ABSTRACT
The Modern Arabic dialects of the Maghreb have three phonemic vowels /i, a, u/. These dialects are generally said to have lost the short vowels of Classical Arabic (henceforth, CA) and to have developed a short central vowel [ə], used to break up consonant clusters. 1 A rapid comparison between CA and Moroccan Arabic (henceforth, MA) actually reveals that the latter lost length contrast in the vowels. In a number of items shared by these languages, there is a regular change whereby the long vowels of CA correspond to short vowels in MA, whereas short vowels in CA disappear in MA, resulting in consonant clusters often simplified by means of vowel epenthesis. The following examples illustrate the phenomenon:
