The Tunisian Republic in North Africa is very popular with Russian tourists as a destination for summer beach holidays. Its advantages over neighboring states are in the high level of development of cosmetology and thalassotherapy. In order for a vacation to be comfortable and exciting, it is not at all necessary to know the state language of Tunisia. In one of the most advanced Arab countries, popular European languages are also used.
Some statistics and facts
- Literary Arabic is officially declared the state language of the Tunisian Republic.
- 97% of the population of Tunisia are Arabs. They communicate in a Tunisian dialect of Arabic called darija. There are about 10.8 million of them in the country.
- Approximately 1% of the country's inhabitants are Berbers. They consider their own dialects to be native.
- The Tunisian dialect can be heard in Morocco, Mauritania, Libya and Algeria, where the remaining 400 thousand of its speakers live.
Darizha with a Parisian twist
The term "darija" means the Maghreb dialect of Arabic, common in the countries of North Africa. Darij is characterized by a large number of borrowings from the languages of the historical colonizers of the Maghreb countries - the Spaniards and the French, as well as from the Berber dialects. In Tunisia, darija is a mixture of Arabic with a huge amount of French words.
The Tunisian version of colloquial Arabic was formed on the basis of the dialect of the inhabitants of the capital of the country and was first introduced into literature by the local writer Ali ad-Duadji, who published a novel in Tunisian Arabic in 1938.
Literary Arabic in Tunisia
The universal form of "high" language, in which literary works are published, television and radio broadcasting in Tunisia and other countries of the Maghreb, is literary Arabic. The state language of Tunisia is used by more than 208 million inhabitants of different countries. It is used for education in schools and universities, laws are issued, government decrees are issued and news is broadcast.
Natives of literary Arabic easily understand each other, being residents of different countries, but those who speak only local colloquial variants will face difficulties. Thus, a Tunisian who speaks only Darij is unlikely to fully understand his interlocutor from Morocco or Algeria.
Note for tourists
Being a French colony for many decades, Tunisia "studied" French for a long time. As the main foreign language, it is accepted in the country today, and therefore knowledge of English does not always save the situation with communication with local residents. However, in tourist areas, in resorts and in large hotels, such problems can be avoided, because the necessary information is usually duplicated here for guests and in English.
