Transcript
Here are some tips for a general Moroccan accent. Now, Morocco is a melting pot. Just like the United States is. So there are as many accents as there are people. So I’m zeroing in on a French speaking Moroccan accent. So, as you might imagine, the oral posture is a little similar to French. So if I were to say, I was born in Morocco, in Casablanca, my lip corners are a little bit forward. But you don’t have those French ah sounds. You have those very relaxed r sounds, like that. There’s also a bit more jaw action than you would get in your regular French accent. So that is another difference.
Already you start to hear the sound changes, from the ih to the e sound. I was living in one building changes to I was living in one little building. One little building. The e. E, e, e. That American shwa sound, that uh sound, opens up. So my son had one and had so much fun becomes my son had one and had so much fun. Ah, ah, ah, ah. Hear that? That oouh sound becomes all the way to a pure ooh. She looks good in that color. She looks good in that color. That ooh sound becomes very rounded in the Moroccan accent. So he went to school ’til noon, and then he got the boot becomes he went to school ’til noon, and then he got the boot. Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.
That th sound becomes dentalized. So right up on your teeth. So instead of thin, thick, this, and that you’ve got thin, thick, this, that. In French you would get thin, thick, this, that. I don’t hear that as much in the Moroccan accent. It’s more of a flatter sound. Thin, thick, this, that. The africate [SP], that dz combination in American English you hear in words like judge, and Jill. In your Moroccan accent you get judge, Jill, vegetable. H’s are routinely dropped. Just like in a pure French accent. How do you get to the palace hotel? How do you get to the palace hotel?
What is the musicality of this accent? So, you get a little bit more pitch variety than your typical French accent. You get a little more openness. It feels a little warmer to me. But don’t take my word for it. Listen to speakers from Morocco. French speaking speakers from Morocco. And see what your hear in the accent. And make it your own.
