From Diglossia to Linguistic Citizenship: A Critical Sociolinguistic Approach to Linguistic Diversity in Morocco

Abstract

The Moroccan linguistic landscape constitutes a unique sociolinguistic laboratory for examining the complex interactions between language, identity, power, and language policy. This article adopts a critical sociolinguistic approach to analyze linguistic diversity in Morocco, applying William Stewart's model as expanded by Joshua Fishman, alongside Ferguson's model of diglossia, Irvine and Gal's theory of language ideologies, and Tollefson's critical language policy framework. The study aims to classify the three main linguistic varieties—Standard Arabic, Moroccan Darija, and Amazigh—according to the parameters of standardization, vitality, historicity, and autonomy/heteronomy, while examining the structural and functional relationships that govern their interaction and uncovering the competing ideologies (Arab nationalist, Amazigh, and Francophone/modernist) and their operational mechanisms through the processes of iconization, fractal recursivity, and erasure. The study also traces contemporary transformations in the Moroccan linguistic landscape, including the rise of Darija in private media, digital spaces, and popular culture, the constitutional recognition of Amazigh and efforts toward its standardization, and the growing presence of English as a language of academic and economic aspiration. The article concludes that the Moroccan linguistic landscape experiences a structural tension between the preservation of national linguistic heritage and the demands of integration into the global economy, necessitating a shift from the traditional diglossia model toward an approach based on "linguistic citizenship" grounded in speaker empowerment, equitable distribution of linguistic power, and the articulation of language issues with social justice and democratic participation.