Abstract:

SOCIO-LINGUISTIC SITUATION OF THE ELDERLY IN MOROCCO

In this paper we shall analyze the social situation of the elderly in Moroccan
traditional society and the most relevant linguistic features of this group.

We have focused the attention on the fact that our yardsticks applied to study
western societies are not always operative. Concepts like ageism, marginalization,
depression or powerlessness are not applicable to the Arab traditional culture.

Like in other traditional societies, in Morocco there are solid networks —family,
work and social contacts— that endow the elderly with a strong social support and
a powerful status.

Their linguistic choice is, therefore, a way to maintain this status. The most
relevant markers of the speech of the elderly in Morocco are the preference of
classical Arab words instead of neologisms (loan words from French and Spanish)
and the more frequent use of God-invoking sentences.

Key words: age stratification, age identity, Arabic sociolinguistics, Moroccan

Arabic, age speech markers.

Word count: 2655

Bárbara Herrero Muñoz-Cobo

Universidad de Almería (Spain)
2010 Bárbara Herrero Muñoz-Cobo
SOCIO-LINGUISTIC SITUATION OF THE ELDERLY IN MOROCCO
En Angarmegia: Ciencia, Cultura y Educación. Portal de Investigación y docencia
bherrero@ual.es
SOCIO-LINGUISTIC SITUATION OF THE ELDERLY IN MOROCCO - Bárbara Herrero Muñoz-Cobo
Universidad de Almería (Spain) - bherrero@ual.es

SOCIO-LINGUISTIC SITUATION OF THE ELDERLY IN

MOROCCO

1. INTRODUCTION: The approach, the informants and the corpus

In this paper we shall analyze the social situation of the elderly in Moroccan traditional
society and the most relevant linguistic features of this group.

The approach that we have implemented is that of sociolinguistics, ethnography of

communication or anthropological linguistics, based on oral conversations and direct observations
to qualify phenomena.

This sociolinguistic scope takes for granted the strong link between language, society and
culture as well as the idea of concurrence of multiple variables in addition to age such as the sex of
the participants, the attitudes of the speaker and the addressee, the topic and the channel of
communication.

We have avoided the psycholinguistic aspects such as loss of memory, slowness, difficulties
in word choice, higher levels of redundancy, repetitions, less conciseness and egocentricity
considering that the subject has already been studied in depth.

The informants:

The informants are twenty healthy elderly citizens aged 60-80 from Tetuán -a small city in
northern Morocco- chosen as representatives of the main different subgroups. The criteria to define
age groups are the sex of the speaker, his or her cultural level and their economic status.

The cultural level of the informants has been measured by the number of languages they
speak, the number of visits to other countries and their level of studies and literacy. Their socio-
economic status has been measured by factors such as having a bath in the house (traditionally the
public bath or "hammam" prevails), having a second house in Martil (a beach 8 km from Tetuán),
and having a car.

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The corpus:

The corpus we have based on is composed of a collection of transcribed texts of casual

interviews, story telling and life stories hold in a relaxed atmosphere. The interviewer was a family
friend and, although the informants knew from the beginning they were being recorded, they use to
forget it after a while and speech was flowing spontaneously. Interviews were often held in the
house of the old person and we have spoken not only with them but also with younger people in the
house (their grandchildren, nephews, etc.)

Then, we have mixed these transcribed conversations with young people narratives and we
have shown the texts to other informants asking them to guess who is speaking after each utterance
(an elderly or a young person). We have used transcribed texts of the recorded conversations in
order to avoid pre-conceptions such as the quality of the voice.

2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: The cross-cultural perspective

Sometimes we speak about ageing leading on categorizations made on the basis of our own
society in universal terms. We, unwittingly, try to transpose the criteria that are valid to explain
phenomena of our own conception of reality, without taking into account the existence of other
ways of life, other mindsets, myths and beliefs. It is also true that, for obvious reasons, such as
research funds or technological facilities, most of the studies on this particular field have been
carried out in developed countries.

Coupland J, Coupland N (1990) reviewed the main theoretical paradigms implemented by

scholars in aging research and observed how age studies are demanding an integrative approach.
Many papers in the fields of sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics are focused on western societies
and authors are frequently using terms like "ageism", depression, marginalization, and
powerlessness referring to the elderly. Cross cultural scope is necessary because most of these
concepts are alien to other cultures such as the Arab one.

In western societies we can speak about ageism and depression, sometimes caused by the loss
of role, misautoperception, threatened identity and negative self-stereotyping which determine
detrimental processes, because as J. Smithers (1977: 276) states:

“Strong evidence exists which challenges the presumption that physical and mental
deterioration are inevitable components of the aging process” and argues: “many of the symptoms
of senility are caused by situational rather than organic factors”.

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When speaking, therefore, about language and age we should think in relative terms rather
than universal, because age, as any other human trait is a very complex and hybrid, not only
biological but mainly social fact.

3. THE SOCIAL SITUATION OF THE ELDERLY IN MOROCCO

In social structures like the Arab one, however, the main trend is quite the opposite, though
not quite a gerontocracy; the elderly play an important role in all spheres of life.

This social role is definable in accordance with certain factors which are closely
interconnected. These factors range from the individual level to the widest framework. We refer to
the family network, occupational situation and social contacts of the elderly. Three key concepts
help us to analyze the Arab situation, rejecting preconceptions, in these levels: the concept of
extended as opposed to the nuclear family, the idea of occupational subsistence versus the industrial
economy, and the importance and frequency of social contact and the concept of "hshuma" (saving
face).2

Family networks:

The first key concept to point out when analyzing the family roles is the contrast between the
nuclear family of western societies and the extended one in many traditional cultures as the Arab
social organization.

This is relevant because the extended family is not only composed by parents and their sons
but also by other generations like grandparents and grandchildren. They are living together, sharing
food and space and, what is even more important, sharing life projects. In the extended family, the
elderly still have a strong social support and an important role in the decision-making process. In
other words, they are part of the family, and as a result, they are respected and their opinions are
taken into account. Old age is not a negative feature but on the contrary an appreciated one. Age is,
in fact, associated with knowledge and experience and even the lexical root to refer to an old person
is "shaykh" that means both old and wise. That is a rather extended association of ideas in
traditional societies. Östör, Á (1984: 284), for example, explains how the adjective “bura” in India
is not merely old but ripe, wise and powerful.

Another important idea to describe the family organization is that Islamic tradition deems
marriage and the fact of having children as fundamental moments in life. The percentage of singles,
is irrelevant and age-role stereotypes for elderly singles are practically nonexistent. Remarrying
when one member of the couple dies -even being very old- is common and positively valued by
society. It is not frequent, therefore, to remain alone -and perhaps to feel lonely- in later life.

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Occupational networks:

In addition to family roles, the workplace provides another key concept that helps us to
understand the different conception of life-span in Arab countries: the principle of productivity.

Ostor, A. (1984: 298), pointed out the urgency of cross-cultural perspective when analyzing
life span:

"The disciplinary problems surrounding the question of age will not be resolved
comparative…Studies of the elderly in America are particularly marked by unexamined
assumptions regarding generation, measurable time and linear chronology”. “Age is a "social fact”
which is endowed with more than simple chronological meaning. The meaning of age varies across
cultures and over time, as the life cycle is embedded within different and changing social contexts"

In western society, productivity and life span are directly related. Whether an individual is
still productive or not is the parameter by which their usefulness in life is measured. Most people
feel as if life ends with retirement, and this can even represent a major cause of depression.

In social structures like those of Morocco -in transition between tradition and modernity- that
idea is not so deep-rooted yet. Theirs is a commerce-based economy in which hand crafted products
and agricultural produce are the main items of trade, it is a subsistence economy rather than a
market one. Both facets of the economic process, handicraft and commerce, do not require
extraordinary physical or mental effort, and the elderly continue working almost until the end of
their lives. As a consequence, older people still have a positive self-esteem, a certain degree of
economic independence and still feeling useful and being an important piece in the social puzzle.
This is one of the reasons why the problems such as fearful responses to status changes, alteration
and living arrangements referred to by Smithers (1977) do not often occur.

Social contacts:

Another specific factor to bear in mind when analyzing the concept of life span in Morocco
would be the role of the individual socially. The market (suq) and the house for men and the house
only for women, are the axes of social life in Morocco. Social ties and contacts are, in this culture,
more intense, important and numerous than in the increasingly individualistic developed societies.

For example, the number of visits received by the elderly in Morocco is far greater than in
western society for two main reasons. In western society when you visit somebody it is generally an
individual interaction and you do not necessarily meet the whole family. However, this is not the
case in Tetuán. If you go to visit a friend there the whole family is going to be present, drinking tea
and chatting with you, so elderly people get to enjoy the visits of, say, their nephew’s friends as
well as their own. This enables them to keep in contact with the outside world even if they are
unable to go out for whatever reason (being a secluded woman or being ill). In addition to that, the
habit of visiting old people and in more general terms, younger people respect for the elderly are
deep-rotted principles in the Arab tradition.

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The idea of “hshuma”, the priority of preserving face is another specific aspect that defines
social relations in the Moroccan society. The interest in being socially presentable is still an
incentive for keeping the house clean and for maintaining a dignified appearance throughout one’s
life, thus avoiding the typical process of disengagement, withdrawal from social involvement and
egocentricity that frequently occur in western societies.

4. THE LINGUISTIC SITUATION IN MOROCCO

Arabic, a special concept of language.

In the Arab world, and in Morocco, to be precise, not only cultural traditional values differ
from western society, but also the concept of language of the speech community.

The linguistic situation of the Arab world is quite complex, since two specific phenomena
overlap: diglossia and bilingualism.

Bakalla, M.H. (1984: 83) defines diglossia as:

“A situation in a speech community in which two types of or variations of the same language
coexist side by side each of which performs a specific function. On the one hand, there is Classical
Arabic referred to also as literary standard and written which maintains a high degree of uniformity,
and functions as the official standard language in all the Arabic speaking countries. In other words,
it's the official language which is used in formal situations including: sermons, lectures in education
and mass media. On the other hand, Colloquial Arabic is the actual language of everyday activities,
mainly spoken, and it varies not only from one country to another but also from one area to
another."

In Morocco, classical Arabic is used as a high variety with restricted outlets (mass media,
literature, and liturgy), while colloquial Arabic, the lower register, is used in everyday life. But
Classical Arabic is not only the language of Arab countries but also of the" Umma", an abstract
concept of the Moslem nation. This upper register is the language that identifies the speaker as a
part of this community, sharing the cultural patrimony “turat” and the religious beliefs and values of
Islam. The usage of classical terms is, therefore, an important cohesive device for Islamic identity.

On the other hand, due to the colonial presence of Spain and France, these two registers
coexist with Spanish in the north and French in the south, either separately or in the combined form
of code-switching between colloquial Moroccan Arabic and Spanish or French and Moroccan
Arabic.

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5. AGE MARKERS OF SPEECH IN MOROCCAN ARABIC

The most remarkable features that characterize the speech of the elderly in Morocco are
related to both phenomena: the larger presence of Islam and tradition, evident in the frequent usage
of God-invoking sentences as an element of identity to express their belonging to the" Umma" and
the preference of classical Arab words instead of neologisms as another group cohesive device.

Both speech cues which potentially differentiate between members of different age groups in
Morocco are related to traditional Islamic values that reflect a positive stereotype of the elderly
granting them, as we have seen, an active and important social role, regardless of the sex of the
speakers or his/her cultural level or socio-economic status.

The case of one of the informants named Bel-hayy is a good example of the link between
language and identity and more concretely a clear case of speech divergence as named by Coupland
et al. (1988: 9). He is a conservative man seventy five years old, who considers western influences a
threat to the purity of Islam. He made it clear when, speaking to a foreigner (a Spaniard in this case)
he tried to underaccomodate, implementing distance strategies like not using any Spanish words. If
necessary, he will even avoid it by a long periphrasis, violating the principle of linguistic economy
that usually governs verbal communication. The aim of such a socio-linguistic behaviour is clear,
although unconscious: dissociating from foreign values on one hand and on the other, expressing
what Eckert, P (1984: 229-230) calls age solidarity with people who share the same traditional
Islamic values. We should bear in mind that Morocco is only 15 km away from Spain, and people in
Tetuán watch Spanish television and listen to Spanish radio broadcasts. This proximity could be
perceived as a threat to traditional values, as a new form of cultural colonialism.

Old people usually prefer the classical Arabic form if it exists, while young people use
considerably more neologisms in their speech. For example, to mean “football” an old person would
chose the word “kora” rather than the word “futbol” or “fut” (an Anglicism taken from Spanish or
French) that younger speakers would mostly prefer.

But that is not always the case. Khadija, another informant seventy seven years old, is an
example of the complexity of linguistic choices because she uses more Spanish words than other
people her age. On a subconscious level, when she says a word in Spanish it reminds her of her
youth during the period of Spanish colonialism, when her husband was working in the Spanish
army, their children lived with them and, in her own words, "the city was alive". The peculiarity of
Khadija is the strong link she had with Spain when she was young that led her to make this
“nostalgic” linguistic choice.

The other preferential age marker in Morocco is the more frequent use of God-naming
sentences. 3 and proverbs by elderly people as elements of identity, expressing both their cultural
and religious allegiance to the Islamic community and the shared cultural patrimony that magnifies
the past, while at the same time rejecting the influence of western civilization in their lives.

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Sentences like: my God! “Allah!, God knows “Allah `alem”, God willing “in sha Allah”, God bless
you “tbarak Allah”, thanks God “al-hamd li Allah”, God forbid “ma sha Allah” are constantly
present in elderly speech and not so much in that of young people. In fact, there is a new generation
that are even beginning to use Moroccan Arabic -mainly spoken- in written registers showing their
rejection to traditional values represented by Classical Arabic. 4

We can conclude that culture plays an important role in defining the self and language is a
fundamental way to express identity. The case of Arab societies is specially interesting because they
are in a transition period between tradition and modernity and the main values of both tendencies
are evident in the linguistic domain.

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NOTES

1. For more details about the diglossic continuum consult Herrero (1996: 49-56).

2. Keenan, E (1974: 127) makes reference to an analogue concept in Madagascar "another from of
public censure is to speak of offensive conduct as causing "henatra" ("shame"). One who has caused
henatra is thought to "mangalabaraka" ("steal honour") from one's family or community.

3. For more details in the presence of God in Moroccan Arabic consult Herrero 1998.

4. For more details consult El Azami 2008.

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