult to understand.

Moroccan Arabic pronunciation

Consonants

Moroccan Arabic consonants

Vowels

Moroccan Arabic vowels

Numerals and numbers

Moroccan Arabic numerals and numbers

Hear a recording of these numbers by Linguanaut

Information about Moroccan Arabic pronunciation compiled by Wolfram Siegel

Sample text

Koul en-nas yetzadou h´ourrin ou metqaddin f-el-hemma w-el-h´ouqouq. Âend-houm el-âqel w-ed-damir ou wajeb âli-houm yetâamlou mâa baâd-houm baâd b-rouh´-el-khawa.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Useful phraess in Moroccan Arabic