Pre-Hilalian dialects are a continuum of

Arabic dialects The varieties (or dialects or vernacular languages) of Arabic, a Semitic language within the Afroasiatic family originating in the Arabian Peninsula, are the linguistic systems that Arabic speakers speak natively. There are considerable varia ...

native to

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

. They constitute, along with the Hilalian dialects, the larger Maghrebi Arabic family.

History

Pre-Hilalian dialects are a result of early Arabization phases that lasted from the 7th to the 15th centuries, and that concerned the main urban settlements (

Kairouan Kairouan (, ), also spelled El Qayrawān or Kairwan ( ar, ٱلْقَيْرَوَان, al-Qayrawān , aeb, script=Latn, Qeirwān ), is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was founded by t ...

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I *Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...

Tlemcen Tlemcen (; ar, تلمسان, translit=Tilimsān) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran, and capital of the Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the p ...

and

Fez Fez most often refers to: * Fez (hat), a type of felt hat commonly worn in the Ottoman Empire * Fez, Morocco (or Fes), the second largest city of Morocco Fez or FEZ may also refer to: Media * ''Fez'' (Frank Stella), a 1964 painting by the moder ...

) and the neighboring harbors (respectively

Mahdia Mahdia ( ar, المهدية ') is a Tunisian coastal city with 62,189 inhabitants, south of Monastir and southeast of Sousse. Mahdia is a provincial centre north of Sfax. It is important for the associated fish-processing industry, as well as w ...

and Sousse,

Jijel Jijel ( ar, جيجل), the classical Igilgili, is the capital of Jijel Province in north-eastern Algeria. It is flanked by the Mediterranean Sea in the region of Corniche Jijelienne and had a population of 131,513 in 2008. Jijel is the administr ...

and

Collo Collo ( ar, القل, links=, lit=, translit=al-Qull) was an ancient Roman– a city of the Ottoman empire and Berber. Located in the northern Skikda Province, Algeria. It was the capital and one of three municipalities of Collo District, an ...

, Rachgun and Honaine, and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera and

Tangier Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the capi ...

) particularly from Al Andalus influences, as well as the –triangular– areas between them.Dominique Caubet
« Questionnaire de dialectologie du Maghreb »
, in: EDNA vol.5 (2000-2001), pp.73–92 This early Arabization also concerned various

Jewish communities Jewish ethnic divisions refer to many distinctive communities within the world's ethnically Jewish population. Although considered a self-identifying ethnicity, there are distinct ethnic subdivisions among Jews, most of which are primarily the ...

and a few urban centers outside the main Arabized areas, such as

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

and

Salé Salé ( ar, سلا, salā, ; ber, ⵙⵍⴰ, sla) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the right bank of the Bou Regreg river, opposite the national capital Rabat, for which it serves as a commuter town. Founded in about 1030 by the Banu Ifran, ...

Variants

Pre-Hilalian Arabic dialects are classified in three types: * Pre-Hilalian Urban Arabic dialects: those of the major historical urban settlements such as

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

Béjaïa Béjaïa (; ; ar, بجاية‎, Latn, ar, Bijāya, ; kab, Bgayet, Vgayet), formerly Bougie and Bugia, is a Mediterranean port city and commune on the Gulf of Béjaïa in Algeria; it is the capital of Béjaïa Province, Kabylia. Béjaïa is ...

, Algiers,

, Taza,

, Rabat,

Tétouan Tétouan ( ar, تطوان, tiṭwān, ber, ⵜⵉⵟⵟⴰⵡⴰⵏ, tiṭṭawan; es, Tetuán) is a city in northern Morocco. It lies along the Martil Valley and is one of the two major ports of Morocco on the Mediterranean Sea, a few miles so ...

and

Chefchaouen Chefchaouen ( ar, شفشاون, Shafshāwan, ), also known as Chaouen (), is a city in northwest Morocco. It is the chief town of the province of the same name and is noted for its buildings in shades of blue, for which it is nicknamed the "Blu ...

; * "Village" and Mountain dialects: those of the areas between the four original urban settlements (Kairouan, Constantine, Tlemcen and Fez) and their respective harbors: ** Sahili in the

Sahel, Tunisia The Tunisian Sahel ( ar, الساحل) or more precisely the Central East Tunisia Region is an area of central eastern Tunisia and one of the six Tunisian regions. It stretches along the eastern shore, from Hammamet in the north to Mahdia in ...

; ** Jijel Arabic in

Petite Kabylie Petite Kabylie or Petite Kabylia ( Berber: Tamurt n Iqbayliyen, Arabic: al-Qabā'il as-Saghra, القبائل الصغرى, Maghrebi Arabic: Qbayel es-Sghira) is a natural region in the mountainous area of northern Algeria. The Petite Kabylie is p ...

Constantinois Constantinois is a cultural and historical region of the Maghreb, located in northeastern Algeria. Geography The region corresponds roughly to six contemporary ''wilayas'': Constantine Province, Annaba Province, Guelma Province, Skikda Prov ...

(eastern

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

); ** Trara Arabic in the Trara Mountains, Oranais (western

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

); **

Jebli Arabic Jebli (Jebelia) is a pre-Hilalian Arabic dialect spoken in the mountains of northwestern Morocco. The historical development of this Moroccan dialect is unclear. The word ''jebli'' means "of/from the mountain". It is mainly spoken in the we ...

in the southern and western part of the

Rif The Rif or Riff (, ), also called Rif Mountains, is a geographic region in northern Morocco. This mountainous and fertile area is bordered by Cape Spartel and Tangier to the west, by Berkane and the Moulouya River to the east, by the Mediterrane ...

, northern

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

; * All the

Judeo-Arabic languages Judeo-Arabic dialects (, ; ; ) are ethnolects formerly spoken by Jews throughout the Arabic-speaking world. Under the ISO 639 international standard for language codes, Judeo-Arabic is classified as a macrolanguage under the code jrb, encom ...

of the

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...

. Two geographical groups of pre-Hilalian dialects are distinguished:Kees Versteegh, « The Dialects of Arabic », in: The Arabic Language, Columbia University Press (1997), pp.148–172 * Eastern dialects, those spoken in

Tripolitania Tripolitania ( ar, طرابلس '; ber, Ṭrables, script=Latn; from Vulgar Latin: , from la, Regio Tripolitana, from grc-gre, Τριπολιτάνια), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province o ...

, Tunisia and the

, forming the ancient " Ifriqiya" province ; * Western dialects, those spoken in the Algérois, Oranais and

. Additionally, the

Maltese language Maltese ( mt, Malti, links=no, also ''L-Ilsien Malti'' or '), is a Semitic language derived from late medieval Sicilian Arabic with Romance superstrata spoken by the Maltese people. It is the national language of Malta and the only offic ...

is often classified as pre-Hilalian, since it shares many pre-Hilalian features.Martine Vanhove
« De quelques traits prehilaliens en maltais »
in: ''Peuplement et arabisation au Maghreb cccidental : dialectologie et histoire'', Casa Velazquez - Universidad de Zaragoza (1998), pp.97-108 Pre-Hilalian Urban dialects were formerly spoken in other cities such as Tripoli,

Mascara Mascara is a cosmetic commonly used to enhance the upper and lower eyelashes. It is used to darken, thicken, lengthen, and/or define the eyelashes. Normally in one of three forms—liquid, powder, or cream—the modern mascara product has vari ...

and

Azemmour Azemmour or Azammur ( ar, أزمور, azammūr; ber, ⴰⵣⵎⵎⵓⵔ, azemmur, lit=wild olive tree) is a Moroccan city, lying at the Atlantic ocean coast, on the left bank of the Oum Er-Rbia River, 75 km southwest of Casablanca. Etymo ...

, where they are extinct, replaced by the more widespread Hilalian dialects. Currently, many (Old) Urban dialects are endangered because of the prevalence of the Hilalian-based new urban koinés in everyday communication.

References

{{Varieties of Arabic Arabic languages Maghrebi Arabic

History

Variants

See also

References