Algerian Arabic

Not to be confused with Algerian Saharan Arabic.
Algerian Arabic
Darja, Derja, Dziria
الدارجة الجزائرية
Native toAlgeria
RegionCentral Maghreb
EthnicityAlgerian Arabs, also used as a second language by other ethnic groups in Algeria
SpeakersL1: 36 million (2022)[1]
L2: 5.7 million (2022)[1]
Total: 41 million (2022)[1]
Dialects
Arabic script
Language codes
ISO 639-3arq
Glottologalge1239
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Reda speaking Algerian Arabic.

Algerian Arabic (Arabic: الدارجة الجزائرية, romanized: ad-Dārja al-Jazairia), natively known as Dziria, Darja or Derja, is a variety of Arabic spoken in Algeria. It belongs to the Maghrebi Arabic dialect continuum and is mostly intelligible with the Tunisian and Moroccan dialects.[2] Darja (الدارجة) means "everyday/colloquial dialect".[3]

Like other varieties of Maghrebi Arabic, Algerian Arabic has a mostly Semitic vocabulary.[4] It contains Berber, Punic, and African Romance[5] influences and has some loanwords from French, Andalusi Arabic, Ottoman Turkish and Spanish. Berber loanwords represent 8% to 9% of its vocabulary.[6]

  1. ^ a b c Algerian Arabic at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
  2. ^ "Algeria - Languages | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
  3. ^ Wehr, Hans (2011). A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic.; Harrell, Richard S. (1966). Dictionary of Moroccan Arabic.
  4. ^ Elimam, Abdou (2009). Du Punique au Maghribi : Trajectoires d'une langue sémito-méditerranéenne (PDF). Synergies Tunisie.
  5. ^ Martin Haspelmath; Uri Tadmor (22 December 2009). Loanwords in the World's Languages: A Comparative Handbook. Walter de Gruyter. p. 195. ISBN 978-3-11-021844-2.
  6. ^ Wexler, Paul (2012-02-01). The Non-Jewish Origins of the Sephardic Jews. State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-1-4384-2393-7.