Dialectal Arabic Emerges as Second Most Spoken Language in France, Study Finds

The second most spoken language in France is dialectal Arabic, according to the ranking of the National Institute of Demographic Studies (INED) recalled by the book Le Livre d’une langue, published under the direction of Barbara Cassin with the contribution notably of Xavier North, on the occasion of the recent opening of the Cité de la langue française in Villers-Cotterêts. According to estimates, three to four million people speak dialectal Arabic fluently. This language comes just after the language of the Republic, French, enshrined in the Constitution since 1992. Dialectal Arabic surpasses respectively the creoles and Berber, Alsatian, Occitan, Breton, the Oïl languages, Franconian, Corsican and Basque.

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The 72 regional languages of France and the so-called non-territorial languages "have formed what has been called since 1999" the "languages of France", reports Le Figaro, explaining that what makes dialectal Arabic a "language of France" is that it is not the official language of any country. According to the explanations of Xavier North, former delegate general for the French language and the languages of France (DGLFLF), a "language of France" "is a somewhat arbitrary notion, without legal status". What about its political meaning? "The language of the Republic is a welcoming language".

In France, dialectal Arabic "is practiced very predominantly" in its Maghrebi form, but also in its Lebanese, Egyptian, Syrian... forms, even in its dominant form, specifies the publication. "We cannot say that there is a single Maghreb Arabic," nuances Alexandrine Barontini, professor of Moroccan Arabic at Inalco.