Speak Moroccan Forums

Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Taala wa Barakatuhu,

I am back to Fushalize your language, young lady (SM).   However, before I proceed I would like for you all to indulge me as I cut-and-paste some information I came across regarding the publication of a series of short stories in Moroccan Darija.  I know that Nuwwara wanted to find some books; perhaps others do as well.  As for myself, I am more of a Al Fatawa Al Kubra lIbni Taymiyyah sort of reader.  Having reached the level of proficiency in Fusha which I now enjoy, I am hesitant to mix it up too much with Darija on the written level.  Oh, alright, I am not 'hesitant'; I am inept.  Every attempt I make at typing a Moroccan word or phrase is accompanied by massive interference from my platform language, Fusha....But I can make myself well understood verbally when I relax and don't think about the roots from which my spoken idiom is emerging.  Incidentally, for you young folks who are just mastering Fusha, speaking and writing in a dialect will most likely weaken your achievement in MSA, and you will probably at some point or another, if you are going for a career in linguistics or a professorial position at a University, become so darned adept with the dialect you concentrate on in speaking that you will have anxiety and encounter difficulties when called upon to carry on conversations in Fusha.  I know I read it, write it, listen to lectures in it, and attempt to teach/tutor it, but I have a lot of interference from Moroccan Darija and get more than a few butterflies in my stomach when I am called upon to converse in it.  (Seeing as that was a reaaaalllllyyy long sentence, I meant I have trouble conversing in MSA now, despite the fact that I read very old and venerable publications which would make my own husband keel over in boredom and frustration were he called upon to comprehend them without the aid of a dictionary and some grammar refreshers.)

Now, for the pasting: 

Darija is now seeping into the media with a liberalisation of the air waves and the creation of magazine Nichane, banned from newsstands for two months this year after publishing a list of popular jokes about Islam, s** and politics. Many Darija expressions are the invention of rap musicians from the sprawling suburbs of Casablanca, whose rhymes are reaching more people thanks to new music stations whose sole priority is boosting audience numbers and advertising revenue.

“It was an obvious decision to broadcast in Darija,� said Imane Laraichi, communications manager at Hit Radio in Rabat, which launched last August.

“You wouldn’t ask the presenters of TF1 in France why they broadcast in French.�

The first Moroccan literature entirely in Darija appeared recently, a book of short stories by Youssef Amine Elalamy and Internet chatrooms are buzzing with conversations in the tongue using the Latin alphabet.

Social workers are using it for health awareness campaigns and to educate deprived youngsters, breaking down a language barrier they say stops people from becoming active citizens able to understand world events and influence their own futures.

“There is a feeling that we must put in place a real bridge to exchange knowledge across the yawning gulfs in our society,� said sociologist Youssef Sadik.ztravelz

Now, the quote is over and I am back.  I just want to reiterate my firm stand that not one of the more than twelve Arabic dialects nor any of their sub-dialects is a language.  I think that they must be relegated to permanent status as varieties of spoken Arabic, and I firmly believe that it would be a baaaaaddddd mistake to formalize any of them into a separate language, such as has happened to the Maltese Language.  Does any one of you out there consider Maltese to be an Arabic dialect, incidentally? 

And last but not least, Mbrook l3awashr!!!

Regards, The mother of 99 computer dwelling Maryams.

I sent you my response via e-mail, Nuwwara, alright?

Are you sure you didn't receive it?  It will not be marked Ummaryam99, but with my own name, the initials of which are S.S.  I sent it to the e-mail address beneath your flower.

Well, I don't know what happened to it, but I will be glad to try again, Nuwwara.

Nuwwara, I am writing this note so that this topic can move forward....  have you found any other books that we might be interested in?  And, I have a serious question which no doubt I should know the answer to, so it's a little embarrassing to ask it....  Why is it, "Mmalin ddar"?  My brain keeps telling me that it should be, "Mwalin ddar"....