Darija: A Spoken Language
In fact, there are around 21 million speakers worldwide. Darija is an oral language, thus it is very flexible and dynamic. Within the dialect itself there are several variations, the main differences are primarily between the southern and northern Morocco, as well as rural and urban areas.
Despite the fact that it is currently a spoken language, some factions in Morocco advocate for Darija’s adaptation into a written language. They argue that more than half of the population in Morocco can´t read Classical Arabic, which is not only used in the holy books of Islam such as the Koran, but also in newspapers and books. Anouar Majid is the Founding Director of the Center for Global Humanities at the University of New England. His is considered an expert on Islam especially in the age of globalization. He alleges in one of his articles:
“What Moroccans need is a language they can speak, read, and write at the same time, not one language for conversation and another for reading and writing. I don’t have a solution, but we could start thinking about this issue. Berber languages have recently been transcribed and will be taught in schools; shouldn’t we do the same for a national language, one that all Moroccans, from one end of the country to the other, speak, read, and write comfortably? Classical Arabic could be treasured as the language of the Koran and one that connects Moroccans to other Muslims and Arabs, while the new Moroccan language would be used in everyday writing and in literature, thereby giving linguistic substance and unity to what is now a smattering of dialects papered over with classical Arabic and French.”
Moreover, the written adaptation of Darija will allow Moroccans not only to read a book or a newspaper, but also it will also reinforce the Moroccan identity.
Below are some examples of common words and phrases in Darija:
Hello | Salam | سلام |
Please | 3afak | عافاك |
Thanks | Shokran | شكرا |
By | Bslama | بسلامة |
It’s okay | Mashi moshkil | ماشي مشكل |
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