Paris is often associated with a single language: the romantic melody of French that echoes through its caf茅s, bookstores and cobbled streets. But as a cosmopolitan capital city, it is home to many more 鈥 and one community, in particular, has helped shape the way Parisians speak, think and connect.
Arabic is France鈥檚 second-most-spoken language. It is home to some four million speakers. From caf茅 terraces to music, art and food, the language’s influence is woven into the fabric of Parisian life.
As someone who moved to Paris to learn French, I鈥檝e been intrigued by how many Arabic words have made their way into everyday speech. Expressions such as “wesh?” (what鈥檚 up?), “kiffer” (to like), and “bled” (village, hometown) are borrowed from North African dialects and adopted into the city鈥檚 vibrant slang.
Curious about its role in French culture, I signed up last year for Arabic lessons. Aside from a basic notion of literary Arabic, they gave me an insight into how the language has been influencing French for centuries, giving us words such as “past猫que”聽(watermelon), “magasin” (shop) and “jupe” (skirt). Paris has also attracted Arab intellectuals, artists, students and writers who contribute to its cultural and linguistic fabric.
Yet visible traces of this influence are scattered and often overshadowed by dominant narratives of French identity. The French Constitution states that 鈥渢he language of the Republic is French,鈥 and discussions around the place of Arabic in society are often highly politicized.
鈥淕enerally, the Arabic language is perceived negatively by a large part of the French population,鈥 said French Lebanese journalist Nabil Wakim, author of 鈥淎rabic for Everyone: Why My Language Is Taboo in France.鈥
In recent years, however, a growing number of voices, those of writers, historians and cultural figures, have been celebrating the history of the Arabic language and culture in the French capital and beyond.
For visitors interested in linguistic and cultural discovery, here are some of the people, neighbourhoods and businesses where Arabic has quietly shaped everyday life in Paris:
“They pick up words from our dialect”聽On a recent afternoon, Chez Baya, a Tunisian restaurant in the 11th arrondissement, flowed with the smell of freshly baked mlawi (flatbread) and ojja (eggs poached in a tomato and pepper sauce).
Kamel Faleh, the owner, tries not to speak in his mother tongue in front of his French-speaking customers 鈥渟o as not to annoy them,鈥 he said. But some are very interested in learning Arabic: His restaurant sits across the street from my language school, and students often drop by after class in the evenings and on the weekends.
Faleh told me that when he first arrived in France, he didn鈥檛 speak French and had to learn it. 鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to see people adapting to us as well,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hey pick up words from our dialect, like 鈥榗hwoya,鈥 which means 鈥榓 little bit.鈥 鈥
Arabic has been taught in Paris at least since the creation of the Coll猫ge de France, one of France鈥檚 most prestigious research institutions, in 1530, which means that Arabic was taught in France even before French was, said Tarek Abouelgamal, a linguist and the educational co-ordinator of the language school at Paris鈥 Arab World Institute.
The institute, which opened in 1987 in a contemporary building on the Left Bank, is dedicated to preserving and promoting Arabic language and culture. Its library hosts weekly poetry readings, and its museum hosts a vibrant lineup of exhibitions.
“The top names in Arabic literature”聽The Arab World Institute鈥檚 position in the Latin Quarter acknowledges the long-standing relationship between the city鈥檚 Arab population and this iconic Parisian neighbourhood, where the Grand Mosque of Paris was built in the 1920s. Over the summer, the museum hosts walking tours that explore this little-known part of its history.
Home to the Sorbonne University, the Latin Quarter is the symbolic birthplace of the caf茅 as a place where intellectuals converged to debate and exchange ideas. The introduction of coffee can be traced back to the mid-17th century with the arrival of Ottoman ambassador Soliman Aga, who dazzled Parisian high society with lavish 鈥渃offee ceremonies鈥 and contributed to the opening of the first French coffee shops, including Le Procope, a caf茅 on many travellers鈥 itineraries.
鈥淭he Latin Quarter is known all over the world for its caf茅s, but what鈥檚 interesting is that a neighbourhood that is so symbolic of 20th-century Paris is also very symbolic of Arab culture in the city,鈥 said Coline Houssais, the author of 鈥淧aris in Arab Letters,鈥 which explores the relationship between Arab writers and the City of Light.
Among the Sorbonne鈥檚 famous alumni are some of the most notable figures in Arabic literature, including Egyptian authors Mohammed Hussein Heikal, whose 1913 novel 鈥淶einab鈥 is considered by many scholars to be the first Arabic novel, and Taha Hussein, who was nicknamed the Dean of Arabic Literature; and playwright Tawfiq al-Hakim, who spent much of his student years frequenting theatres and the Paris Opera.
鈥淧aris is full of the top names in Arabic literature and continues to have strong ties with the Arab world,鈥 said Caterina Detti, when we meet one morning at her bookshop, Maktaba Berfin, one of few in the city dedicated solely to Arabic-language books.
“The European capital of Arab music”聽A 20-minute walk south from Maktaba Berfin is Barb猫s, a neighbourhood at the foot of Montmartre that pulses with the legacy of Arab music in Paris.
The elevated metro line shadows streets once bustling with record shops and caf茅s, where, throughout the 20th century, musicians from North Africa came together to play, record and listen to songs of exile.
鈥淭his all used to be record stores,鈥 said M茅ziane Aza茂che, the Algerian founder of Le Cabaret Sauvage, a concert venue in the 19th arrondissement, as we walked down the Boulevard de la Chapelle on a recent afternoon.
Most of the stores faded with the rise of digital music 鈥 except for one. Next to Barb猫s Rochechouart metro station, Sauviat Musique鈥檚 unassuming shop front, sandwiched between a Foot Locker and a halal restaurant, still displays a selection of CDs.
The shop has been in business for nearly a century. Its founder, a woman from Auvergne called L茅a Sauviat, saw an opportunity and swapped her classical music catalogue for music from the Maghreb, the western part of North Africa along the Mediterranean, helping propel the neighbourhood into a cultural hub as early as the 1940s.
鈥淎rtists from the Maghreb were often recorded by European labels, and Barb猫s became the European capital of Arab music,鈥 said Hajer Ben Boubaker, a historian who recently published the book 鈥淏arb猫s Blues: A Popular History of Maghrebi Immigration,鈥 which traces the neighborhood鈥檚 political and cultural history.
Barb猫s is also an important hub for a popular genre of Algerian folk music called ra茂, according to Aza茂che, who also created the musical shows 鈥淏arb猫s Caf茅鈥 and 鈥淭he Women of Ra茂.鈥 The genre found refuge here when it was banned in its home country, and artists such as Cheikha Rimitti, who helped it reach an international audience with her defiant songs of freedom, lived nearby and played at local cabarets. Rimitti played one of her last shows at the Cabaret Sauvage before she died in 2006.
For years after the Islamist terrorist attacks in November 2015, Arabic music disappeared from radio stations, television and festival headlines, Aza茂che said. 鈥淏ut now I think it鈥檚 coming back.鈥
This article originally appeared in .
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