Ceuta Arabic
Dialect of Moroccan Arabic spoken in Ceuta, Spain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ceuta Arabic or Arabic of Ceuta is a dialect of Moroccan Arabic (it has particularly similar characteristics to the Moroccan Arabic dialect areas on the northern; the Jebala region and the Atlantic coast up to the city of Larache) spoken by the native inhabitants of Ceuta who are primarily ethnic Arabs.[2] Ceuta is an autonomous Spanish city on the North African mainland, it is surrounded by the country of Morocco.[3]
Arabic is spoken in approximately a proportion of 40% to 42% of Ceuta's bilingual population with Spanish.[2] Ceuta Arabic must be distinguished from Moroccan Arabic by two fundamental features: loanwords from Spanish and code-switching. This is enriched by loanwords from Classical Arabic. Its absence in the administrative and educational registers in Spain gives it a "marginalized" status. Therefore, it is likely that the number of Arabic speakers in Ceuta as their mother tongue is decreasing, due to a perceived less "prestigious" status than the Spanish language.[1]
Recognition efforts
In 2021, Muslim Arabs in Ceuta called on the Spanish Government to recognize their mother tongue, Ceuta Arabic (also written Arabic of Ceuta). This initiative was initiated and supported by the local party, the Caballas Coalition, led by Mohamed Ali. The request was also supported by Coalició Compromís, a Valencian political party.[4]
The same lawsuit was actually filed in 2018. However, the request was opposed by the Popular Party and the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, which rejected the recognition of "Arabic of Ceuta" as an official regional language by the Spanish Government.[4]