Western Morocco Arabic

NativetoMorocco

Language family

Afro-Asiatic

• Semitic
  • West
    • Central
      • North Arabian
        • Arabic
          • Maghrebi
            • Hilalian
              • Moroccan
                • Western Moroccan Arabic

Writing system

Arabic alphabet

ISO 639-3–

Western Moroccan Arabic
ʿAroubi Darija
عروبي
Native to	Morocco
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Semitic West Central North Arabian Arabic Maghrebi Hilalian Moroccan Western Moroccan Arabic
Writing system	Arabic alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Map showing Western Moroccan Arabic speaking areas (yellow)

Western Moroccan Arabic or ʿAroubi Darija (Arabic: عروبي, lit. 'rural, bedouin')^[1] is a dialectal continuum of Hilalian Arabic, mainly spoken in the western (Doukkala, Abda, Tadla, Chaouia, Rhamna, Sraghna, Chiadma and Zaër) and central-western (Saïss, Gharb and pre-Rif) plains of Morocco.^[2]

It can be divided into 3 regiolects: northern, central and southern.^[3]

Speakers of Western Moroccan Arabic have begun standardizing their dialect after the colonisation period. The dialect's unique vocabulary and grammar fell out of favour, influenced by Hatim Elkabache Pre-Hilalian Arabic dialects and French spoken by city-dwellers.^{[citation needed]} The Western Moroccan Arabic Dialect is close to Najdi Arabic in certain grammatical aspects and vocabulary. The conjugation of sentences is closer to Classical Arabic compared to Pre-Hilalian Arabic Dialects. The letter "ق" is pronounced as a "G", a feature found in Bedouin Arabic Dialects.