Judeo-Moroccan Arabic


Judeo-Moroccan Arabic is a variety of the Arabic Language spoken by Jews living or formerly living in Morocco and Algeria. Speakers of the language are usually older adults.
The vast majority of Moroccan Jews and Algerian Jews have relocated to Israel and have switched to using Hebrew as their home language. Those in France typically use French as their first language, while the few still left in Morocco and Algeria tend to use either French, Moroccan or Algerian Arabic in their everyday lives.

History and composition

Historically

Widely used in the Jewish community during its long history there, the Moroccan dialect of Judeo-Arabic has many influences from languages other than Arabic, including Spanish, Haketia or Moroccan Judeo-Spanish, due to the influx of Sephardic refugees from Spain after the 1492 expulsion, and French, and, of course, the inclusion of many Hebrew loanwords and phrases. The dialect has considerable mutual intelligibility with Judeo-Tunisian Arabic, and some with Judeo-Tripolitanian Arabic, but almost none with Judeo-Iraqi Arabic.

Today

The vast majority of Morocco's 265,000 Jews emigrated to Israel after 1948, with significant emigration to Europe and North America as well. Although about 3,000 Jews remain in Morocco today, most of the younger generations speak French as their first language, rather than Arabic, and their Arabic is more akin to Moroccan Arabic than to Judeo-Arabic. There are estimated to be 8,925 speakers in Morocco, mostly in Casablanca and Fes, and 250,000 in Israel. Most speakers, in both countries, are elderly. There is a Judeo-Arabic radio program on Israeli radio.

Daily phrases in Judeo-Moroccan

Hello: שלום עליכם, Shalom ˁaleykhem
Goodbye: בסלמא b'shlaama / בסלמא עליך b'shlaama ˁleek
Thanks: מרסי mersi
Yes: אה, 'ēh
No: לא laa
How are you?: אש כבארך? aas khbaark?
Fine, thank you: לא באס, מרסי laa baas, mersi
Fine / No problems: לא באס laa baas