Tetouan Arabic
The Arabic spoken in Tétouan is of the sedentary or pre-Hilalien type, and it is a northern Moroccan dialect. Nowadays, two varieties competing for social prestige are found in this city. Firstly, we find the mdini or traditional Tétouan variety, which is spoken by the families considered the older dwellers of Tétouan, the “pure” Tétouan people, regardless of the district in which they live, though this variety usually survives only amongst adults and older generations. These people have been living in the city for generations, although some were immigrants from the rural areas who arrived a few decades ago and probably levelled towards this variety, the prestigious one at the time.
Secondly, we can also find the urban Arabic variety where some of the older features have disappeared; it is formed by a mixture of surviving traits of the traditional Tétouan variety but also by the features brought by the inhabitants of the neighbouring rural areas, or of other nearby or distant cities due to more recent migrations. This urban variety is used mostly by young people, who are leading the accommodation and levelling process.
Tetouan Arabic: Tetouan city
Árabe de Tetuán: La ciudad de Tetuán
b nĭsba n n țǝṭwān, n țǝṭwān fīha țāɹĭx mǝn žūž, žmīʕ wasāɁil[1] d ǝl-ḥḍāɹa l-andalūsĭyya w-ǝl-ḥḍāɹa l-măġɹībĭyya. u kāyǝn ʕāɁilāț, xăllīna lli žāw mǝl l-andalus[2], kāyǝn ʕāɁilāț žāzăyɹĭyya (f ǝl-ăyyām ǝl-ʕŏțmānĭyya), dīk l-ḥăɹb ǝl-ʕŏțmānĭyya, kān xxx žāw ǝl-žāzăyɹ, ž-žāzăyɹĭyyīn bǝzzāf n hna, n țǝṭwān u ssqăɹɹu f țǝṭwān, u kān ʕăndna wāḥ[3] l-ḥăwma hnāya, l-ḥăwma d gzīɹĭyyīn, ḥăwma d ǝl-ʕyūn, l-ʕyūn kānu fīha gzīɹĭyyīn, T.: hūma nās ǝl-žāzăyɹ. M.: ĭyyǝh, kānu aġlab l-ʕāɁilāț žāw mǝn žāzăyɹ, mǝțɹūdīn lianna kānǝț d-dăwla l- ʕŏțmānĭyya. žāw hūma hǝɹbu ma xăṣṣŭm ši l-ḥtilāl l-ʕŏțmani f ǝl-žāzăyɹ, u l-ʕāɁila ž- žāzăyɹĭyya xxx āna nqūl lǝk wāḥ[4] xămsa u xămsīn ʕāɁila žāzăyɹĭyya hnāya f țǝṭwān, oɹigin[5] žāzăyɹ, u kāyǝn ʕāɁilāț hnāya țŭɹkĭyya, u mǝn mazāya d ǝl-ʕāɁilāț d ǝl-žāzăyɹ hnāya f țǝṭwān, žābu msāyl dyālŭm, bḥāl l-ḥlāwĭyyāț, bḥāl băɁlāwa, băɁlāwa l-ăṣl dyāla sūɹi, mǝn sūɹya n žāzăyɹ u mǝn žāzăyɹ dxǝl n ǝl-maġɹǝb, fhǝmți? eh::: buskūču[6], ḥălwa žāzăyɹĭyya T: buskuču žāzăyɹĭyya? M.: ǝyyǝh, eh… mlūža, l-qṭāyǝf, ʕāɹǝf l-qṭāyǝf? T.: ǝh. M.: hādu kāmlīn žaw n hna, hādu žmīʕ ǝl-ḥlāwĭyyāț dyālŭm žāw mǝn žāzăyɹ u aġlabuhŭm ăṣl sūɹi lianna sūɹya măʕɹūfa b ǝl-ḥlāwĭyyāț. kāyǝn ʕāɁilāț hnāya žāw mǝn țŭɹkiya, ʕāɁilaț ʕăšʕăš, [l-ʕăšʕăš] fhǝmți? ʕāɁila ʕăšʕăš ʕāɁila țŭɹkĭyya, žāzăyɹĭyya, dǝxlǝț l-măġɹǝb, ʕāɁilaț bŭhlāl ʕāwǝd žāw mǝn țŭɹkiya, mǝn țŭɹkiya mubašaɹan n-ǝl-măġɹǝb, ma gāzu ši ʕla l-žāzăyɹ, ʕăšʕăš ĭyyǝh. ʕăšʕăšīn žāw mǝn… T.: gāzu ʕla žāzăyr u… M.: mǝn d-dāxǝl. u hād ž-žmīʕ d hād ǝn-na(s) lli k-yži n hād ǝl-blād, k-yžīb mʕāha țxāfța[7], aw țāɹixa, aw țbāʕy dyāla fhǝmți? u ṭɹōfa dyāla d ǝl-ḥălwa, ăw d ṭ-ṭǝbx, fhǝmți? kāyǝn bǝzzāf d ǝl-wasāɁil hnāya an dāba nḥǝsbu, bḥāl ḥna žĭbna mǝn spānya l-paiya[8], paiya šnu hĭyya paiya? T.: ṛ-ṛăwz u… M.: paiya valensiana yāk? u šni hĭyya l-măʕna dyāla? T.: baqīya M.: ah? baqīya. M.: hādīk bāqāya d ǝl-măkla lli kān ka-yxăllīwha l-Ɂŏmāɹa u ka-yɁūl la žmăʕ lli l-bāqāya d ǝl-măkla. hādāk, ǝl-ăṣl dyāla ʕɹābi. bāqāya, ši ḥāža mǝn hna, ši ḥāža mǝn hna, ši ḥaža mǝn hna T.: k-yĭțxăllǝṭ. M.: k-yĭțxăllǝṭ, k-yɁūlu bāqāya u hūma k-yɁūlu paiya. fhǝmți? țǝṭwān ʕănda țāɹix, mǝn žūž, bǝzzāf d ǝl-ḥḍāɹāț. fhǝmțīni? hādi mǝn nāḥĭyya. mǝn nāḥyĭyya ŏxɹa, kān țǝṭwān, kān mqăssǝm n žūž d ǝš-šṭōɹ: šăṭɹ fīh l-muḥāžiɹī(n), hĭyya l-ʕyūn u ṭ-ṭălʕa u sūq ǝl-fūqi[9], hādu kānu fīhŭm gzīɹĭyyīn u andalusĭyyīn. š-šăṭɹ t-țāni, mǝn sūɁ ǝl-fūxi n bāb ǝl-ʕoqla, la pueɹta ɹeina[10], kānu fīha ūlād ǝl-ăṣl, ūlād ǝl-mdīna, fhǝmți? u kān wāḥǝd ǝl-ʕăṭf ʕla, ǝl-ʕăṭf s-sŭlṭāni kān f dīk s-sāʕa, ʕla n-nās ǝl-andalusĭyyīn yǝḥțāɹmūhŭm, Ɂăddɹūhŭm fhǝmți?, kadālik n-nās žāzăyɹ u kŭll lli ža, žāb ḥḍāɹțu u țaqāfțu, ămma b nĭsba n sțāwǝn, mǝn nāḥĭyya d ǝl-ḥāla žțimāʕĭyya, kāyǝn țlāța d ǝl-biɁēț: fi al-lūlĭyya, n-nās mwālīm m-Ɂămlāk[11], kāyǝn wāḥǝd ž-žmāʕa d ǝl-ʕāɁilāț ʕăndŭm ḍyūɹ, āɹāḍi, u ǝl-ḥwānǝț, fhămți? ž-žmāʕa ăxɹa ž-žmāʕa d ṣnāyʕĭyya, xăɹɹāza u dǝbbāġa u nǝžžāɹa, w-ǝl-ḥǝddāda, fhămțīni? u ž-žmāʕa ăxɹa măɁžūɹīn hādi l-ḥāla t-țǝṭwānĭyya kānǝț ĭmma ṣnāyʕi, ĭmma mʕăllǝm, ĭmma mǝmlāk[12].[1] Las palabras señaladas en cursiva, si no se indica lo contrario, son préstamos del árabe estándar. [2] /mǝn l-andalus/ > [mǝl l-andalus]. [3] /wāḥǝd/ > [wāḥ]. [4] /wāḥǝd/ > [wāḥ]. [5] Préstamo del francés. [6] Préstamo del español. [7] /țqāftha/ > [țxāfța]. [8] Préstamo del español. El origen que atribuye el informante a la voz paella es una etimología popular muy extendida en Marruecos. La etimología correcta es del latín < patella. [9] l-ʕyūn, ṭălʕa y sūq ǝl-fūqi son tres zonas dentro de la medina antigua de Tetuán. [10] Llamada así porque en ella hacían guardia los soldados de Isabel II durante la ocupación de 1860. [11] /mwālīm l-Ɂămlāk/ > [mwālīm m-Ɂămlāk]. [12] /mǝllāk/ > [mǝmlāk].
En relación con Tetuán, en Tetuán hay la historia de dos, el conjunto de vínculos de la civilización andalusí y la civilización magrebí. Y hay familias, dejemos las que vinieron de Al-Ándalus, hay familias argelinas (en los días de los Otomanos), esa guerra otomana, había xxx…, vinieron Argelia, muchos argelinos aquí, a Tetuán y se establecieron en Tetuán, y teníamos un barrio aquí, el barrio de los argelinos, el barrio de l-ʕyūn,l-ʕyūn en él había argelinos, T.: Ellos son gente de Argelia. M.: Sí, eran la mayor parte de las familias que vinieron de Argelia, expulsados porque estaba el estado Otomano. Vinieron, escaparon, no querían la ocupación Otomana en Argelia, y la familia argelina xxx te digo que son unas 55 familias argelinas aquí en Tetuán, origen Argelia, y hay familias aquí turcas, y de las cosa buenas de las familias de Argelia aquí en Tetuán, trajeron sus cosas, como los dulces, como el băɁlāwa[1], băɁlāwa su origen es sirio, de Siria a Argelia y desde Argelia entró en Marruecos ¿entiendes? Eh::: el bizcocho[2] es un dulce argelino. T: El bizcocho es argelino? M.: sí, mlūža[3], l-qṭāyǝf[4], ¿conoces l-qṭāyǝf? T.: Sí. M.: Todos estos vinieron aquí, estos, el conjunto de sus dulces vinieron de Argelia, y la mayoría de ellos, su origen es sirio, porque Siria es conocida por los dulces. Hay familias aquí que vinieron de Turquía, la familia ʕăšʕăš, ¿entiendes? La familia ʕăšʕăš es una familia turca, argelina, entró en el Magreb. La familia Bŭhlāl también vinieron de Turquía, de Turquía directamente al-Magreb, no pasaron por Argelia, (la familia) ʕăšʕăš sí, los ʕăšʕăš vinieron de… T.: Pasaron por Argelia y… M.: Desde el interior. Y este grupo de gente que viene a este país, trae con ella su cultura o historia o forma de ser ¿entiendes? Y sus trozos de dulces, o su manera de cocinar ¿entiendes? Hay muchos vínculos aquí que ahora consideramos como, nosotros trajimos de España la paella, paella ¿qué es la paella? T.: arroz y… M.: paella valenciana, ¿verdad? Y ¿cuál es su significado? T.: los restos. M.: eh? Los restos. M.: Eso, los restos de la comida que dejan los príncipes y se le dice el conjunto de lo que, los restos de la comida. Eso es, su origen es árabe. Los restos, algo de aquí, algo de aquí, algo de aquí. T.: Se mezcla. M.: Se mezcla, lo llaman los restos y ellos lo llaman paella. ¿Entiendes? Tetuán tiene historia de dos, de muchas civilizaciones ¿me entiendes? Esto por un lado. Por otro lado, Tetuán estaba, estaba dividido en dos mitades: en una mitad están los inmigrantes, esta (mitad) es l-ʕyūn, ṭ-ṭălʕa y sūq ǝl-fūqi, en ellos estaban los argelinos y los andalusíes. En la segunda mitad, desde sūq ǝl-fūqi hasta bāb ǝl-ʕoqla, la puerta reina, estaban los hijos de origen, los hijos de la ciudad ¿entiendes? Y había un sentimiento de simpatía con, el sentimiento de simpatía grandioso que había entonces, con la gente andalusí, los respetan y los apreciaban ¿entiendes?, igual con la gente de Argelia, y todo el que vino, trajo su civilización y su cultura. En cuanto a Tetuán, en cuanto a la situación social, hay tres ambientes: en el primero, los dueños de las propiedades, hay un grupo de familias que tienen casas, tierras, tiendas ¿entiendes? Otro grupo es el grupo de los artesanos, los zapateros, los curtidores, los carpinteros y los herreros ¿me entiendes?, y otro grupo los asalariados. Esta era la situación de Tetuán: o artesano, u obrero o propietario.[1] Tipo de dulce oriental sin traducción al castellano. [2] Se traduce con la voz equivalente es castellano pero no se refiere al mismo tipo de dulce. [3] Tipo de dulce oriental sin traducción al castellano. [4] Tipo de dulce oriental sin traducción al castellano.
Phonology and phonetics*
The phonological system of the Arabic dialect of Tetouan is the same as that of the sedentary and urban dialects of northern Morocco. Some variants are common to the full speech community and others are specific to a particular sociolect. Some of the most outstanding features are:
– Glottal pronunciation /ʔ/ of the stop, velar, voiceless phoneme /q/ by speakers of mdini variety, for example: ka-nʔūl ‘I say’. In contrast, in the urban Tetouan variety, the most common pronunciation is velar, voiceless /q/, ka-nqūl ‘I say’.
Examples from Singer: ʔălb ‘heart’ (1958a: 108), fʔīh ‘teacher of the Koran’ (1958a: 108).
Examples from modern Tetouan, 60 year old medina informant (own data): bḥāl băɁlāwa, băɁlāwa l-ăṣl dyāla sūɹi ‘as the băʔlāwa, băɁlāwa, its origin is Syrian’, Ɂūl li ‘tell me’, ʕăndna ka-nʔūlu mātāl ‘amongst us there is a proverb’, k-īʔrāw ṭ-ṭbīb ‘they study medicine’.
Examples from modern Tetouan, 15/20 year old informants, (own data): u bqīna ka-nqūlu fīn ġa-nqăṣṣru hād əl-līla ‘and we stayed saying where shall we go tonight’.
– The pronunciation approximant alveolar /ɹ/ of the trill, alveolar phoneme /r/ is also a feature of the mdini variety. The urban Tetouan variety pronounces the trill phoneme as in the rest of Morocco.
Examples from Singer: dkəɹ / dkōɹa (PL) ‘child / children’ (1958b: 233), ɹŭkba / ɹkābi ‘knee / my knee’ (1958b: 234), ṣfăɹ / ṣăfɹa (F) ‘yellow / yellow (F)’ (1958b: 235).
Examples from modern Tetouan, 60 year old medina informant (own data): l-ʕīmāɹa ‘the building’, l-mɹa ‘the woman’, ɹ-ɹāžəl ‘the man’, ţāɹīx ‘history’, ka-nţfəɹɹəž əl-kōɹa, ka-yăʕžəbni Real Madrid ‘I watch football, I like Real Madrid’.
Examples from modern Tetouan, 15/20 year old informants (own data): ḥŏrra ‘single, libre’, nləʕbu l-kūra ‘we play football’, l-qrāya ‘the studies’.
– The voiceless pronunciation /ṭ/ of the voiced phoneme /ḍ/ is a common trait in both varieties.
Examples from Singer: mūṭăʕ / mwāṭăʕ (PL) as opposed to mūḍăʕ / mwāḍăʕ (PL) ‘place / places’ (1958b: 237), băyṭa / băyṭāt (PL) as opposed to bīḍa / bīḍāt (PL) ‘egg / eggs’ (1958b: 239), mʕa băʕṭna as opposed to mʕa băʕḍna ‘together’ (1958a: 120).
Examples from modern Tetouan, 60 year old medina informant (own data): ṭăhri as opposed to ḍăhri ‘my back’, ṭăḥkət ʕlīya as opposed to ḍăḥkət ʕlīya ‘she laughed at me’.
Examples from modern Tetouan, 15/20 year old informants (own data): mrīṭa as opposed to mrīḍa ‘sick’, băyṭa as opposed to bīḍa ‘egg’, ġlīṭa as opposed to ġlīḍa ‘fat’.
– The fricative, velar, voiceless /x/ of the stop, velar, voiceless phoneme /q/, is a common trait in both varieties.
Examples from Singer: ḥətţa n əl-wăxţ d əl-ġda ‘until luchtime’ (1958a: 117), māši wăxţum ‘this is not their time’ (1958a: 120).
Examples from modern Tetouan, 60 year old medina informant (own data): f əl-wăxţ d əl-ĭspānīyīn ‘in the time of the Spaniards’, țxāfța ‘her culture.
Examples from modern Tetouan,15/20 year old informants (own data): fūyāx ka-nčūtu? ‘when are we going to play football?’, səxṣīni lli bġīti ‘ask me anything you like’.
– The phoneme /ž/ is pronounced as palatal /g/ in contact with sibilant phonemes. Similarly, this is a common feature in northern Moroccan dialects.
Example from Singer: gŭwwzət ‘she has passed’ (1958b: 251), ygŭwwəz ‘they pass’ (1958b: 251)
Examples from modern Tetouan, 60 year old medina informant (own data): mǝn țŭɹkiya mubašaɹan n ǝl-măġɹǝb, ma gāzu-ši ʕla l-žāzăyɹ ‘From Turkey straight to Morocco, they have not passed through Algeria’
Examples from modern Tetouan, 15/20 year old informants (own data): āna gŭwwəzt sīmāna ḥămqa ‘I have had a mad week’, āna b-yĭddi, hād əs-sīmāna gŭwwəzta ġīr f estudio ‘as for me, I have spent this week just in the studio’.
It should be pointed out, however, that changes in the sociolect of youngsters towards the more common pronunciation in other parts of Morocco, /d/, are beginning to appear. For example: s-sīmāna mḍăxxma, dŭwwəzt sīmāna mḍăxxma a xāy ‘the week is great, I have had a great weak, brother’ (gŭwwəzt > dŭwwəzt).
– The pronunciation of diphthongs instead of long vowels is also a common trait but nowadays it is beginning to disappear and /ăy/>/ī/, /ăw/>/ū/.
Examples from Singer: bīxăyr / ʕla xăyr as opposed to bīxīr / ʕla xīr ‘fine’ (1958a: 119), ṣăyf as opposed to ṣīf ‘summer’ (1958b: 231), zăyzūn as opposed to zīzūn ‘deaf-mute’ (1958b: 237).
Examples from modern Tetouan, 60 year old medina informant (own data): l-ḥăwma as opposed to l-ḥūma ‘the district’, ḍ-ḍăw as opposed to ḍ-ḍu ‘the electricity’.
Examples from modern Tetouan, 15/20 year old informants (own data): ka-nṭălʕu n əl-ḥăwma as opposed to l-ḥūma ‘we are going to the district’, băyṭa as opposed to bīḍa ‘egg’.
Verb Morphology
– One common form exists for the second person singular in the imperfective and the imperative. So, ţəʕrəf ‘you know (M/F)’, and kūl ‘eat! (M/F).
Examples provided by Singer: ţəkţəb ‘you (M/F) write’ (1958b: 249-250).
Examples from modern Tetouan, 60 year old medina informant (own data): bāš ţəʕrəf āš kāyən ‘so you (M/F) know what there is’.
Examples from modern Tetouan, 15/20 year old informants (own data): nţīna ţəʕrəf fāyn hūwa ? ‘do you (M/F) know where he is?’
– As in the case of phonetics, we also find certain morphological features which do not resist dialectal levelling. This is the case of the particle māš accompanying the imperfective to denote immediate future. It is typical of northern dialects, where it seems to be disappearing in the speech of younger speakers because of the pressure of the particle ġādi and its reduced forms ġād /ġa which are more widespread throughout the rest of the country.
Example provided by Singer: māši yšūf ‘he will see’ (1958b: 249), kīf māši ykūn hād əš-ši? ‘how will it be?’ (Singer 1958ª: 122)
Examples from modern Tetouan, 60 year old medina informant (own data): māš nqūl lək ‘I’ll tell you’.
Examples from modern Tetouan, 15/20 year old informants (own data): ġa-nkəmmlu dīk əl-qrāya d əl-mərd ‘we’ll finish these shitty studies’.
On the other hand, another particle also used to express the future, ʕād / ʕa, is in clear regression, especially in the urban variety: ʕād nəkţəb l-bra ‘I will write the letter’.
Noun Morphology
– Lack of gender difference in the second person of singular pronouns. There is just one form of the pronoun both for masculine and feminine: nţīna (or the allomorph nţīnak) ‘you’, while in other varieties in Morocco gender differentiation exists: nta ‘you (M)’ and nti ‘you (F)’
Examples provided by Singer: šmən qbīla nţīna? ‘what tribe do you belong to?’ (1958b: 247), wə-nţīna š ka-tqūl? ‘and what are you saying?’ (1958a: 122).
Examples from modern Tetouan, 60 year old medina informant (own data): fhəmţi nţīna? ‘have you understood?’.
Examples from modern Tetouan, 15/20 year old informants (own data): u dāba nţīna bətti f ṭanža? ‘and now have you spent the night in Tangiers?’.
– With the plural forms of the imperfective, the suffix pronoun of the third person singular is –wăh.
Examples provided by Singer: ʕṭāwh myat ɹyāl ‘he gave him one hundred reals (1958a: 123).
Examples from modern Tetouan, 60 year old medina informant (own data): k-yḍərbūwăh ‘they hit him’.
Examples from modern Tetouan, 15/20 year old informants (own data): ʕa-nžībūwăh? ‘are we going to bring it?’.
– The relative pronoun in the mdini variety is sometimes dən, with duplication of the final nūn when a suffix pronoun is added, that is: n-nǝdǧār dǝnnu žāb līna l-table ‘the carpenter who brought us the table’, while the speaker of the urban variety would have used lli.
– The preposition for direction often is n– often.
Examples provided by Singer: n ši blād ăxɹa ‘to another country’ (1958a: 121), ṭəlʕu n əd-ǧbəl ‘go up to the mountain’ (1958a: 122), n ʕănd əṣ-ṣolṭān ‘to the house of Sultan’ (1958: 122)
Examples from modern Tetouan (60 year old medina informant): kān k-īddīni l-wālīd n-ĭspānya ‘my father takes me to Spain’
Examples from modern Tetouan (15/20 year old informants): hăwwədti n bulvar? ‘have you gone to Boulevard ?
Lexicon
The lexicon of the Arabic variety of Tetouan is characterized by some particular words that we can find also in other northern varieties, for example: ṭlăʕ ‘go up’, hăwwəd ‘go down’, tāqa ‘window’, ʕməl ‘to do’, ʕāyəl / ʕāyla ‘boy / girl’, wāš fāyǝn?, wāš fīha? ‘is it okay?’ žru ‘dog’.
Another feature to highlight is the presence of numerous Spanish loanwords. This characteristic is the most obvious difference between the Arabic of Tetouan and that of other Moroccan varieties spoken in the center and south of the country.
Data used for this brief summary were compiled from: Vicente, Ángeles, 2009 “La evolución del árabe marroquí en la ciudad de Tetuán”, Actas del III Congreso Internacional de Árabe marroquí: estudio, enseñanza y aprendizaje, Leila Abu-Shams (ed.). Vitoria, Universidad del País Vasco, 183-202. And from Vicente Ángeles, 2017, “The Past and Present of a Conservative Arabic Dialect: Tetouan (Morocco)”, Lisan al-Arab: Studies in Contemporary Arabic Dialects. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference of AIDA. Qatar University 2013, M. Al-Hamad, R. Ahmad & H. Alaoui (eds.). Vienna, LIT Verlag, 295-309.
Author: Ángeles Vicente
Tetouan (in Arabicتطوان [țǝṭwān]) is located in the Northwest of Morocco, near the Mediterranean Sea, Tangiers and the Spanish city of Ceuta.
Other than the celebrated Roman city of Tamuda, little attention has been paid by historical sources to the foundation of Tetouan. Some records report the existence of a fortified Berber settlement which started to grow mainly after Ceuta was conquered in 1415 by the Portuguese, who destroyed the early Tetouan a few years later. It was not until the arrival of the Andalusi that records begin to provide information on this city, “re-founded” by the soldier and mayor of Granada Sidi al-Mandari in 1485. He was responsible for the construction of the oldest part of the Medina, the Blad quarter, which became home to many Andalusi refugees, both Muslim and Jewish.
Based on historical facts it may therefore be claimed that the Arabization of Tetouan took place in two separate phases, the first occurring in the early centuries of its existence. According to H. Farhat, the Arabization of this northern Moroccan region resulted from the spread of the first descendants of Idris I from the late 8th century onwards. Moreover, Al-Andalus exerted a major influence on the territory from the 10th century onwards, a phenomenon spreading from the city of Ceuta, fully abiding to the Andalusi model and considered a leading cultural and religious centre at the time. The proximity to the city of Ceuta, part of the caliphate of Cordoba since the 10th century, entailed considerable population growth arriving from Al-Andalus and played a part in the Arabization of neighbouring Tetouan.
The second Arabization phase took place with the massive arrival in Tetouan of the Andalusi population fleeing Granada in the late 15th century, prior to the conquest of that city by the Catholic Monarchs and the end of the Nasrid rule and of Al-Andalus. Later, after the momentous year of 1492, Muslims continued to cross the Strait of Gibraltar though at first they were called Mudejar and later Moriscos and were to form the middle-class of the city.
This Andalusi population was the main transmitter of some of the traits of the Arabic dialect spoken in the Iberian Peninsula to Arabic varieties used on the other side of the Strait. We can therefore get an understanding of the characteristics of the Arabic variety spoken in this northern region at the time, as Andalusi Arabic had been a prestigious dialect already since the 11th century amongst the Arabic-Muslim society in the Iberian Peninsula to the point of attaining the category of a literary language.
Spanish also played a crucial part in the development of Tetouan. The arrival of different varieties of this language took place in various forms and during different periods. One initial form was the Spanish variety hakitia, spoken by the Jews expelled from the Peninsula in 1492 who settled in northern Morocco, especially in Tangiers and Tetouan.
The Spanish language was also introduced via Spanish-speaking moriscos arriving in small groups in the 16th and mainly 17th century after Fernando III’s edicts to expel them. The moriscos crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and settled in Moroccan cities such as Tetouan.
Furthermore, during the years of the Spanish Protectorate in Morocco (1912-1956), Tetouan was the administrative capital and Spanish became the administration language in the zone thus constituting the second language used by the large native population. The main consequence resulting from the implementation of the bureaucratic machinery of Spanish administration was a considerable growth in the Spanish-speaking population thanks to immigration from southern Andalusia obviously making a linguistic impact.
Spanish, though clearly declining as opposed to French, is currently quite conspicuous in Tetouan where Spanish loanwords are a sign of identity of its peculiar Arabic variety.
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