1. Introduction

Scholars working on the Judeo-Arabic dialects of Morocco classify and describe them all either as pre-Hilali or non-Hilali urban dialects, or simply as “sedentary” dialects. They were formed during the first phase of the Arabization of Morocco between the eighth and eleventh centuries (Marçais 1961:171–209; Lévy 1996; 2009:25–160; Aguade et al., 1998; Caubet 2000–2001). This occurred later than in al-Andalus a…