Moroccan Culture, Morocco's Culture & Community

Moroccan Culture, Morocco's Culture & Community

Dialectal Arabic : The Arabic language was introduced into Morocco through successive stages: in the 7th century with the arrival of the troops of Oqba Ben Nafi; in the 9th century thanks to the new education centres namely the famous Karaouyine Mosque-university in Fez; in the 12th and 13th centuries, marked by the settlement in Morocco of the Hilalian and mâaquilian tribes; and in the 14th century when Andalusians were chased away by Spain during the Christian Reconquista.

Dialectal Arabic includes four dialects: the first is urban (mdini); it is influenced by the Andalusian language and spoken in old cities such as Fez, Rabat Sale and Tetouan; the mountain dialect (jebli) is used in the northwest region and draws its origins from the amazigh.

the Bedouin dialect (aroubi) evolves in the communities of the Atlantic plains (Gharb. Chaouïa, Doukkala, etc.). It is also used in internal plains like the Haouz of Marrakesh, Tadla and Souss. Finally, the hassani dialect is practiced in some regions of the sahara, dialectal Arabic is used both at home and in the street.

It is not a written language except in the form of free unfixed codes, It is the mother tongue of Arabic-speaking people, the one through which they acquire education and popular culture, Spoken throughout all the Moroccan territory, it unites the various communities which are themselves subdivided by the variety of dialects. Communication with the Arabs of other countries is achieved through classical Arabic.

Classical Arabic

Classical Arabic is the language of the Quran. It is used in the religious, political, administrative, legal and cultural spheres. It is the language of education, media and all other intellectual activities. The Arabic language is a rich and complex language on which the sacred book confers an almost incantatory dimension.

Amazighe, the language of Berbers:

Amazighe is the most ancient language of the Maghreb. The coming of Amazighs to Morocco goes back to the Neolithic era. For historians, their origin remains a subject of controversy. We think that they are natives, came from the north shore of the Mediterranean, or natives of the south of the Arab Peninsula, archaeological documents of the ancient Egypt give evidence of the existence of the amazighe script at least 3000 years BC. Today, we speak Amazighe in the rural regions and in cities, particularly since the rural exodus of the 1970s. The Berber language includes three dialects: tarifit in the northeast; tamazight, in the Middle Atlas, in the northerly part of the High Atlas and in the southeast region; and tachelhit, in the southern part of the High Atlas and southwest region.

Moroccan Culture

Learning a foreign language is inextricably tied to learning about culture, because the countries that speak a given language all have some effect on that language (of course, some more than others). Most language students, and certainly anyone who speaks a second language fluently, are aware of this, because it is impossible to speak a language well without understanding the cultures that go hand-in-hand with it. Unfortunately for French students, there are so many francophone countries that learning about all of the related cultures is virtually impossible. Most teachers who want to foster an understanding of francophone cultures in their students are forced to focus on the "bigger" French-speaking countries like France and Canada.

I lived in Morocco from September 2000 to March 2003 and felt that I had a wonderful opportunity there to introduce French students to another member country of the francophone community. By living in this francophone country, I was able to share my first-hand experience with the culture. I wrote articles periodically on various aspects of Moroccan culture. In this way I hope to bring Moroccan culture alive for French students who might not otherwise have a chance to learn about it.

I did my best to bring the articles to life with pictures and personal anecdotes. All of the information in these articles was drawn from my personal, day-to-day experiences and in-country research in Casablanca. My goal is not to pass judgment on Moroccan culture; rather, it is to bring this rich culture to life for French speakers who might not otherwise know anything about it.



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