Sara, Mehdi, Fatima Zahra

Interview Transcript

Interview #1:

1 Female or Male parent/professor: (Main Languages: Darija, Amazigh, English)

 Interviewer: Sara Ghechi
 Interviewee: Lahcen Ghechi

Introduction: My language background: My mother tongue is Tamazight. I also learned Darija

later. I learned standard Arabic in school, but I don’t use it. I just read texts written in standard
Arabic but I don’t use it in my daily life. I learned French in school, and I learned English in
school.

Question 1: What language(s) do you primarily speak, and what other languages do you know?
 And why - what is the reasoning behind that?
 I primarily speak Tamazight, Darija. I also speak English with my kids, and French from
time to time. I don’t speak standard Arabic. And why? What is the reason behind that?
Well okay, I speak Darija because it’s what people use. I speak Tamazight because it’s
my mother tongue. I speak English because that’s the language we use at work and with
my kids.

Question 2: Since you’ve mentioned that you speak Standard Arabic and Tazamzight, why don’t
you use it more often?
 I don’t use fos7a (standard Arabic), because it’s not a language that we use in our daily
life, it is restricted to formal Arabic, to books, to formal settings. Sometimes I don’t meet
people to speak Tamazight with, but I use Tamazight on campus, I meet some people
who speak Tamazight.

Question 3: How do you see Darija as a language and why? (provide examples)
 (Some might say that Darija is a vulgar and harsh language)
 Darija is a language, it has its own phonological system, morphological system, semantic
system, it’s a language. It could be used for communication, formal communication and
writing. “Some might say that Darija is a vulgar and harsh language”, yeah well they
don’t know. They may think that it’s vulgar because they don’t know that it’s another
tongue.

Question 4: How do the people in your environment, meaning friends, family, and especially
parents, express their love?
 (Through actions, words, or physical affection, or is love not expressed often)
 They express their love mostly with darija, in French, through actions, yes, words, love,
yes. It is like anyone else, like normal people.

Question 5: Some might say that Moroccans find it hard to say ‘I love you’, whether that applies
to you or not, what do you think would be the reason for that?
  Um, I don’t know about that. It’s not hard for me, I say ‘I love you’ all the time, to my
wife and my kids.

Question 6: Do you have any friends from any other Moroccan regions that differ in culture? If
so, what verbal or physical expressions are different from yours?
 ie: do you say I love you the same way, do you have the same tone when
speaking, do the words for certain actions or objects differ?
 I know Moroccan culture, it’s more or less the same. *Repeats the second question*
Yeah, we express love the same I would say.

Question 7: Are there any proverbs that your parents use often to express themselves?
 Do you believe that they are crucial to reflect one’s emotional expression?
 Um, I don’t remember, my parents died a long time ago.

Question 8: Do you think figurative language, or “a type of communication that does not use a
word's strict or realistic meaning” in Morocco is helpful to express emotions?
 Do you believe it can be efficient in its use with some emotions compared to
others?
 It could be, it depends on the context. As I said, it depends on the context.

Question 9: What are some expressions that you can only use in Moroccan Arabic (Darija), that
you do not find/ do not have an equivalent in English, French, Amazigh, etc, that can be as
expressive?
 I don’t know, I don’t have any expressions that I only use in Darija. I can use any
language like I can express myself in English. I can’t think of anything at the moment.

Question 10: What do you think about the body language in Morocco? Do you think it is
commonly used to express emotions?
 Yes, body language is used to express emotions. The way we stand, the way we use our
body, the way we come closer to another, and so on.

Question 11: Are there non-verbal expressions (hand gestures, facial expressions, posture, etc)
that you notice in the Moroccan culture that you think reflect one’s emotional state or thoughts
(specifically your parents’)?
 Yes, yes, there are. There are, yes. Like using the heart with both hands

Question 12: How often do you use other languages to express your emotions?
 Do you notice a switch in the language used based on your emotion
 How do you think that is constructed?
 Yes, from time to time, not always. Um, not really I used Darija or Tamazight to express
my emotions, sometimes French. I can’t remember if I switch languages to express my
emotions

Question 13: Do you use verbal/ non-verbal cues of expression differently depending on the
emotion you are feeling (sadness, anger, joy, etc.)?
 I don’t know what you mean by this question.
Question 14: Remember yourself in a situation that once highly affected you emotionally; What
were your reactions in its aftermath?
 How did you verbally express yourself based on the joy, anger, or sadness of that
day?
 Did you use non-verbal cues for it?
 How did you perceive the interactions of others with you while you were in that
state of emotion?
 I express myself in Tamazight, I switch to my mother tongue when there is joy or anger.
Yes, I use non verbal cues, like I raise my hands. They do the same thing, they raise their
hands with joy, or act a certain way when they’re sad.

Question 15: Do you think your parents express themselves differently?

 If so, do you believe emotional expression in Morocco varies when it comes to
gender or age?
 No, no, more or less the same. Yes, it varies, with gender, women in our country, and
other countries I think, express emotions a little bit differently. Age, could be, but I don’t
see any big difference between me and my parents.

Question 16: While comparing English and French with Moroccan Arabic (Darija), what are
some emotions that you feel are not fully understood in those languages but that you often use in
Moroccan Arabic (Darija)?
 I don’t have any of these emotions that I feel are fully understood in those languages.

Interview #2:

1 Female college student: (Main languages: English & Darija)

Interviewer: Fatima Zahra Jdioui
Interviewee: Nada Chafi

Question 1: What language(s) do you primarily speak, and what other languages do you know?
 And why - what is the reasoning behind that?
 I speak darija of course, because I’m Moroccan, but also speak a lot of English because I
lived abroad and used it a lot, and because I study at AUI. And of course, I speak a little
French, a little Spanish, a little Korean because I lived there.

Question 2: Since you’ve mentioned that you speak a wide range of languages, why don’t you
use the others more often than Arabic?
 That’s a good question. Well, I speak Darija the most because it’s my native language.
Like I said, I use English on a daily basis. One [language] that I don’t use a lot is French.
I don’t use it anymore, even though I grew up speaking French at home. I guess living in
an English dominated environment and wanting to decolonize myself made me use
French less, but in general, I don’t have the opportunity to speak French.
Question 3: How do you see Darija as a language and why? (provide examples)
 (Some might say that Darija is a vulgar and harsh language)
 I love this question so much. Well, I love Darija so much, it’s my language and I adore it.
I love that it’s a melting pot of a language. It combines Tamazight, Arabic, French, and
even a bit of Spanish. It’s a beautiful language, and a lot of Middle Eastern people who
tend to have more refined Arabic dialects tend to think of Darija as a really harsh one,
mainly because of how it's a mix of other languages and how we stress our letters.

Question 4: How do the people in your environment, meaning friends, family, and especially
parents, express their love?
 (Through actions, words, or physical affection, or is love not expressed often)
 My friends and I have a really good relationship, we use pretty much all the five love
languages. For my parents, I know that it’s not common for my parents to be very
affectionate in Morocco, but I grew up with a very affectionate mother. She gives a lot of
words of affirmation and especially physical touch and with a lot of tedious work, I also
turned my father into a hugger. So, I think thankfully I get all five love languages within
my environment.
 Well, yes love is expressed in Morocco, it’s just not expressed in the Western way, that is
words of affirmation. Moroccans might not say ‘I love you’ or ‘Kanbghik’ as often
compared to other cultures, but I think we have our own ways. Primarily because our
language and culture are not as affectionate, but I feel like acts of service are the main
way people show affection to others.
 For example, your mom would not say ‘sorry’ but would come bearing a plate of fruits.

Question 5: Some might say that Moroccans find it hard to say ‘I love you’, whether that applies
to you or not, what do you think would be the reason for that?
 As I just said, it’s due to having a conservative culture and the domination of the religion
of Islam in Morocco. Islam itself is a very conservative religion that praises modesty, so I
think, incorporating that with culture makes it a conservative culture. And unfortunately,
some people take it as a taboo, but I think it’s changing over time.
 People, when they think of ‘l7oub’ or love, they only think of romantic love, but they
forget that there’s parental love and platonic love, and there's no shame in that.

Question 6: Do you have any friends from any other Moroccan regions that differ in culture? If
so, what verbal or physical expressions are different from yours?
 ie: do you say I love you the same way, do you have the same tone when
speaking, do the words for certain actions or objects differ?
 (International Comparison) – Of course, I lived abroad and met people from all over the
world. I lived in Korea which is an interesting case because Koreans consider love to be
more of a taboo than us in Morocco. I mean in Morocco, we can still see some cases
between siblings or kids telling their parents ‘I love you’, but for Koreans, telling your
parents ‘I love you’ is super weird. They don’t use I love you that way, even between
couples. But other friends that I’ve had are friends from Spain or the US, saying I love
them is very normal in any context. I would say Morocco is a bit in the middle leaning
toward the taboo.
  (Moroccan Comparison) – Maybe, my mom is from Marrakech and the people there are a
lot more open, more hospitable, they have their hearts on their sleeve, and they don’t find
it shameful to say any words of affirmation. But where I grew up in the North, it’s not the
case. But nonetheless, it’s still not a huge difference.

Question 7: Are there any proverbs that your parents use often to express themselves?
 Do you believe that they are crucial to reflect one’s emotional expression?
 Yeah, in regards to love actually. It’s an Arabic one, not a Darija phrase, she says, ‘nti
9ora dial 3ayni’ means like you’re the apple of my eye. But my parents usually use
expressions when they're frustrated. One that I grew up hearing a lot is ‘rassni bhal lbeda
khassra’ which is really hilarious because it means ‘my head feels like a rotten egg’
which means I have a headache.

Question 8: Do you think figurative language, or “a type of communication that does not use a
word's strict or realistic meaning” in Morocco is helpful to express emotions?
 Do you believe it can be efficient in its use with some emotions compared to
others?
 Yeah definitely, it’s very helpful to express emotions, especially because Moroccans, as
you said, are big on benign literal with their emotions, so I feel like a good way that they
use is using proverbs. I’d assume it helps them feel a little less awkward about acting
transparent. Other examples, I cannot think of any.
 I think they’re very efficient when you want to express frustration because there are
hundreds of ways you can say ‘I am so mad’ in darija instead of saying ‘ana m3asseb’.

Question 9: What are some expressions that you can only use in Moroccan Arabic (Darija), that
you do not find/ do not have an equivalent in English, French, Amazigh, etc, that can be as
expressive?
 I mean pretty much all our witty lines in Darija cannot literally be translated, and since
my mind is blank at the moment. You can’t possibly find an equivalent in English or
French for those like, ‘tle3li hadchi f rassi”. You simply can’t, I think most of our
expressions don’t have an equivalent, they’re just ours.

Question 10: What do you think about the body language in Morocco? Do you think it is
commonly used to express emotions?
 Yes, I think Moroccans use their hands a lot when they talk. Whether it’s for anger,
weather anything, we use our hands, we’re very hot-tempered, I think that’s considered
body language. I think we are very touchy people in Morocco as well. But body language
is definitely a way of expressing emotions in Morocco.

Question 11: Are there non-verbal expressions (hand gestures, facial expressions, posture, etc)
that you notice in the Moroccan culture that you think reflect one’s emotional state or thoughts
(specifically your parents’)?
 Yes, of course I believe it. Growing up, I always saw my parents frustrated because I was
a really bad kid, so I think it was mainly facial expressions. The moment I see my
parents, especially my mom, having a straight face, I automatically know I’m in trouble. I
think when my father touches his chin, it means he’s disappointed. I mean hand gestures
 with regards to emotions are very universal, and anyways, Moroccans are very gestural,
they use their facial expressions a lot.

Question 12: How often do you use other languages to express your emotions?
 Do you notice a switch in the language used based on your emotion
 How do you think that is constructed?
 Interesting question, I can sometimes use other languages to express emotions depending
on a lot of factors. Yes, of course not a switch in the language based on my emotions. For
example, if I’m talking to my best friend and she’s not feeling well and I want to be
affectionate, I’ll tell her, ‘I love you’, and then I would keep speaking in Darija. I think
‘Kan bghik’ has a stoic tone compared to ‘I love you’. I think that’s because of how we
heard them benignly said growing up, that’s how we picked up on it.

Question 13: Do you use verbal/ non-verbal cues of expression differently depending on the
emotion you are feeling (sadness, anger, joy, etc.)?
 I’m a very verbal person, I verbalize everything I feel. I talk more than I use hand
gestures sometimes when I want to convey an emotion. I would say the only emotion that
I go completely silent is when I’m sad. When I’m sad I can’t really talk, all I can manage
to do is cry. I just let tears roll down my eyes. When I’m happy, I’m usually just smiling
and get overhyped and get a bit too shaky and excited. But I’d verbalize, ‘ana farhana’. I
only use those non-verbal cues when I’m feeling sad.

Question 14: Remember yourself in a situation that once highly affected you emotionally; What
were your reactions in its aftermath?
1. How did you verbally express yourself based on the joy, anger, or sadness of that day?
2. Did you use non-verbal cues for it?
3. How did you perceive the interactions of others with you while you were in that state of
emotion?
 (1) – I’m someone who looks back on her actions a lot, mainly in this case I would feel
regret. Like, my reaction would be regret if I snapped at someone. The only thing I could
think of in a situation that highly affected me lately is anger. I snapped at someone for a
good reason but still, I look back at myself, and I kind of regret not being too gentle.
 (2) – I guess in that specific situation I was shaking and I was smoking a lot. The way I
was moving was very swift and aggressive, but that’s all I can think of. I was verbal
throughout the whole thing.
 (3) – I think they went through 3 phases: at first they were defensive, then were benign
and quiet, and then they started fighting for dominance in the fight. It was perceived in
three steps, and it ended in them trying to digest my reaction,

Question 15: Do you think your parents express themselves differently?

 If so, do you believe emotional expression in Morocco varies when it comes to
gender or age?
 Yeah, of course, my parents, especially my father, express themselves very differently. I
think that confirms that emotional expression in Morocco really varies when it comes to
age. At first, you are very chaotic, you feel too much, you have a big heart; you are
learning how to feel things. Then, I think starting from adolescence through being a
 middle-aged adult, you start really reacting to emotions the way you are wired to, the way
you organically do. After your 50s or 60s, maybe, stoicism takes over a little bit. So I
think it’s the experiences that one faces, the most organic ones at least. This is how I see
it.

Question 16: While comparing English and French with Moroccan Arabic (Darija), what are
some emotions that you feel are not fully understood in those languages but that you often use in
Moroccan Arabic (Darija)?
 I think there’s a specific emotion/expression: ‘Kalbi mzayr 3liya’ which means my heart
is tightening up on me. I’ve never really used it in another language, never really heard it
either, but I also feel the emotion you feel is unique. I have not met someone, from the
Western sphere especially, who knows what that feels like. They can say I’m stressed,
I’m sad, I have a ball in the pit of my stomach, but ‘Kalbi mzayr 3liya’ is very us.
Especially mothers say that a lot when they’re worried or have a bad gut feeling.

Interview #3:

Male college student (Main languages: French & Darija)

 Interviewer: ElMehdi Benhida
 Interviewee: ElMahdi

Introduction: my name is ElMahdi, I am 21 years old, I am moroccan, I am also a senior college

student I speak french arabic english and the moroccan darija fluently and I have a preliminary
knowledge in spanish.

Question 1: What language(s) do you primarily speak, and what other languages do you know?
And why - what is the reasoning behind that?

As mentionned before I am fluent in french and english since I’ve learnet it in school since my
childhood, I’m also fluent in arabic and darija, I have been speaking these languages since
forever, I took some classes in spanich so I could speak a little of that language. Primarly I speak
darija because of the house hold I grew up in, both my parents and the remaining of my
surroundings speak darija.

Question 2: Since you’ve mentioned that you speak french and spanish, why don’t you use it
more often?

For french, I usually us it for more professional settings and when henging out with people that
speaks it. When necessary. Simply because it was not the main language I have been raised to
speak at home.

Question 3: How do you see Darija as a language and why? (provide examples)
 (Some might say that Darija is a vulgar and harsh language)

I think that darija is a very interesting language, it can be considered as a melting pot for
different languages since our countrie has been colonized by multiple countries, and different
religions have inhabited in morocco. In darija we can find french, english, portuguese, spanish,
arabic, amazigh also, which makes it a great mix

Question 4: How do the people in your environment, meaning friends, family, and especially
parents, express their love?

I would say love is more ixpressed throughout actions. For my parents, my motherexpresses her
love more throughout actions while my father uses words and physical affection more than my
mom.

Question 5: Some might say that Moroccans find it hard to say ‘I love you’, whether that applies
to you or not, what do you think would be the reason for that?

I think it is due to education and how moroccans were raised, learning that love is a taboo and
not the real priceless value of it, it is only percieved from the taboo perspective. A lot of
moroccans finds it hard to say those three words (I love you) if moroccan could change the way
they percieve love, they would produce a more emotionally transparent population, I guess.

Question 6: Do you have any friends from any other Moroccan regions that differ in culture? If
so, what verbal or physical expressions are different from yours?
 ie: do you say I love you the same way, do you have the same tone when
speaking, do the words for certain actions or objects differ?

From my own experience, an depending on the way you were raised, the emotional expression
could differ. I find that people coming from Fez, Rabat and northen regions from morocco are
more transparent in their expression, while eastern and southern regions are less transparent in
there emotions. Again it depends on how the individual have been raised. In general, I don’t
think that there is a big difference between moroccan from all over the country.

Question 7: Are there any proverbs that your parents use often to express themselves?
 Do you believe that they are crucial to reflect one’s emotional expression?

If I could remember, there are few but the one who first poped in my mind was “” which means
weak up early to have a more frutful and productive life.
I don’t think they reflect one’s cultural and psychological changes that occurred to each one of us
moroccans. I think that some of the proverbes are absolete nowadays.

Question 8: Do you think figurative language, or “a type of communication that does not use a
word's strict or realistic meaning” in Morocco is helpful to express emotions?
 Do you believe it can be efficient in its use with some emotions compared to
others?

I don’t believe that it is actually the case, since words can have different meanings depending on
the context. I don’t think that figurative language is that helpful when it comes to expressing
emotions, because emotions can be unvolunterly expressed, which may cause a misinderstanding
and confusion in understanding the expression. I think people should be more cleare when it
comes to expressing feelings by using concrete language rather than figurative language.

Question 9: What are some expressions that you can only use in Moroccan Arabic (Darija), that
you do not find/ do not have an equivalent in English, French, Amazigh, etc, that can be as
expressive?

Maybe when it comes to emotions like happiness and less serious topics I think it is the case, but
not for other emotions.

Question 10: What do you think about the body language in Morocco? Do you think it is
commonly used to express emotions?

I have one in mind which is “drebni lberd” which means I caught cold, and litterally means cold
punched me or slapped me, which I think is funny.

Question 11: Are there non-verbal expressions (hand gestures, facial expressions, posture, etc)
that you notice in the Moroccan culture that you think reflect one’s emotional state or thoughts
(specifically your parents’)?

I don’t think that moroccans are diversified in using body language, I think that they use it more
often to express anger or negative emotions. I think that moroccans should be more encourages
to use body language, it will enhance the moroccans’s understanding of eachothers.

Question 12: How often do you use other languages to express your emotions?
 Do you notice a switch in the language used based on your emotion
 How do you think that is constructed?
An example of that is the patents poker face, where you can not tell wether what you are doing is
wrong or right, it happens to me with my mother, sometimes even when doing a good thing and
expecting a good reaction, I get that and it confuses me so much.

Question 13: Do you use verbal/ non-verbal cues of expression differently depending on the
emotion you are feeling (sadness, anger, joy, etc.)?

When it comes to expressing my emotions, I primerly use darija for positive feeligs and english
for negative ones both along with non verbal gestures. I also try to hide my negative emotions

Question 14: Remember yourself in a situation that once highly affected you emotionally; What
were your reactions in its aftermath?
 How did you verbally express yourself based on the joy, anger, or sadness of that
day?
 Did you use non-verbal cues for it?
 How did you perceive the interactions of others with you while you were in that
state of emotion?
 I remember one time, I was 8 years old when I got lost in the train station, I got separated
from my mother. I was screaming loudly while jumping at the same time if that makes
sense. For the reaction of the surroundingds, there was a woman that came and checked
on me, that’s it.

Question 15: Do you think your parents express themselves differently?

 If so, do you believe emotional expression in Morocco varies when it comes to
gender or age?

As mentioned before, my father gives me more words of affection than my mother, she rather
express herself by actions, not a very talkative person but still full of love and affection in her
own language.
I belive that there is a difference between genders and diffirent ages, women in morocco are
more expressive than men, for age, I think that younger generations are more expressive tnah
older ones, especially the Gen Z and a small portion of mellenials, and this is due to the
globalization, internet, and the cultural exchanges that comes with that.

Question 16: While comparing English and French with Moroccan Arabic (Darija), what are
some emotions that you feel are not fully understood in those languages but that you often use in
Moroccan Arabic (Darija)?

I think that anger is expressed more perfectly in darija, and this due to the endless ways this
language offers to express it. Also funny expressions, I find that moroccans can get very creative
with it.