| Fessi dialect | |
|---|---|
| Fessi Darija | |
| Native to | Morocco |
| Arabic alphabet | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | fezm1238 |
TheFessi dialect (Moroccan Arabic:هضرة أهل فاس) is a dialect ofMoroccan vernacular Arabic, or Darija, associated with the city ofFes, especially with the old elite families of the city.[1]
It is consideredpre-Hilalian and some of its distinguishing phonological features are the pronunciation ofrāʾ ( ر ) as apostalveolar approximant (like the American pronunciation of /ɹ/ in the word "red") instead of atrilled [r] and ofqāf ( ق or, traditionally, ڧ ) as apharyngealizedglottal stop orvoiceless uvular plosive instead of avoiced velar plosive ([g]).
The Fessi dialect has traditionally been regarded as aprestige dialect over other forms of Moroccan Darija, as a function of the historic social and economic power of its speakers.
Like other urban Moroccan dialects, it is consideredpre-Hilalian.[1] 'Pre-Hilalian' in this context refers to dialects believed to descend from the Arabic spoken in the region prior to the arrival of theBanu Hilal and theBanu Ma'qil tribes that began in the 12th century. After this event, "Hilalian" dialects became dominant in the rural regions of central Morocco and are a major component of wider Moroccan Arabic today.[2]: 2–10
Due to social and demographic changes that started in the 20th century such as mass rural migration into the city and the departure of most of the city's old urban elites to Casablanca, the traditional linguistic features are no longer dominant in the speech of Arabic speakers in Fes today.[3][2]: 5, 24
TheJewish community in Fes, prior to the departure of most of the city's Jewish residents in the second half of the 20th century, also spokean Arabic dialect similar to the rest of city.[2]: 24 [a]
It has traditionally had distinctive linguistic features, many of which were shared with other pre-Hilalian dialects in the region:[2]: 5, 24 on thephonological level, these include the stereotypical use of apostalveolar approximant (like the American pronunciation of /ɹ/ in the word "red") in the place of atrilled [r] for /ر/, or apharyngealizedglottal stop orvoiceless uvular plosive in the place of avoiced velar plosive ([g]) for /ق/.[1]
On themorphosyntactic level, gender distinction in pronouns and verbinflections is neutralized in the secondperson singular.[1]
The Fessi dialect has traditionally been regarded as aprestige dialect over other forms of Moroccan Darija—particularly those seen as rural or'arūbi (عروبي "of the rural Arabs")—due to its "association with the socio-economic power and dominance that its speakers enjoy at the national level," in the words ofMohammed Errihani.[1][4]
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