There has been outrage at attempts to use the Moroccan dialect instead of standard Arabic for Wikipedia entries, Rai Al-Youm newspaper reported yesterday.
Facebook page Wikimedia Morocco launched a competition calling for making Wikipedia entries using Moroccan dialect, calling on people to submit a rich array of content related to Morocco on the Wikipedia platform, offering prizes for winners.
“This competition is aimed at fighting standard Arabic… I do not think that the next generation will be able to understand the simple Arabic language,” one critic said online.
Another asked: “Is standard Arabic not part of our identity?”
“What is the benefit of not using standard Arabic?” one social media user added.
Najiyyah Al-Mukhtari, head of Reading Network in Morocco, said that the aim of this competition “is to encourage and develop writing entries with standard Arabic, Moroccan dialect and Amazigh language.”
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