Maghrebians (or Mauri) speak Magharibi, not Arabic

Abstract

After defeating and pushing aside the Carthaginians, the Romans named the territory of north Africa Mauretania and its population, Mauri . Later on, historians have had to reflect on the origin of the term mauri to designate the population or Mauretania to name the territory. Besides the signification of the Latin/Greek word « mauri » which means « black », it is admitted, as well, that the word Mauri is a transcription, into the Latin alphabet, of a punic word meaning « the west » or « the westerners ». If the latter meaning is 2000 years old, the other approbation is relatively modern and suspected of ideological biases. The punic word maġaribis, transcribed mauri/ma’ari/mahauri , really makes sense since it means the west in Punic - the 15 century-long North African lingua franca .