Arabic of Ceuta: A Marginalized Spanish Language

Abstract

This study is designed to define the Arabic of Ceuta basing this upon data offered by recent research findings and the reflections of the authors in consideration of these. Arabic of Ceuta is the language of 42% of the Spanish bilingual population in the Autonomous City of Ceuta. It belongs to the dialect area corresponding to the North of Morocco, but is distinguished from Moroccan Arabic by two fundamental features: loan words from Spanish and the presence of code switching. Its absence from the registers of Administration and Education in Spain gives it a “marginalized” status. We propose the use of Modern Arabic of Ceuta, a register enriched with loan words of Classical Arabic, as an instrument of communication and education in public institutions. Finally, we present the example of three formerly marginalized languages which have since become official: Spanish, Greek and Maltese, presenting for consideration a series of legal and educational documents that support the standardization and codification of the Arabic of Ceuta.