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Labiovelarization may be described as a rounding of the lips, accompanied by the raising of the back of the tongue; it may be analyzed as a case of secondary combined articulation or of co-articulation. This phenomenon is common to all Afro-Asiatic (Hamito-Semitic) languages. Cantineau (1960:30) mentions what he calls “l'affrication des labiales b, m, f”, which can be uttered with “un w furtif, ‘spirante de passage’”. This appears mainly before vowels with “une ouverture maxima des lèvres”, whereas the labials need “une fermeture des lèv…

1. General This is a tentative description of the Moroccan koine, spoken in most urban areas of Morocco. It is important to note that this is not one of the old, prestigious, pre-Hilālian dialects like the ones spoken in Fes, Old Rabat, Salé, or Tetouan. The latter present too many peculiarities to become koineized. There are many regional varieties of Moroccan Arabic, but among a group of speakers from the Maghreb, one can always distinguish a Moroccan from an Algerian or a Tunisian after only a few words. 1.1 Area, range The Moroccan koine serves as a linguistic vehicle in most larg…