Darija

Darija, in the Moroccan context, refers to the colloquial varieties of Moroccan Arabic spoken by the majority of the population. It is the everyday language used at home, in informal conversation, and in much of popular media. It is distinct from Modern Standard Arabic, which is used in formal writing, news, and official communications. Darija is part of the Maghrebi Arabic dialect continuum, and its forms have been shaped by contact with Berber languages, French, and Spanish.

Although collectively called Darija, Moroccan Arabic shows substantial regional variation across cities and regions, with urban dialects such as Casablanca, Rabat, Fez, and Marrakesh differing in pronunciation, vocabulary, and speech patterns. Phonology, morphology, and lexicon differ from MSA and from other Arabic dialects. The lexicon includes loanwords from Berber, French, and Spanish. Mutual intelligibility with Egyptian, Levantine, or Gulf Arabic is limited; speakers from different Maghrebi countries may rely on MSA or bilingual speech for communication.

Darija is used in daily conversation, music, film, television, theatre, and online communication. It is increasingly present in entertainment and advertising targeted at Moroccan audiences. It lacks a standardized orthography; writers may use Arabic script with nonstandard spellings, or Latin script (Arabizi) and French spellings. In formal settings, Modern Standard Arabic remains the language of education and official discourse.

Across the Moroccan diaspora in Europe and elsewhere, Darija is often learned informally by immigrants and may be studied as a subject in some language programs. The language status continues to evolve as Morocco experiences multilingual influences and modernization.