Extract

In: Rudolf Muhr (ed.) (2012): Non-dominant Varieties of pluricentric Languages. Getting the Picture. In memory of Michael Clyne. Wien et. al., Peter Lang Verlag. p. 381-386. Abderrazzaq MSELLEK (University of Fès, Morocco) amsellek@gmail.com Sociolinguistic Aspects of Moroccan Arabic Abstract The language situation in Morocco is marked by the parallel use of several varieties of Arabic. Apart from standard Arabic as the official language, Moroccan Arabic and other local varieties are also used. In my paper I will show the main sociolinguistic aspects that govern the use of Moroccan Arabic and Standard Arabic in Morocco. The focus will be on the communicative functions and linguistic features of Moroccan Arabic. 1. Introduction The linguistic situation in Morocco is often described as complex. Four languages are used, namely, Standard Arabic (SA), Moroccan Arabic (MA), Berber, and French. But other foreign languages such as English, Spanish and German have increasingly grown popular in education, business and tourism sectors. This complexity can be interpreted as linguistic diversity or simply as multilingualism that is a major characteristic of Moroccan society. Concerning the communicative function of each language, Ennaji (2005) made the following observation: “These Languages (SA, MA, and Berber) do not fulfil all the linguistic functions, since each one covers only a limited number of domains. For instance, MA and Berber cover the domains of home and street, while SA is used in education, public administration, and the media. French is utilized to complement the picture, as it has functions and domains which overlap...