NOTES ON THE ARABIC DIALECT OF

CASABLANCA (MOROCCO)
Jordi AGUAD
University of Cadiz
1) In spite of being the most important town in Morocco and the economic
capital of the country, Casablancas dialect lacks a comprehensive description
yet1. This may be due to the fact that at the end of the nineteenth century
Casablanca was just a small town, which only during the colonial period in the
twentieth century began to grow and eventually developed into a big metropolis
with some four millions inhabitants inmigrants from all corners of the country2.
Its dialect is, therefore, a mixture of different speeches and doesnt belong to the
traditional and prestigious ones.
However, the majority of its inhabitants today, especially those under fifty, are
born and grew up in Casablanca and the Arabic of this town is now the
normative dialect used for instance in radio and television and therefore the
most widespread in the country.
That fact, to my mind, seems to convey enough justification for a dedicated
scientific interest in it.
2) My paper is based on data collected among young people with the help of a
questionnaire.
The dialect of Casablanca belongs to the so called Hilalian type3 and, so far as
we know, emerged as a mixture of the dialect of the surrounding Chaouia tribes
with features of the dialects spoken by migrants from other parts of Morocco4.
Some texts collected in Casablanca have been published by me: cf. Aguad/Benyahia (1990);
Aguad (1996a); Aguad (2002). On the dialect of Casablanca cf. Adila (1996); Moumine (1995)
and the references to this dialect in Heath (2002).
2 About Casablanca cf. Adam(1968); art. (al-)Dr al-Bayd of A. Adam in EI (vol. 2, pp. 119120); art. (ad-)Dr al-Bayd of M. wk [Chouiki] in MM (vol. 12, pp. 3906-3915);
Mige/Hugues(1954); Villes et tribus (1915); Lahlou (1993); Dernouny/Lonard (1987); Ossman
(1994).
3 And to the Atlantic strip according to the more detailed classification made by Heath (2002)
p. 27.
4 In a book published 1912 (when the town had no more than 24.000 inhabitants!)
Kampffmeyer says that the dialects of Casablanca and of the Chaouia tribes had basically the same
features: Casablanca ist kein grosses, gegen das Land sich abschliessendes stdtisches
Gemeinwesen, das etwa ein eigenes Leben lebte und eigene vom Lande verschiedene Wurzeln
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3) Sketchily, the most important features of the Arabic spoken in Casablanca

are the following:
3.1) The phoneme /q/ is often realized as /g/; gl to say, gml louse, bgra
cow. But there are numerous examples where the realization /q/ has been
preserved: qll scarce, slight, qbd1 to take, llq to hang, fq on, over,
qddm in front of, qrb near, close, bqa to stay, to remain5.
We may also find a series of minimal pairs based on the opposition /q/ /g/:
qra bottle gra pumkin, bald; qssa narrative gssa haircut; sq
market sg drive; qrn century grn horn; rq vein rg root,
qllb to search gllb to turn over.
3.2) The phoneme // is realized as // (and not // as for instance in north
Moroccan dialects): r1 neighbor, bl mountain,nn jinn, genie, rf
bank, slope, xr to leave, to go out6.
3.3) The occurrence of pharingealized /r/ is very common and it is a
distinctive feature: ri liquide ri my neighbour; bra needle bra he
was healed7.
3.4) Diphtongs are reduced8:
xayma > xma tent, bayt > bt room, zayt > zt oil, lawn > ln colour.
3.5) As in other Moroccan dialects, Berber loanwords never take the definite
article. Ex.: ty tea (= rbt ty I drank the tea), tta chameleon (= fti
tta lli kyna f- -nn? did you see the chameleon in the garden?)9.

htte. Die Stadt steht im fortwhrendem Austausch mit dem Hinterlande (). Daher auch der
Charakter der Sprache der Stadt, die im Wesentlichen die Zge des buerisch-beduinischen Idioms
der uia zeigt (Kampffmeyer (1912), p. 6 of the foreword).
5 On the realizations of Classical Arabic /q/ in Moroccan dialects cf. now Heath (2002), pp.
141-147.
6 On the realizations of Classical Arabic /g1/ in Moroccan dialects cf. Heath (2002), pp. 136138.
7 Pharingealized /r/ is very common in all Hilalian dialects: cf. Heath, op. cit., pp. 149-154;
Cantineau (1960), p. 50; Aguad/Elyaacoubi (1995), p. 30 (no. 2.2.5); Caubet (1993), vol. 1, p. 10.
8 Classical Arabic diphtongs are monophtongized in the dialects of the Atlantic strip: cf. Heath,
op. cit., p. 198. See also Cantineau, op. cit., p. 104; Marais (1977), pp. 16-17.
9 Cf. Harrell (1962), pp. 189-190.
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3.6) The indefinite articles are i and whd. Ex.: i mr1a a woman, i ha
something, i hryn about two months, kn whd l-mt dyl l-kra there
was a soccer match10.
3.7) In the inflection of the regular triliteral verbs, there is no // //
opposition between the perfective and imperfective patterns (as it is the case in
some north Moroccan dialects)11. Ex.: verb hzz to take, to pick up, imperf.
yhzz, imperat. m. hzz, f. hzzi, pl. hzzu; verb r to sprinkle, imperf. r,
imperat. r, ri, ru; verb lbs to wear, imperf. ylbs, imperat. lbs, lbsi,
lbsu.
However, almost all speakers sometimes realize a vowel // in the imperfect
and imperative; but this occurs always in contact with velar and uvular
consonants (/k/, /g/, //, /x/, /q/) so that we can explain such opposition as a
labialisation of // in contact with these phonemes12. Ex,: skt shut up!, xr
go out!, kbb pour!, dxl come in!.
Moreover, this is not done systematically and it is common that the same
speaker uses indistinctly skt/skt, skti/skti, dxl/dxl, kbb/kbb, etc.
3.8) The regular triliteral Verb has the following inflection in the perfective:
1c.
2c.
3m.
3f.

Sg.
rbt
rbti
rb
rbt

1c.
2c.
3c.

Pl.
rbna
rbtu
rbu

Characteristic features of this dialect are: in the singular the endings -ti for the
2c, -t for the 3f. and in the plural -tu for the 2c.
3.9) The regular triliteral Verb has the following inflection in the imperfective:
1c.
2m.
2f.

Sg.
nrb
trb
trbi

1c.
2c.
3c.

Pl.
nrbu
trbu
nrbu

On the indefinite articles in Moroccan Arabic cf. Caubet (1993), vol. 1, pp. 185-186.
See for instance Vicente (2000), p. 67.
12 On labialization in Moroccan Arabic cf. Harrell (1962), pp. 9-10; Aguad/Elyaacoubi (1995),
pp. 33-34 (no. 2.2.13); Heath (2002), pp. 192-197.
10
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4
3m.
3f.

yrb
trb

3.10) The imperative shows gender differentiation in the singular: m. rb, f.

rbi drink!; m. dxl, f. dxli come in!.
3.11) Geminate triliteral verbs insert in the perfective an -- before the 1st and
2nd person suffixes13. The verb sdd to close has the following inflection:
1c.
2c.
3m.
3f.

Sg.
sddt
sddti
sdd
sddt

1c.
2c.
3c.

Pl.
sddna
sddtu
sddu

3.12) The most common present marker is k- but t- also occurs and there are
speakers who, sometimes, use indistinctly both in the same phrase14. Ex.: k-yrb
he is drinking, k-tkl she is eating, t-nfu we are looking.
3.13) The future marker is di (sometimes -)and it is invariable15. Ex.: di
ymi he will go; di yi he will come, di di she will come, di nmw
we will go.
3.14) The verb for to eat is kla, ykl (perfective: singular 1c. klt, plural 3c.
klw). But some speakers prefer kl, ykl (perfective: singular 1c. klt, plural 3c.
klu). The imperative is in both cases kl, kli, klu. The verb kla, ykl has the
following inflection:
Perfective
1c.
2c.
3m.
3f.

Sg.
klt
klti
kla
klt

1c.
2c.
3c.

Pl.
klna
kltu
klw

This infix was absent in Classical Arabic and is a dialectal innovation: cf. Blau (1988), pp. 225226; GrandHenry (1972), pp. 48-49.
14 On present markers in Moroccan dialects cf. Aguad (1996b).
15 Other dialects have mi or ba/bba: see Heath (2002), p. 215; Aguad/Elyaacoubi (1995), p.
86 (no. 3.14.2.1).
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Imperfective
1c.
2m.
2f.
3m.
3f.

Sg.
nkl
tkl
tkli
ykl
tkl

1c.
2c.
3c.

Pl.
nklu
tklu
yklu

3.15) The active participle of the verb kla, ykl is wkl (f. wkla, pl. wkln).
3.16) The verb a to come has an imperative i, w. The inflection of the
perfective and the imperfective is:
Perfective
1c.
2c.
3m.
3f.

Sg.
t
ti
a
t

1c.
2m.
2f.
3m.
3f.

Sg.
ni
di
di
yi
di

1c.
2c.
3c.

Pl.
na
tu
w

Imperfective
1c.
2c.
3c.

Pl.
nw
dw
yw

3.17) The active participle of a is y (f. yya, pl. yyn)

3.18) The passive voice is expressed by the prefix tt()-/t-: tthrq to be
burned, ttxlt I was scared, k-ythrrk he moves, la tth l-ma di
ytfrg if you give him water, he will explode.
3.19) The independent subject pronouns are:
1c.
2m.
2f.

Sg.
na, nya
nta, ntyya
nti

1c.
2c.
3c.

Pl.
hna, hnya
ntma, ntmya
hma, hmya
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6
3m.
3f.

hwwa
hyya

3.20) With a word ending in vowel (like xu brother) the suffixed pronouns
are:
Sg.
Pl.
1c.
xya
1c.
xna
2m.
xk
2c.
xkm
2f.
xk
3c.
xhm
3m.
xh
3f.
xha
3.21) With a word ending in consonant (like the preposition c1nd under,
with, beside) the suffixed pronouns are:
1c.
2m.
2f.
3m.
3f.

Sg.
ndi
ndk
ndk
ndu
ndha

1c.
2c.
3c.

Pl.
ndna
ndkm
ndhm

3.22) The reflexive is expressed by rs head. Ex.: na b-rsi I myself, ftu

na b-rsi I saw it myself.
3.23) As in other Hilalian dialects the relative pronoun is lli. Ex.: l-bnt lli ft
the girl I saw; n-ns lli w the people who came; hd -i lli k-yglu that is
what they say; l-mdrsa lli knt k-nqra fha the school in which I studied16.
3.24) Adjectives of color and defect following the pattern {123} have a plural
with -n17:
Sg.
khl
byd
zrq

black >
white >
blue >

Pl.
khln
bdn
zrqn

Jewish dialects have ddi/di: cf. Heath (2002), pp. 494-495.

Other dialects have plurals following the pattern {1u23} (kuuhl, zuurq etc.): cf. Heath
(2002), pp. 308-309.
16
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xdr
sfr

green >
yellow >

xdrn
sfrn

3.25) The genitive marker is dyl and has sometimes a plural dywl. Ex.: d-dr
dyli my house, d-dyr dywli my houses, l-wld dywlu his children.
But some speakers use nt, t instead of dyl.
3.26) Adverbs: dba now, lhh there, hkdk/hkkk/hkka like that, in
that manner, wqt when, mta when, nn straight, gd straight, l-brh
yesterday, dda tomorrow, fn where.
3.27) The adverb still is expressed by ma zl or bqi (remaining, part. act.
of the verb bqa).
3.28) Possible conditional clauses are introduced by la. Ex.: la tth l-ma if
you give him water, la mti f-z-znqa if you go by the street, la knu
msryyn18 if they are insured, la tmrkw bt19 if they score a goal, la kn
ndi l-fls nri tmbl If I have money, I will buy a car20.
3.29) Impossible conditional clauses are introduced by kn. Ex.: kn kn ndi
l-fls kn rt tmbl if I had had money, I would have bought a car, kn kn
ndi l-fls nri tmbl if I had money, I would buy a car.
3.30) In the lexical domain we may quote the following terms: nf nose,
qnyya rabbit, tbba rat, bu-frttu butterfly, tta / bya chameleon, bbb
snail, rna frog, xzzu carrots, krsi chair, ta winter, ndk watch
out!, dda (yddi) to take away, qllb to search for, ra (f. ri) give!.
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French marquer un but to score a goal (football)
20 On possible and impossible conditional clauses in Moroccan Arabic cf. Harrell (1962), pp.
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18
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