Lisan al-Gharbi

Lisan al-Gharbi
Native to	Formerly, Morocco
Region	Atlantic plains
Extinct	14th-16th c.
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Berber Northern Atlas Lisan al-Gharbi
Writing system	Arabic
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–

Lisan al-Gharbi (Arabic for "Western dialect") is the name given to an extinct dialect of Berber that was spoken over much of the Atlantic plains of Morocco. It was closely related to Tashelhit.

The Lisan al-Gharbi was the official language of the Barghawata Confederacy and the one used in Salih ibn Tarif's "indigenous Qur'an".

The Barghawata's defeat by Almoravids in the 11th century, the settlement of several Arab and Zenata tribes in the area by Almohads and Marinids, the Portuguese invasion in the 15th century, several famines and the resulting displacement of populations made the Masmouda minoritary while Arabic became the dominant language; that led to the Arabization of the remaining Masmouda population and the extinction of the Lisan al-Gharbi.

Nowadays, sevral tribes and sub-tribes of Masmouda descent are still found among the Doukkala, the Chaouia, the Zaers and the Regraga, however they are all Arabophone; the only Berber-speaking Masmouda ethnic group to be found in the Atlantic plains is the Hahha confederacy, but no direct filiation link had been established between their dialect (belonging to Tashelhit) and the Lisan al-Gharbi.