From stigmatization to predilection: folk metalinguistic discourse on social media on the northwestern Moroccan Arabic variety

Abstract The sociolinguistic situation in Morocco is complex, with a diversity of Arabic varieties that interact daily. Existing linguistic ideologies have created a hierarchical relationship between these varieties that has been forged for political and socio-economic reasons. Thus, the variety of Casablanca, the economic capital of the country, leads the linguistic levelling in the country and therefore has more social value, but others have less social value, even reaching stigmatization. This is the case of the northwest Moroccan variety that is stigmatized for most Moroccans, but shapes the collective identity in this region. One of the most important cities in the region is Tetouan, a medium-sized city, where the arrival of influences from other Moroccan varieties has created a new-urban variety and has contributed to shaping a new Tetouan identity. This article focuses on folk metalinguistic discourse on the Tetouan Arabic variety. The purpose is to evaluate the metalinguistic beliefs used by speakers to build a collective identity at local and regional level. To do this, the role of social media as a space for ideological language discussions is shown, and chats posted on a Facebook group are examined as an interactive source of data. Specifically, the focus will be placed on an open chat called “Tetouan”, founded in 2012, and in which people from this city write mainly. The results reveal that the social meanings of the different varieties produce antagonistic ideas about them, depending on the context and the participants in the linguistic interaction.