Lisan al-Gharbi

Lisan al-Gharbi (Arabic for "Western dialect") is the name given to an extinct dialect of Berber that was spoken over much of the Atlantic plains of Morocco.^[2][3] It was closely related to Tashelhit.^[3]

The Lisan al-Gharbi was the official language of the Barghawata Confederacy, and the idiom used in Salih ibn Tarif's "indigenous Qur'an".

The Barghawata's defeat by Almoravids in the 11th century, the settlement of several Arab and Zenata tribes in the area by Almohads and Marinids, the Portuguese invasion in the 15th century, several famines and the resulting displacement of populations made the Masmouda minoritary while Arabic became the dominant language; that led to the Arabization of the remaining Masmouda population and the extinction of the Lisan al-Gharbi.

Nowadays, several tribes and sub-tribes of Masmouda descent are still found among the Doukkala, the Chaouia, the Zaers and the Regraga. However, they are all Arabophone; the only Berber-speaking Masmouda ethnic group to be found in the Atlantic plains is the Hahha confederacy, but no direct filiation link had been established between their dialect (belonging to Tashelhit) and the Lisan al-Gharbi.

References

Languages of Morocco
Official languages	Arabic1 Berber
Native vernaculars	Arabic Pre-Hilalian Northern Judeo-Moroccan Old Urban Hilal-Mâqil Western Eastern Hassaniya Koiné Darija Berber Atlas Central Atlas Tashelhit Judeo-Berber Sanhaja de Srair Ghomara Gharbi† Zenati Tarifit Tabeldit Eastern Middle Atlas Eastern Morocco Romance Western Sabir† Haketia Spanish†,4 Undescribed African Latin†
Main liturgical languages	Arabic1 2 Hebrew3
Main foreign languages	French Spanish4 English
1 Modern Standard Arabic · 2 Classical Arabic · 3 Medieval Hebrew · 4 Formerly native to Moriscos, extinct as native in Morocco · † Extinct