The symbolic values that speakers attribute to certain linguistic features constitute an important sociolinguistic topic which, barring a few seminal works, has not drawn much attention from scholars working on Maghrebi Arabic, and more specifically, Moroccan varieties. The present paper aims to deepen our understanding of metalinguistic representations of Jebli, a sedentary rural variety of Moroccan Arabic, within the speech communities of Larache and Ouezzane, two urban centres lying on the southern periphery of the Jbala region of Northern Morocco. We first analysed several samples of performed speech taken from an online Moroccan comedy sketch series entitled Jebli & Beldi, which includes a character epitomizing the Jebli accent, in order to identify those salient linguistic features that are perceived as being typically Jebli. As these phonetic and morphosyntactic traits are consciously selected in performed speech, it may be assumed that they make up a linguistic stereotype. We then asked a group of informants in the cities of Larache and Ouezzane to describe what they regarded as the typical features of Jebli speech and also their attitudes towards these features. The results of our study show that the features informants named partly coincided with our own sketch-based selection, and their attitudes towards these features were generally negative. These features did not appear in the speech of most informants, suggesting either their absence in their dialect or a deliberate avoidance strategy on their part. A small number in fact used these features but denied doing so, suggesting that the features are socially stigmatized. We argue that the symbolic values ascribed to some typical Jebli features may trigger their avoidance, which in turn may generate linguistic variation and even lead to linguistic change.

The present paper aims at making an inventory of the different reflexes displayed by Classical Arabic interdental fricatives in present-day Arabic dialects. It attempts to classify and categorize a wide range of realizations in order to better apprehend the variation affecting this set of phonemes. The goal of our study is to identify the general tendencies that govern the dynamics of maintenance and loss of interdental fricatives in Arabic vernaculars.

Rap has become among the most cultivated musical genres in the Arab world. This is particularly true for the post-Arab spring Maghreb. As their counterparts in other countries, Moroccan rappers usually boast of representing their towns and/or regions. Given that dialect is an important element of regional identity, many of these rappers strive to sing songs in their own local accent. As regards the so-called Eastern Region of Morocco (l-minṭaqa š-šarqĭyya), its most popular rapper is probably Amin So9rat, a committed youngster from the city of Berkane. The present paper aims at analyzing So9rat’s songs in order to provide some data on the main features of what the rapper himself calls l-lahža š-šarqĭyya ‘the Eastern Moroccan accent’ and, more specifically, on the spoken Arabic of Berkane. Furthermore, we will comment on the main topics dealt with in the lyrics.

The present paper discusses from a diachronic standpoint the realizations of Old Arabic */ǧ/ in the various Maghrebi dialects. It covers the following issues: reflexes of Old Arabic */ǧ/, phonetically conditioned shifts involving /ǧ/ and /ž/, discussion and conclusions. The remaining part of the study is devoted to a presentation and discussion of evidences suggesting that affricate /ǧ/ was formerly more widespread among first-layer dialects.

The aim of the present paper is to investigate intergenerational variation in the realization of interdental fricatives among speakers of Berkani Arabic, a variety spoken in north-eastern Morocco. Our survey is based on data gathered during fieldwork in the city of Berkane in December 2019. It is well known that, unlike mainstream Moroccan dia- lects, some varieties in the far north-east have retained old interdental fricatives to this day. Yet it seems that these phonemes are slowly fading or have already disappeared in some of the aforementioned vernaculars. This is the case, for instance, in the western division of the Huwwāṛa tribe and in the city of Oujda, respectively. As regards the city of Berkane, a preliminary analysis of our data indicates an almost complete loss of the voiceless inter- dental /ṯ/ and the voiced interdental /ḏ/. Conversely, instances displaying a voiced pharyn- gealized /ḏ/̣ are abundant in the speech of our informants, even if this sound is seemingly in free variation with its dental counterpart /ḍ/. Interestingly, this phonetic variation seems to be related to the age of the speaker. Thus, the number of occurrences of /ḏ/̣ is higher among middle-aged and older individuals. Such a finding could be indicative of the regres- sion of /ḏ/̣ in the speech of young Berkanis, which may be due to a process of convergence towards the mainstream varieties of Moroccan Arabic. The abandonment of other local features would seem to support this supposition.