/ˈaɪ.pə/

Moroccan Arabic

Family: Afro-Asiatic · Africa · ISO ary · Glottolog
74
Consonants
4
Vowels

The phoneme inventory below shows every sound that functions as a meaningful unit in Moroccan Arabic — a Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Africa . With 78 phonemes, it has a relatively large inventory compared to the world's languages. Sounds marked with a dashed border (*) are marginal: they appear only in loanwords or highly specialized contexts and are not part of the core phonological system.

Consonants

approximant

w ~ wː ~ j ~ jː ~

fricative

fʷː ~ h ~ hː ~ f ~ fː ~ v ~ χː ~ ħʷ ~ χ ~ χʷ ~ ʁ ~ ʁʷ ~ ʕ ~ ʕː ~ ħ ~ ʁː ~ ħː ~

lateral fricative

l̪ː ~ lˤː ~ lˤ ~ l̪ ~

nasal

n ~ nː ~ mˤː ~ mʷː ~ mː ~ m ~ mˤ ~

sibilant fricative

zˤː ~ s̪ ~ s̪ː ~ sˤ ~ zˤ ~ sˤː ~ z̪ ~ z̪ː ~ ʒː ~ ʒ ~ ʃː ~ ʃ ~

stop

t̪ː ~ d̪ː ~ dˤ ~ d̪ ~ t̪ ~ tˤ ~ tˤː ~ dˤː ~ bʷː ~ bˤ ~ bˤː ~ b ~ p ~ bː ~ ʔː ~ ʔ ~ qː ~ qʷ ~ q ~ ɡː ~ kʷ ~ kː ~ ɡʷ ~ k ~ ɡ ~ kʷː ~

tap

ɾˤ ~ ɾ ~

trill

rˤː ~ rː ~

Vowels

u ~ i ~ ə̆ ~ æ ~

* Marginal phoneme — occurs only in loanwords or rare contexts.

How large is this inventory?

Smaller (11) Average (36) Larger (141)
78
phonemes

Moroccan Arabic has 78 phonemes, placing it in the 99th percentile of languages by inventory size — a notably large inventory.

Compared to English

For English speakers learning Moroccan Arabic, these are the sounds that will require the most focused practice.

In Moroccan Arabic, not in English (66)

These sounds don't exist in English — English speakers will need to learn them from scratch.

wː jː fʷː hː fː χː ħʷ χ χʷ ʁ ʁʷ ʕ ʕː ħ ʁː ħː l̪ː lˤː lˤ l̪ nː mˤː mʷː mː mˤ zˤː s̪ s̪ː sˤ zˤ sˤː z̪ z̪ː ʒː ʃː t̪ː d̪ː dˤ d̪ t̪ tˤ tˤː dˤː bʷː bˤ bˤː p bː ʔː ʔ qː qʷ q ɡː kʷ kː ɡʷ k kʷː ɾˤ ɾ rˤː rː u ə̆ æ

In English, not in Moroccan Arabic (33)

English speakers learning Moroccan Arabic won't use these sounds — they'll need to suppress them.

l pʰ s t̠ʃ ŋ e iː oː d ʊ z ts d̠ʒ ɛ ɒ ɐ ð θ ɘ ɹ kx ɐː ʉː iə eə oe æe ɑe ɵː æo ɐʉ ɒɯ ʉə
Full phoneme comparison: English vs Moroccan Arabic →

Most phonologically similar languages

Ranked by Jaccard similarity — the proportion of phonemes shared relative to the combined inventory of both languages.

Tashlhiyt Berber 45%
Compare →
Egyptian Arabic 44%
Compare →
Amharic 28%
Compare →
Tigrinya 27%
Compare →
Lebanese Arabic 24%
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Compare Moroccan Arabic with another language

See which sounds are shared and which are unique.

vs Hakka Chinese vs SEDANG vs Kharia vs Bhumij vs Kota vs Burushaski vs Kabardian vs Lak vs Ket vs Yao