Maghrebi Arabic
| Maghrebi Arabic | |
|---|---|
| Darija, Western Arabic North African Arabic | |
| اللهجات المغاربية | |
| Region | Maghreb |
| Ethnicity | Maghrebi Arabs, also used as a second language by other ethnic groups in the Maghreb |
Native speakers | 88 million (2020–2022) |
Afro-Asiatic
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Arabic alphabet, Latin alphabet | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Variously:arq – Algerian Arabicxaa – Andalusi Arabicmey – Hassaniya Arabicayl – Libyan Arabicmlt – Malteseary – Moroccan Arabicaao – Saharan Arabicsqr – Siculo-Arabicaeb – Tunisian Arabic |
| Glottolog | nort3191 |
Maghrebi Arabic, often known as ad-Dārija to differentiate it from Literary Arabic, is a vernacular Arabic dialect continuum spoken in the Maghreb. It includes the Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian, Libyan, Hassaniya and Saharan Arabic dialects.
Maghrebi Arabic has a predominantly Semitic and Arabic vocabulary, although it contains a significant number of Berber loanwords, which represent 2–3% of the vocabulary of Libyan Arabic, 8–9% of Algerian and Tunisian Arabic, and 10–15% of Moroccan Arabic. Maghrebi Arabic was formerly spoken in Sicily and Al-Andalus until the 13th and 17th centuries, respectively, in the extinct forms of Siculo-Arabic and Andalusi Arabic. The Maltese language is believed to have its source in a language spoken in Muslim Sicily that ultimately originates from Tunisia, as it contains some typical Maghrebi Arabic areal characteristics.