Fessi dialect

The Fessi dialect (Moroccan Arabic: هضرة أهل فاس) is a dialect of Moroccan vernacular Arabic, or Darija, associated with the city of Fes, especially with the old elite families of the city.

It is considered pre-Hilalian and some of its distinguishing phonological features are the pronunciation of rāʾ ( ر ) as a postalveolar approximant (like the American pronunciation of /ɹ/ in the word "red") instead of a trilled [r] and of qāf ( ق or, traditionally, ڧ ) as a pharyngealized glottal stop or voiceless uvular plosive instead of a voiced velar plosive ([g]).

The Fessi dialect has traditionally been regarded as a prestige dialect over other forms of Moroccan Darija, as a function of the historic social and economic power of its speakers.