33 Countries of Origin’ Profiles

Produced by Euro-CIDES -FR- CAPTIVE/ JUST/2015/RDAP/AG/VICT/9243 Sahrawis' native language is the Hassānīya, a variety of Arabic originally spoken by the Beni Hassan Arabian tribes of the Western Sahara. It has almost completely replaced the Berber languages originally spoken in this region. Though clearly a western dialect, Hassānīya is relatively distant from other North African variants of Arabic. Its geographical location exposed it to influence from Zenaga and Wolof. There are several dialects of Hassaniya; the primary differences among them are phonetics. Today Hassaniya is spoken in south- western Algeria, northern Mali, Mauritania (has the biggest concentration of speakers), southern-Morocco and Western Sahara. Some Sahrawis speak Tashelhit and/or Moroccan Arabic as a second language due to interaction with neighbouring populations. Modern standard Arabic and the Amazigh language (a standardized version of Moroccan Berber languages) is the official language of the Moroccan administered part of Western Sahara, while Standard Arabic is the only official language in Mauritania, Algeria and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Due to the past colonization of Western Sahara and Cape Juby by Spain, Spanish is spoken by some Sahrawis, especially among the Sahrawi diaspora, with the Sahrawi Press Service, official news service of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. The current Moroccan constitution (adopted in July 2011) mentions, in its 5th Article, the Hassaniya language and recommends its preservation as a cultural heritage of Morocco. Ethnic groups Berber and Arabs As described above, the Hassaniya speaking tribes are of Arabian, Beni Hassan descent, who fused with the dominant Sanhaja Berber tribes, as well as Black African and other indigenous populations (e.g. indigenous Soninke speaking groups). Even though cultural arabization of the Berber people was thorough, some elements of Berber identity remain. Some tribes, such as the large Reguibat, have a Berber background but have since been thoroughly arabized; others, such as the Oulad Delim, are considered descendants of the Beni Hassan, even though intermarriage with other tribes and former slaves have occurred; a few, such as the Tekna tribal confederation, have retained some Berber dialect of the area. Often, though not in the case of the Tekna, the Berber-Arab elements of a tribe's cultural heritage reflects social stratification. In traditional Moorish-Sahrawi society, Arab tribes of the Tekna confederation claimed a role as rulers and protectors of the disarmed weaker Berber tribes of the Takna confederation. Thus, the warrior tribes and nobility would be Arab.