Labial Dissimilation as an Amazigh Substratum in Moroccan Arabic

Abstract

The paper is an attempt to provide evidence for the existence of an Amazigh substratum in Moroccan Arabic by considering the way labial and round dissimilatory processes are woven in the language. In particular the paper seeks to explain within the constraint-based framework of Parallel Optimality Theory that labial/round dissimilation is a contact-induced phenomenon resulting from the influence of Moroccan Amazigh and as such prior knowledge of this language seems to be a prerequisite for a thorough understanding of the dissimilation process in Moroccan Arabic.